TEN LEPERS HEALED; ONE WAS THANKFUL

Luke 17:12-19 And as He entered into a certain village, there met Him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when He saw them, He said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And He said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

According to the previous verse 11, the incident recorded here seems to have taken place near the Galilean/Samarian border as Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem. Therefore, the lesson text could possibly be out of chronological order and should have followed chapter 9. However the lesson derived here is unique, worth diligent study, and has no bearing on any specific time in Jesus earthly ministry. As He traveled, Jesus was about to enter into a certain village. Exactly what town this was, we are not told. There met Him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off. Evidently these leprous men were traveling on the same road as Jesus when He met them. They were not near to Him but were standing a noticeable distance away. Excluded from all Jewish society, lepers were often found grouped together in camps and traveled, when necessary, in the company of other lepers. Although they could congregate among themselves, lepers are considered to be unclean and were required by Jewish law to remain apart, dwell outside the cities, towns, and villages, and have no contact with other Jews. As a warning of their condition, they were required to cry out, unclean, unclean to those approaching them (See Lev. 13:45-46; Num. 5:2-3).

From a distance they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. It seems that these lepers cried aloud to Jesus in unison. More than likely they were encouraged when they heard about Jesus and the miracles that He performed on others that were diseased or had various other debilitating maladies. Knowing His God-given power, they rightfully addressed Jesus as Master. From the words they spoke, they did not ask to be healed of their disease, but rather they were simply pleading that Jesus would have mercy on them and grant them any form of relief from their terrible, flesh-destroying disease. Without healing them immediately, Jesus told the lepers to go show yourselves unto the priests. For a complete rendering of Jewish law regarding the disease of leprosy see the entire 13th and 14th chapters of Leviticus. There we are told, among other things, that to be declared clean from the disease of leprosy, one must go to the priest, have him observe the condition for a specific amount of time, and, if the disease did not reoccur, they would be pronounced clean and be given a certificate that attested their cleanness to be true. This same priest-certifying process was followed previously when Jesus cleansed a man said to be full of leprosy (See Matt. 8:1-4; Luke 5:12-14). With complete faith in Jesus' healing power, the ten lepers obediently departed, and as they went, they were cleansed. We are not told about the rest of their cleansing process under the supervision of the priest, but we assume that they all did so and were pronounced clean.

However, we are told of the thankful gratitude of one that was healed. Realizing he was healed, and even before continuing to the priest for the cleansing process, he turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and he was a Samaritan. A truly thankful heart will always demonstrate his or her appreciation immediately. The lesson for Christians today is that they should immediately give God prayerful praise and glory for any, and all, of His blessings. To attribute physical healing and soul cleansing to God before others is commendable and even more praiseworthy when our changed lives reflect our joyous gratitude. With only one, a Samaritan, cured of leprosy returning to glorify God for his cleansing, Jesus asks, Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine. The indication is that the other nine were ungrateful Jews. Although Jesus does not openly punish these nine for not immediately giving thanks for their healing, but He certainly admonished their action for all to see, understand, and learn a valuable Christian characteristic. We must always be thankful for God's goodness, and ardently glorify God that all may see our deep-hearted, sincere gratitude for all His blessings.