RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2020-04-24	The Power of Gratitude (Lk.17:11-19)
		The Power of Gratitude (Lk.17:11-19) Jesus heals 10 lepers Luk 17:11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Luk 17:12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. Luk 17:13 And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Luk 17:14 So when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. Luk 17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, Luk 17:16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. Luk 17:17 So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Luk 17:18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" Luk 17:19 And He said to him, "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well." Allow me to summarize this passage. There were 10 lepers who were living shut out lives as outcasts. Leprosy is a skin disease which included skin sores, and at times the loss of fingers and toes. There were both Jews and Samaritans in this situation. They did not normally live together. It seems misery loves company. All 10 of the lepers prayed to Jesus from a distance. They recognized their need and cried for mercy. They all seemed to act in faith as they moved toward the priests (v.14) When they turned to obey, they were healed (v.14) They likely started to think about how this changes their lives. Now they likely obeyed Jesus and went to show themselves to the priest. (Can we be obedient in one sense, and still not be grateful in another?) One of the 10 thought to come back to Jesus to thank Him and to glorify God (v.15-16). Of course since he was a Samaritan, Jesus telling this story will get the religious Jews upset. To the Jews a Samaritan was not worthy of this healing. That Samaritan sure pictures us, since we also are not worthy of God's grace. All 10 had good reason to come back to Jesus and thank Him for the physical healing they experienced. Jesus often spoke of the Jew and the Gentile (anyone not a Jew) in contrast. The end result is that the Jews do not believe, and the gentile does. The gentiles picture the church believing on Jesus, while the Jew does not. They all had reason to praise God, but only one expressed gratitude. Are we like the nine who were selfishly thankful? Or are we like the one who knew he was not worthy to receive God's grace, and so was full of gratitude? They all received physical healing, but the one also received spiritual healing (v.19) Ingratitude toward God is not so much a cause of evil but the result of it. Once we have hardened our hearts to the point that we no longer see God as the source of our gifts, nothing is off-limits. Jesus' questions, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?” (v.17) show His disappointment at the ingratitude of the majority. This example shows us how highly God values thankfulness. Do we take others for granted? Or do we take God for granted? Ingratitude is sin, just as lying, and stealing are! In fact Paul describes the characteristics of people in the last days. One of them is ingratitude (2Tm.3:2) Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

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