Every Thanksgiving people gather around a turkey to give thanks for family, food, friends and God. Then when the day is done we go to bed, so we can rise up early to get the best deals of the year. Unfortunately, as we shop, all the thanks that were said the day before are soon forgotten, as we're loaded down with packages, fighting the crowds for that last purse.
How soon we can forget the one we need to thank the most.
There was another time when nine men had forgotten all about someone who did something for them that changed their lives forever!
In Luke 17:11-19 (TLB)
"As they continued onward toward Jerusalem, they reached the border between Galilee and Samaria, and as they entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, sir, have mercy on us!”
He looked at them and said, “Go to the Jewish priest and show him that you are healed!” And as they were going, their leprosy disappeared.
One of them came back to Jesus, shouting, “Glory to God, I’m healed!” He fell flat on the ground in front of Jesus, face downward in the dust, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a despised Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the nine? Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?”
And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”"
This just seems unbelievable to me. That out of ten men who were healed, only one came back to say "Thank you" Just think about what they had! Leprosy is a chronic, progressive bacterial infection. It primarily affects the nerves of the extremities, the lining of the nose, and the upper respiratory tract. It also produces skin sores, nerve damage, and muscle weakness. If left untreated it can cause severe disfigurement and significant disability.
There was another time when nine men had forgotten all about someone who did something for them that changed their lives forever!
In Luke 17:11-19 (TLB)
"As they continued onward toward Jerusalem, they reached the border between Galilee and Samaria, and as they entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, sir, have mercy on us!”
He looked at them and said, “Go to the Jewish priest and show him that you are healed!” And as they were going, their leprosy disappeared.
One of them came back to Jesus, shouting, “Glory to God, I’m healed!” He fell flat on the ground in front of Jesus, face downward in the dust, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a despised Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the nine? Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?”
And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”"
This just seems unbelievable to me. That out of ten men who were healed, only one came back to say "Thank you" Just think about what they had! Leprosy is a chronic, progressive bacterial infection. It primarily affects the nerves of the extremities, the lining of the nose, and the upper respiratory tract. It also produces skin sores, nerve damage, and muscle weakness. If left untreated it can cause severe disfigurement and significant disability.
Not only this but, you were a social outcast, forced to live outside the city in a valley with other lepers, since in Bible days there were no known cure for this horrid disease, it meant certain death. So, it was ten men who were social outcast, decaying, disabled and no hope. Some how they heard about the Miracle Maker and decided to leave their leper valley together and find Him.
I could only imagine all the "get out of here, you're not wanted!" they must of received. Yet, despite rejection they knew they had to find the only glimpse of hope they ever heard of.
When the finally found Him, they cried out to Him and Jesus tells them to go
to the Jewish priest, (In the those days only the priest could say you were clean of leprosy), however, as they were on their way,
they discovered they were healed. WOW! Can you imagine?!
No more disability. No more skin sores. No more living in the village of lepers. No more being the outcast. Totally healed!
So, with that in mind.... why does only one man come back to thank the Lord? Even Jesus Himself asks that same question... "Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?" He was a despised Samaritan.
Samaritans were the few Jewish people who had been left behind when the Babylonians carried everyone else away. They intermarried with non-Jewish people...time passed... the Jewish blood line was lost ...then they stopped worshiping in Jerusalem, thus they were despised.
So, I presume the other 9 were Jewish. These 9 should have been thrilled that the Messiah was here. He was foretold, promised, expected...
No more disability. No more skin sores. No more living in the village of lepers. No more being the outcast. Totally healed!
So, with that in mind.... why does only one man come back to thank the Lord? Even Jesus Himself asks that same question... "Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?" He was a despised Samaritan.
Samaritans were the few Jewish people who had been left behind when the Babylonians carried everyone else away. They intermarried with non-Jewish people...time passed... the Jewish blood line was lost ...then they stopped worshiping in Jerusalem, thus they were despised.
So, I presume the other 9 were Jewish. These 9 should have been thrilled that the Messiah was here. He was foretold, promised, expected...
yet... these 9 missed out.
Healed, but not seeing who it was that healed them.
Only the foreigner knew, only he saw, only he came back...
And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”
The foreigner was blessed!
What have we miss out on?
Have we become so used to God's blessings that we forget to see who He is?
Have we forgotten what He has done, or is doing, or will do for Us...
His children?
Let us forget in this land of plenty what He has done!
Let us not just Thank Him once a year or once a week....
let us thank Him every day for as long as we live!
For we have so much to be thankful for!
Psalm 7:17
Oh, how grateful and thankful I am to the Lord because he is so good.
I will sing praise to the name of the Lord who is above all lords.
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