March 23, 2012

Luke 17:11-19

“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? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.””

Do we notice a recurring theme? O_o You all may not remember, but in a previous devotion, Jesus told a parable in which once again, the good guy was a Samaritan. Any idea why? Well, here’s a possibility based on a few things Jesus said Himself: You ever notice that people from the outside always appreciate and are more grateful than people on the inside? You might think that’s beside the point of this scripture, but hmmm, I’d think again. The main takeaway of this is that we shouldn’t be ungrateful to God for His works and that also faith is a key component to our salvation. Notice: your faith has made you well. Why would Jesus say this? If taken from a logical standpoint, here’s a possibility: Jesus heals 10 lepers. Only 1 returns to say thanks. This indicates that he was probably the only one that believed in Jesus’ ability to do it, so much so that he had to come back and say thanks once he was healed! This is a good example of how a Christian reaction should be. The others on the other hand, probably just believed in their own might or saw Jesus as a person to be used, meaning that Jesus meant nothing to them…Are you that type of person? Are you the one that remembers to thank God for His many blessings? Or are you the user that comes when you want something and when you get it, tend to believe it’s all you? Each man should answer for himself, but just make sure you’re on the right side :-)