Luke 17:11-19
Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village , there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!". So when He saw them , He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priest." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, 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 answered and 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?" And He said to him, "Arise, go your way Your faith has made you well,"
TEN LEPERS CLEANSED - HEALED
On this day Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem and He had to go through a village called Samaria. The distance of this journey was quite a very long one but Jesus had a purpose. And wherever Jesus went He always had a multitude of people around Him.
Meaning of multitude
A crowd of people
A mass of people
A large company
In the four gospels and in the book of Ats the word multitude is used frequently. And in this group of people we had:
The disciples
The pharisees
The children
The sick
The market women
The hungry
So many came around Jesus because they knew Him to be the one that could perform miracles in their lives. They knew Him as the Miracle worker. And for this reason people of all sorts grouped around Jesus. Acts 10:38 records this "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him."
Jesus was loved by a lot of people and they could not get enough of Jesus. He always healed those who had faith and in this midst the sick will be healed, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will walk away healed, the dead will rise and people would hear the good news from Him.
The scriptures confirm this in the following:
Mark 1:32-34
At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.
Matthew 8:1-3
When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshipped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Then Jesus put out his hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
On this day when Jesus eventually got to Jerusalem the ten lepers stood afar off and when they saw Jesus they lifted up their voice and cried out.
Jesus, Master have mercy on us!
When Jesus saw them, He said to them.
"Go show yourself to the priest."
And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
And one of them
When he saw that he was healed, returned and with a loud voice glorified God.!
And fell down on his face at His feet, giving Thanks.
Jesus recognised the one leper that came back to give thanks. Jesus was amazed that it was only the one leper that came back and 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.?"
And Jesus said to the one leper.
"Arise, go your way your faith has made you well."
This one leper got more of Jesus' miracle and Jesus was grateful that he came back to glorify God.
What does the Bible say about giving thanks.
Psalm 100:4
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks and praise His name.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests before God.
Psalm 34:1
I will extol the LORD at all times, his praise will always be on my lips.
Psalm 107:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good his love endures forever.
God wants us to be grateful to Him at all times.
Jesus was standing at the tomb of Lazarus who had died for four days and He lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that You have heard Me."
In this place Jesus started His prayers by giving God thanks in the midst of all the people and the dead man came out whole.
The book of Acts 16: 16-26
The disciples gave thanks to God by praising Him in their pain.
Jesus is giving us an example to follow and that is to give thanks in all things. And as we do that He will bless us with more than we can imagine.
Give thanks!!
God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us - Ephesians 3:20
His power within us will rise up in us to be able to give thanks in our time of pain.
Today let's enter into his gates with a heart of gratitude and He will do the impossible in that situation as we focus on Jesus who came to save us from the hands of the evil one.
