Thanksgiving 2023
Luke 17:11-19 (19)
Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
The year 2023 is almost coming to an end. What are the things you’re grateful for in your life from this year? The story we’ll cover today is found only in Luke’s gospel, and it is about a man who turns back after being healed to thank Jesus. This story teaches us what kind of faith truly makes us well. May God open our hearts and speak to us through his living words today.
Let’s pray.
Look at verse 11. "Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee." On this occasion, Jesus was right in between Samaria, where Samaritans lived, and Galilee, where Jews lived. Due to racial and religious differences, Jews and Samaritans hated each other and did not associate with each other. And because of this hatred and contempt they had for each other, no one chose to live in the area along the border between Galilee and Samaria. It was like a no man’s land. But some people had no choice but to live there. Who were they?
In verse 12a, Jesus was met by ten men with leprosy as he was going into a village. In those days, leprosy, often described as a defiling skin disease in the Bible (Lev 13), was considered a ceremonially unclean disease, and those who had it were required to live outside the village, separated from their loved ones. The lepers, rejected and isolated, gathered at the border of Galilee and Samaria, a desolate land. Each person among them had lost everything familiar due to leprosy. United by the experience of being shunned and rejected by the people, these ten lepers could come together regardless of their race.
At that time, leprosy was an incurable disease, and the news of contracting leprosy was like a death sentence. The fact that they would have to give up their families and community life would have made them lose all hope in their lives. They live each day in loneliness, sadness, and resentment. Not to mention, leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that affects the skin and the nervous system. People with leprosy may lose their eyebrows and experience disfiguring skin and deformed nose, hands, and feet. They also suffer from nerve damage, leading to a loss of sensation and, in severe cases, blindness.
The rumor that Jesus could heal any illness with just a touch must have reached their ears. For those who had lost everything and been abandoned, the news of Jesus was truly astonishing. They believed that if they could only meet Jesus, they too could be healed. Jesus has become their only hope. Surprisingly, in the desolate land where no one lived, Jesus appeared. The lepers recognized Him immediately. Though they had never seen Him before, they had daily imagined His appearance based on the rumors. For them, this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. They hurriedly ran toward Him, fearing that Jesus might pass by without noticing them.
Look at verses 12b-13. "They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" The Law demanded them to keep a distance from the people with the penalty of being stoned to death. So, they stood at a distance and cried out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" Maybe again and again. It means, "Have mercy on us!" It was a desperate prayer. All they wanted was the compassion of Jesus and his merciful healing. They called Jesus as Master. They believed Jesus was the chief commander who had authority over all things. In their desperate prayer was faith in Jesus. Jesus was moved by their prayers and had compassion for them.
How does Jesus respond to their cry? Look at verse 14a. When he saw them, he said "Go, show yourselves to the priests." He didn't touch them or interact with them in any other way. Why? He's teaching them to act in faith based on his word. The only way they can do this is to believe his word. As we saw in their initial encounter with Jesus, the first stage of faith is to cry out to Jesus for his mercy. The second stage of faith, shown here, is to act based on his word.
To rejoin society as men free of leprosy, they need to receive certificates of cleansing. All ten lepers had the painful memory of being pronounced unclean by the priest and isolated from society. That day remained a traumatic experience for all of them. Now, Jesus commanded them to go and show themselves to the priest, even though their condition had not improved. Going to the priest to show their bodies meant risking their lives.
Look at verse 14b. "And as they went, they were cleansed." Yet, they believed and followed Jesus' words faithfully. None of them questioned or doubted Jesus. The fact that they went to the priest demonstrated their belief that Jesus would indeed heal them of their leprosy. They didn't doubt that Jesus had already poured out mercy on them. They believed Jesus had restored their lives. On the way to the priest, they felt new flesh emerging from their previously disfigured skin. The same was happening to the other leper who was walking together. Their numb senses returned, allowing them to feel everything once again. Can you imagine how they felt at that moment? They're shouting, jumping, and pointing at each other's faces, hands and feet. What a beautiful miracle! These ten people have incurable leprosy, but when they act based only on the word of Jesus, they're completely healed. It shows us the power of Jesus' word. Only those who have faith in Jesus' word and obey His word can experience the amazing grace of healing from Jesus.
But all this is only the beginning. What's next? Look at verses 15-16. "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." Then, Jesus asked in verses 17 and 18. "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?"
While ten lepers were cleansed, only one Samaritan man returned to Jesus to give thanks. From Jesus' questions, we can see His great disappointment with the other nine who did not return to give thanks. How could the other nine not return to express gratitude in response to such amazing mercy from Jesus? Doesn't it seem like they lack even the most fundamental human decency? But well, How about us? Do we acknowledge everything we have as blessings from God? Do we personally ever come back to God, not for more, but just to praise and thank Him? Do we keep living a life full of thanksgiving?
We human beings all have a tendency to take things for granted. It's our sinful nature. Romans 1:21 says "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."
The other nine probably went to the priest with great expectations of living a new life with their cleansed bodies. They might have been amazed at the power of Jesus and expressed gratitude at that moment, but they did not thank Him enough to turn back and express their gratitude. What does this tell us? It tells us that they did not thank Jesus wholeheartedly for His mercy. While they may have temporarily expressed gratitude for Jesus' grace, they couldn't reach the point of committing to worship Him, finding satisfaction in Him alone, and living a life for Him. When they first encountered Jesus, they were so desperate that they cried out loudly, believed, and obeyed His words. However, after receiving grace and achieving what they desired, they wanted to live life on their own terms. They were still living a self-centered life, where myself is on the throne, and Jesus Christ is outside my life. Such a life is still a series of problems and continuous pain. It is not true healing.
Then, what about the Samaritan man who returned to Jesus? What makes this Samaritan different from the other nine? Let's look at verses 15 and 16 again. "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." He would also have wanted to quickly meet the priest with his cleansed body and return to the place where his loved ones were. But there seemed to be a priority on his heart that surpassed this desire. The moment he saw he was healed, he realized that Jesus was more than a Master. He realized that Jesus was God who created this world and himself, taking control of everything in the world. When he experienced the amazing power and mercy of Jesus, he realized that he was unworthy of such grace at the same time. He knew he needed to worship and pour out his thankful heart at Jesus' feet.
This man's reaction is a proper attitude to be taken when a creature meets the Creator or when one realizes their sinfulness and encounters the Savior. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him. This man had to stand at a distance when he first met Jesus, but now there's no distance between him and Jesus anymore. Now, he had a personal relationship with Jesus. He became a worshiper of Jesus.
What did Jesus last say? Look at verse 19. Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
First, what is this "faith" that Jesus is referring to here?
We already saw that all ten lepers had faith when they cried out for the mercy of Jesus. It takes faith to realize we need God's mercy and to receive his grace. But it also takes great faith to maintain that grace in our lives from moment to moment and not to lose sight of how undeserving we are before Jesus. The Samaritan man didn't just stop at physical healing but became a worshiper of Jesus. That was the transformation from a self-centered life into a Christ-centered one. It is the faith that recognizes Jesus as the only one worthy of worship and holding the authority over my life that enables one to return and express gratitude.
Next, what does it mean to be made well? It means to be saved. In KJV, it says, "Your faith has made you 'whole'. Physical healing alone does not make us whole. To be truly made whole, the spiritual issues, the problems of sin and death, must be solved. How can this be achieved? Salvation from sin can only be obtained through the blood of Jesus on the cross. The other nine may have been delivered from physical leprosy, but as long as they didn't know how to turn their hearts to the Lord in thanksgiving, their spiritual conditions were still far from whole.
The author, Luke, emphasizes that the one who returned was a Samaritan. Although this Samaritan man was despised because he was not a Jew, God's chosen people, he alone returned and expressed gratitude wholeheartedly to Jesus. How can we maintain a life of thanksgiving? We must realize how undeserving sinners we are. We need to acknowledge that we are powerless beings and can do nothing on our own. Only when we admit that we cannot live a single day without the grace of God can we be thankful for everything.
During this week of Thanksgiving, may we wholeheartedly praise God by renewing our faith in Jesus as our Creator and Savior. May we continually live a life of thanksgiving that gives us true joy and satisfaction.
Let’s pray.