October 10, 2010
Lk. 17:11-19
"Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?" This was the reaction of the Lord Jesus when only one, a Samaritan leper at that, returned to give thanks to Him for healing them of leprosy. For a Jewish listener to this story, this is very embarrassing. A Jew, not a Samaritan, is expected to do good acts or to get the limelight. The Jews are not the chosen people for nothing! The Gentile people, like the Samaritan, are to benefit later.
Jesus had made so many miracles to many and none was recorded to have gone back or had been required by Him to give thanks. We asked, why, in this case, He asked from the others? What kind of healing was done? In the minds of the Jews, healing the body is also healing the soul. The Jews believed that sicknesses were caused by the sins of the person. Lepers were thrown out of the city or located away from society because they were considered dirty not only physically but also spiritually. In one healing incident, the Lord Jesus healed a lame person by saying that his sins are forgiven. The Jews reacted by accusing Him of blasphemy. The Lord responded by instead telling the lame man to pick up his mat and walk. In any case, both were achieved. For the Jews, the two commands meant the same.
Going back to the healed lepers, the question is, "Were they healed only physically or also spiritually? The answer is yes. When the Lord Jesus heals, He heals in both levels. But gratitude is also very important as shown by this incident. In response to the gratitude of the Samaritan leper, Jesus told him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you!" This means that while the other nine were given the benefit of healing, we can not really determine the extent of their healing. Nothing was heard about them. This is similar to the rich young man who came to Jesus to seek eternal life. Jesus told Him to sell everything and follow Him. Because he was very rich, he went away sad. He was so attached to his riches that following the Lord without them is not enough. He was so enslaved by it that eternal life was not worth it. But we know what happened to the grateful Samaritan leper. From the very words of Jesus, he was saved. His faith and his gratitude brought about that situation.
This incident also tells us that gratitude is really for the grateful than God. God, in truth, does not need our thanks. He is complete by Himself and He can be without our gratitude. But the gratitude is really for us. When we are thankful, we enter the realm of salvation. In recognizing the goodness of God, we get its full benefit. In expressing our appreciation of what He had done to us, He makes us more worthy and recipient of more graces.
Thank you Lord for all the graces You had given. Thank You Lord for all the answered prayers. And thank you Lord for the unanswered ones too!
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