Were There Not Ten? | Sunday, November 10, 2024

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 priests." 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." (Luke 17:11–19)

Ten lepers were healed, but only one came back to say thank you—and that single act opened the door to something more than healing.

Gratitude and the Pursuit of Happiness

This month, as we approach Thanksgiving, we are fixing our focus on the subject of gratitude in a series I'm calling In Everything Give Thanks. Those words come from what Paul wrote to the new Christians at Thessalonica: "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). It is God's will that we have hearts and spirits of gratitude.

I am convinced that gratitude and thanksgiving are some of the keys to happiness. Every person we know is ultimately seeking happiness. Blaise Pascal, the great French philosopher and theologian, said, "All men seek happiness." People think they will find it in financial wealth, in business position, in political power. Yet so often those who reach the levels we deem successful testify that it did not bring what they thought. The philosophers of our day—the songwriters—say things like "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" and "I can't get no satisfaction." They are identifying a real longing we cannot seem to lay hold of.

The Joy Jesus Came to Give

One of Jesus's aims is that we would experience fullness of joy. He says in John's gospel, "These things I have spoken to you...that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." Dennis Prager, in his book Happiness Is a Serious Problem, wrote, "Yes, there is a secret to happiness, and it is gratitude. All happy people are grateful, and ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that it is being unhappy that leads people to complain, but it is truer to say that complaining leads people to become unhappy." I think he's right.

Jesus explicitly outlines His purpose in coming. In John 10:10 He says, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." God desires that we in Christ would experience fullness of joy—the abundant life—and that is part of the reason He wills our gratitude.

These Things Actually Happened

I love this passage because the point becomes so obvious as you go through it that it is almost impossible to miss. The opening words, "Now it happened," are an important reminder that these are not fictional stories but actual events. The city is not named and we don't know who these individuals were, but the way their lives were transformed by Jesus really took place.

The fact that you are here this morning is a reminder that the life and ministry of Jesus continues to impact and transform people today. Every one of you who has trusted in Christ has a testimony of a transformed life. Some grew up in the church and don't have a dramatic story; some of you have the crazy testimonies—but every one of us has a story.

One striking illustration has played out in recent months in the life of Russell Brand. He had a past full of all kinds of issues, and yet earlier this year it seems he had an encounter with Christ, and his life has been radically transformed. Some skeptics say he's only doing it for his platform, but watching what he is saying is phenomenal. We are reminded that Christ still radically transforms individuals—not just thousands of years ago, but today. Perhaps you know someone you think could never change. I guarantee you God can still transform that person. Be praying toward that end.

Jesus Moves Toward Those Others Would Avoid

Jesus had a very clear focus. He repeatedly told His disciples His mission: "I have come that you may have life" (John 10:10); "I have come to seek and to save that which is lost" (Luke 19); "I have come to give My life a ransom for many" (Mark). Beginning in Matthew 16, He explicitly told the disciples He was going to Jerusalem to be delivered to the chief priests and scribes and put to death—and that on the third day He would rise again. Peter even rebuked Him for it, and Jesus said, "Get behind Me, Satan." Luke says Jesus set His face like flint toward Jerusalem; He had a goal nothing would deter Him from.

Yet even with this clear objective, He never overlooked the needs of those who sought Him out. That is so encouraging to me, because I can get so fixed on a goal that I get frustrated by any distraction. Jesus reminds me there is never a time when He is too busy for us. Hebrews says He is "the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

His route took Him through Samaria. Jews and Samaritans did not get along—it would be an understatement to say so. The Scriptures say Jews hated Samaritans, viewing them as lower than Gentiles, and the most faithful would cross east of the Jordan to avoid getting the dirt of Samaria on them, fearing it would make them unclean. Yet a few times in the gospels Jesus goes right into Samaria, as with the woman at the well in John 4. He goes to the very people others intentionally avoid. Jesus moves toward those others would avoid. That is good news, because you may have been—or may still be—the person others avoid. And it is a challenge: it may be that the very person you would avoid is the one God wants you to reach with His grace.

Ten Outcasts Cry Out in Faith

As He entered a certain village, ten men who were lepers met Him. Leprosy in the Bible was an umbrella category of illness, often visible in the skin. Those who suspected they had it went not to a physician but to the priest, who inspected them. If the priest determined it was leprosy—considered incurable and contagious—you were set outside of society. You could no longer go home, into a village, into a city, or into the temple. You became an outcast, able to associate only with others who had the same condition, often gathering in colonies to wait out a disease that was frequently terminal.

These men knew their place; they stood afar off. They had to dress so others would stay away, and would cover their faces crying "Unclean." They were the missed ones—people purposely stayed away from them until they became blind to them. But Jesus didn't miss them. We learn one of them was a Samaritan—doubly outcast, a Samaritan and a leper.

They lifted up their voices together and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" This is the prayer of faith, and it recognizes three things: the person of Jesus ("Jesus"), the position of Jesus ("Master," kurios, Lord), and the power of Jesus ("have mercy on us"). James says, "The prayer of faith will save the sick." They came trusting that only He could help them—no medicine, no ritual, no priesthood, only Jesus.

Faith That Obeys

When He saw them, He said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." Jesus sees and answers those who call to Him in faith. He sees the very people others overlook. Maybe you have felt like the one people overlook—Jesus sees you.

He sent them to the priest because the priest was the one who inspected and reintroduced a cleansed person back into social and religious life. So the ten set out, and "as they went, they were cleansed." The text seems to imply they were not yet healed when they started. It would feel futile—heading to the priest while still covered in leprosy—and yet they went. They had faith enough to call out to Jesus, and faith enough to obey Him.

Many people in this world, at some difficult time, have enough faith to call out to Jesus for help. But a much smaller group actually steps out to obey His word. Genuine faith in Christ produces obedience to Christ. We don't know that their healing depended on their obedience—indeed, one of them never reaches the priest yet is still healed—but they experienced healing as they obeyed.

Where Are the Nine?

Now we come to the heart of it. "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." The Greek verb is eucharisteō—giving thanks. And he was a Samaritan. All ten obeyed; only one returned to give thanks.

Is it possible that only ten percent of those who experience God's blessing return? Perhaps we shouldn't take that literally, but it is true that many more experience God's goodness than give Him thanks. "Every good and perfect gift comes from God." Everything every person has is the common grace and goodness of God; the rain falls on the just and the unjust. Yet not all acknowledge it or return to give Him praise. All ten of these men wallowed in their illness together, but only one came and worshiped Him in his wellness.

Charles Spurgeon, the great Prince of Preachers, said, "The number of those who pray is far greater than the number of those who praise." Far more people bring God petitions in their difficult times than return to bring Him praise when times get better. What's striking is that the nine still offered religious ritual—they went to the priest and were reintroduced into Jewish life—but they did not come back to Christ to give Him joyful adoration. And the one who returned was a Samaritan, from the group looked down upon, considered worse than Gentiles. Those expected to recognize the glory of God in Jesus did not return; this foreigner did.

God Acknowledges Gratitude and Ingratitude

Jesus answered, "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?" God acknowledges gratitude—and ingratitude. Part of me wishes Jesus didn't notice when we're not thankful, but He does. He acknowledged the gratitude of the man at His feet, and He noticed those who didn't show up.

The prophet Malachi tells us God records, almost as in a book, the times His people praise and worship Him—and the implication is that He also takes note when we don't. There is a judgment spoken over ingratitude. Romans 1 says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness... because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful." Ingratitude is a heavy thing to consider.

Wholeness for Those Who Praise His Grace

The nine experienced the blessing of God and were reintroduced into social life, but this one put himself on the ground at Jesus's feet and praised Him as God—and Jesus had something more for him. "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well." The King James says, "Your faith has made you whole." There was a greater measure of blessing given to the one who returned in gratitude. Jesus brings wholeness to those who praise the glory of His grace. He wants you to experience wholeness as you give Him praise and thanksgiving.

So I want to encourage you this week to set aside even just five, ten, or fifteen minutes. Take a pen and a pad of paper, and at the top write, "What do I have to be thankful for?" There are things in this very text: Jesus passes through Samaria, going where others won't go; He draws near to those who are infirmed because of sin; He has mercy on those who cry out; He cleanses sinners; He receives outsiders; and He blesses those who are grateful. But you have dozens, if not hundreds, of other things—great gifts that could be nothing other than supernatural grace.

As we see these things and give thanks, our thanksgiving acknowledges God's greatness, testifies of His goodness, glorifies His grace, amplifies His glory, exalts His throne, and invites His blessing. There isn't a single person here who doesn't want to experience more of God's blessing—and one of the keys to it is gratitude. God help us to be grateful, thankful people.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I pray that You would do a work in me first, Lord, that I would notice and see the ways in which You have blessed and been good to me. Lord, I confess it's so easy for me to get busy and distracted by all the different things that are so often good things, but in doing the good things I can fail to come and sit at Your feet and bring You joyful rejoicing and praise. So God, today and this week, would You remind me of some of the great things You have done, the awesome ways in which You've given me Your grace and Your mercy? And Lord, would You stir my heart just as the psalmist sought to do in Psalm 136: "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever." God, we thank You for Your grace, for Your mercy, for Your kindness toward us. We certainly don't deserve it, but You have poured it out upon us in abundance. Would You stir us to be a grateful people? For we ask it in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, amen.