Glorify God with Thanksgiving

-      Rev. Seong Hoon Jung (Dongnae Central Presbyterian Church)

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19)

The miracle of healing in this passage is somewhat different from other healing incidents. Usually, Jesus would talk to a sick person, and heal them according to their faith. Jesus mostly healed individually, and there is no record of Jesus healing a group of people at once.

However, in this incident, Jesus healed ten people at one time. He healed ten men with leprosy, which is almost incurable, at the same time, in the same place.

This is the only case where Jesus heals a group of people in the synoptic gospels. This shows that Jesus can not only heal people individually, but also as a group.

I pray that our Lord who can heal a group of people at once comes among us, and walks you through your problems, and sets you free from all sicknesses.

In this passage, ten men with leprosy came out to Jesus, expressed the same wish with one voice, and received an answer to their prayer. Let’s take a look at verse 12 and 13:

As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

We also should not hesitate to assemble in one place and call out to God about one common prayer request, with the one voice. Our Lord is the Lord who comes and does great things when two or three people gather together to pray.

Another distinctive characteristic of this incident is that the men were not healed instantly but while on their way to present themselves to priests as Jesus instructed. In most other cases, people received healing instantly. But, in this passage, men with leprosy received healing on the way. Let’s look at verse 14:

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

What does this mean? This tells us that Jesus sometimes answer our prayers instantly, but not always. Jesus sometimes shows his works instantly on the spot, but other times his works are realized later on in other places. Therefore, we should not be dismayed or disappointed when Jesus does not heal us right after our crying out to him. Instead, stand firm in your faith that Jesus will resolve our problems, even if it takes some time, and even if the location and environment change. I pray that you would march on with confidence and faith that the Lord will resolve your problems under any circumstances. It does not matter where we are, our Lord will surely answer our prayers. Whether we are at home, in a car, on the street, at work, at school, or any place, God, who is beyond time and space, is always with us.

I pray that all your problems are answered and all your sicknesses are healed today as you have firm faith in the promise of the Lord.

Where are the other nine?

Unlike most other healing events, this recording does not stop when the sick people are healed. It continues to talk about the Samaritan who came back praising God in a loud voice. Therefore, the point of this passage is not how Jesus healed the horrible sickness called leprosy, but how we should behave after receiving the grace of God.

When one person returned to Jesus, he says “Where are the other nine?” In other words, Jesus is saying that nine others were also supposed to come back and give glory to God. It is obvious that they should come back and thank him when they have experienced such tremendous grace. But where are they now?

Leprosy was and is an incurable disease. This fearful disease completely destroys a person physically and mentally. This disease hinders someone from having regular relationships with other people. A leper loses their nose, hands, feet, and other body parts. A leper loses their nerve system so that they cannot feel pain. A person with this disease is cursed. Suppose that someone healed me from this horrible disease. What kind of thing would be expected of me? Shouldn’t I stop everything and go to the healer and show appreciation? More than that, shouldn’t I thank him throughout my life?

However, according to the Scriptures, only one out of ten returned to Jesus to thank him. This tells us that few people show appreciation. It does not matter how great the grace was, only about a tenth of people truly appreciate it. Most people forget the grace they received and do not even think about it.

Jesus is waiting for those nine who did not return. He is waiting for the people who called out in a loud voice for grace and mercy.

Take nothing is for granted in the world, thank God for his grace to you

This passage clearly demonstrates the person who shows appreciation and others who do not show appreciation. There were ten people who were cleansed, but only one returned to Jesus and gave him glory.

Through this passage, we learn that being freed from diseases and experiencing a miraculous healing is totally different from being saved. Being completely cleansed from leprosy is a completely different problem from being spiritually saved.

The Samaritan, who returned to the Lord to give him glory after being healed, also received salvation. But those nine people who were healed from leprosy and went on their way did not receive salvation. This teaches us that people who work hard to live as Christians but do not appreciate God are missing a very important thing. How about you? Do you truly return to God and thank him for the grace he gave to you? We can always experience healing of sicknesses and God’s help in dealing with problems, but we cannot receive salvation without being thankful.

What do you want to gain through your Christian life? Do you want to realize the love of God and participate in his glory? Or do you want God to heal you and solve your problems?

We should not take the grace of God for granted. Problems arise when we take the grace of God for granted. When you think about it, there is nothing in the world that we can take for granted. People who take the grace of God for granted can never live a life of thankfulness before God.

People who are insensitive to the grace of God, who take it for granted and do not thank God, are people who have spiritual leprosy. This spiritual leprosy is more dangerous than physical leprosy.

When we thank people who deserve our appreciation, and express this appreciation, we need to both say the words of appreciation and act accordingly. At the moment that we understand the grace of God, we need to be on our knees giving thanks and glory to God. This is not something we should delay.

The plentiful blessings of God through our thankfulness

The passage talks about what the blessings of God are to those who are thankful. Let’s read verse 19:

Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

I pray that this word of blessing comes down on you also.

When Jesus said ‘your faith’, what kind of faith is Jesus talking about? In fact, all ten lepers who came and called out to Jesus had faith. They were all cleansed because they all had faith in Jesus. Their desire was answered because they all desired to be healed and had faith.

However, a careful examination of the passage shows that the faith of Samaritan who returned to Jesus and gave glory to God was a different kind of faith, and on a different level to the others. Nine had faith to solve their problem, but not the faith that led them to salvation. In contrast, the Samaritan had the faith of thankfulness; he was thankful to God, who solved his problem and healed him from leprosy.

Let’s take a look at Colossians 2:6-7:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

This passage shows that if we are rooted and built in Jesus, we will be overflowing with thankfulness. Therefore, I hope that we all would be people who are more thankful to God. This faith of thankfulness is the highest level of faith, different from the faith which is only interested in solving problems.

We need to strive to be thankful for the grace of God and for everything, and be people who give glory to God. Then, we will receive salvation like the Samaritan in the passage:

“Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:19)