And
it came to pass as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the
midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as He entered into a certain village,
there met Him ten men who were lepers, who 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 none 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.” (Luke
17:11-19, KJ21)
Everyone
in the group of outcasts knew the sting of rejection. Everyone in this
band of disease ravaged men had been declared untouchable by their
families, for they had leprosy and this deadly disease required
separation by law and practice. Every one of these ten men hobbled along
the dusty dirty road as best they could with their physical
diminishments and handicaps. They was an odd mix to this group of men,
for there were nine of one faith but the group also included one man
from a faith, the nine despised. We cannot gather why this one man, a
Samaritan was included with the clan of Jews. Maybe he just tagged along
or maybe he was simply allowed to wander with them as prejudices had
lost their power in bleak landscape of their existence. They were also
wandering along the border of the land of these two faiths as if to
acknowledge both their terrible predicament and their lack of a home
because of the issue of their disease.
The
bleakness in the lives of these men brightened as the Great Healer
passed by them on his way to Jerusalem. The lepers cried out and the
Messiah had mercy upon them and a great healing came upon them in a few
glorious moments. The miracle come all ten men but only one man gave God
glory in thankfulness. This one man, a Samaritan returned to the source
of his new life with a thankful heart.
The
Samaritan’s thankfulness brought him a blessing the other nine men did
not receive. Salvation, wholeness and an encouraging faith that would
sustain for a lifetime … we do not know all that the Master gave to the
man along the road but we do know that his thankfulness was the
beginning of great blessing. What great healing have we received from
our Master that we have barely acknowledged? What great blessing have we
missed in our failure to be thankful along the dusty road of our lives?
Suggested Scripture Reading … Luke 17
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