My dear brothers and sisters, of FaithLine: “…as Jesus entered a village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” AS THEY WENT, THEY WERE CLEANSED. ONE OF THEM, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And HE WAS A SAMARITAN. So Jesus said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But WHERE ARE THE NINE? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:12-18) Why did Jesus send them to the priest? The priest did diagnoses and then informed whether the person in question was clean or unclean, the priest would unwittingly confirm the power of Christ to cleanse a leper when the priest declared him clean. Notice, they were healed AS THEY WENT! Our willingness to obey God often results in some form of blessing for us.
The emotional pain of a leper, however, must have been even worse than the physical pain. The leper was removed from their family and community. There could be no contact, whatsoever, with their children or grandchildren. None. Immediately removed. The family would not be allowed to kiss them goodbye. It was not allowed for fear that they too, would become afflicted. So, it was an overwhelming experience to be healed of leprosy. The question then is why did they not return to Jesus to give thanks? The other 9 could have been Jewish; they probably were. Is Jesus saying: “my people miss the point, but this guy who knows very little of our traditions SEES CLEARLY WHO JESUS IS”?
OPEN OUR EYES LORD THAT WE MAY CLEARLY SEE JUST WHO YOU ARE…
FaithLine, the bible says: “AS THEY WENT, THEY WERE CLEANSED.”
-Bill Stockham