I am amazed at how people feel so entitled that they fail to show any thankfulness when others do for them. It all starts when they are children, and they are not taught to be thankful. They get a new toy, and mom or dad says, “What are you supposed to say?” and after much prompting and hesitation, they say thank you. It is one thing to prompt them to say thank you, but when you must keep reminding them, they are only complying to escape punishment. If this is how you get them to say thank you, the proper lesson would be to take the toy and give it back to the giver. Another way a lack of thankfulness is shown is how they take care of the toy. If they play with it, toss it aside, or leave it where it may get broken, they are not thankful for it. I use children as an example because it is easy to see in them, but children are the way they are because of the examples of adults in their lives. Where has the thankfulness gone in our society? The lack of thankfulness is not new; it is just more pronounced now.
Luke 17:11-19, Jesus was headed to Jerusalem. He traveled along the borders of Samaria and Galilee. Before He entered a village, He was met with ten men who had leprosy. They stood away from Jesus and those who were with Him because leprosy was a disease that was contagious, and there was no cure. By law, they were required to stay away from anyone who was not infected. As Jesus was traveling, and seeing him, and knowing that they were unclean, they stopped, so that they might not expose others to their dreaded disease. However, this time they recognized Jesus.
How they knew about Him and His healing powers is not certain. Maybe one of them had known and seen Him before they became a leper. Even though verse 12 tells us they stood far from Him, they made sure He heard them. They call Him by name and add ‘Master’ to His title. They beg for mercy. Mercy is compassion, kindness, or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm. It is a voluntary act of love when justice demands the opposite. Notice, they did not ask Jesus to heal them.
Luke 17:11-13 “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 that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
Jesus extends mercy to them, but not until they obey. In verse 14, He tells them to go show themselves to the priests. They do not ask questions; they obey. They knew the routine. If you were healed before you could go back into society, you must be declared clean by the priest. They show tremendous faith in going. They were not yet healed, but they trusted that Jesus would take care of things. As they were on their way, they were healed. I would have loved to have seen them when their skin looked as clear as a newborn’s. There had to be shouts as one by one they were healed. I am sure they picked up the pace to get to the priest.
Luke 17:14 “And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that, as they went, they were cleansed.”
Now we come to verse 15. The verse that reveals the true heart of thanksgiving. While nine of them proceeded to go to the priest, one went back to thank Jesus. This man highlights the difference between receiving a blessing and recognizing its source. He immediately turns back, loudly praises God, and falls at Jesus’ feet in humility. We do not know the nationality of each of the ten men, but we do know that the one who returned was a Samaritan. All in the region knew that Jews hated Samaritans because they were half-breeds. As a result, the Samaritans hated the Jews. So, out of the ten, this man seemed to be the most unlikely to show gratitude to a Jew. This man did not feel entitled. He was not thinking about how he could now be reunited with his family. His first response was to express the thankfulness welling up inside him. He must get back to Jesus and thank him. Jesus’ response was where are the nine that were with you?
This one man gives us a powerful lesson on the importance of returning to give thanks for God’s mercy and grace. This man was afflicted with a physical disease. As bad as that may be, we were in a worse state before Christ. We were in our own leper colony as we were separated from God because of our sins. We were terminally ill with an eternal death sentence hanging over our heads. Without Jesus, there would be no hope of a cure, no chance to spend eternity with our creator. No chance to escape the torture of an eternal Hell. But God, in His infinite wisdom and love, made a way that we could be eternally cured and returned to Him. Do you often take time to thank Him for your salvation, or are you like the nine who take for granted the cure for your sins? Do you symbolically fall at His feet and praise Him for all His blessings on you? Are you the one, or are you in the pack of the nine?
Luk 17:15-19 “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.”
