Luke 17:11-19
Verse 13 …and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
Yesterday we talked about one man asking for healing from leprosy and Jesus reaching out and touching him to heal him physically and emotionally. But today we have 10 men wanting to be clean and Jesus follows the law about not touching them. Let’s find out why.
Traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee Jesus and His disciples came across a colony of lepers. We mentioned yesterday that leprosy could be a lonely existence unless you found a colony to be a part of. These 10 men had found community, but there was something about this group that may not have been as common. While it was in the laws of the Jewish people that having leprosy meant being unclean, there were those who also believed that Samaritans were unclean and should be avoided as well. For this group to have a Samaritan in it shows just how important community was to a person with the skin disease. This illness took so much from the person that the laws of the land didn’t mean as much. They would have struggled to practice their Jewish faith at all because of being limited in where they could go. To be told they couldn’t go to the Temple would have made them feel more than just outsiders in their communities and families, it would have them feeling left out of God’s family.
As Jesus and His followers came close the men call out to Him by name. They knew His reputation. They knew what He could do, yet they beg for His pity. They aren’t bold enough to ask to be healed, calling out to His ability to do miracles, no, they ask for His pity. They were asking Him to do something for them, not giving much thought to His glory.
Their request causes Jesus to look at them and without fanfare He tells them to go show themselves to the priest. There was pity. Pity for their plight and that is all they had been concerned about. Jesus did as they asked and still brought glory to the Father by doing His will in healing these men to add to the fulfillment of the prophecy that the Promised One would perform miracles. They were witnessing the fulfillment of prophecy but only the one, who was used to being an outcast, saw fit to thank Him. One man who understood that the significance of who He was and what He had done. And Jesus acknowledges him as a foreigner but then says his faith has made him well. Jesus wasn’t just talking about physically, this man’s acknowledgment of God doing the healing shows that he was a believer.
Making It Personal
What are some things that God has done for you? Have you thanked Him for them? Why could thanking Him be important to your relationship with Him?
Making It Personal Kids
Why is thanking someone important? What kinds of things has Jesus done for you? Have you thanked Him?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You. Thank You for Your sacrifice and being a God who always keeps His word. Thank You for all the marvelous things that You do in our lives and the things that You are still working out in our lives. Please give us grateful hearts. Help us see Your hand in everything and help us show others too. In Jesus’ name, amen.