Dave's Diary

Daily Reading: Luke 17:11-19

Two things distinguished the leper in this story from the other nine – first, he was a Samaritan, and second, he was the only one who returned to thank Jesus for healing him. As a Samaritan, everyone would have expected him to be least spiritually aware. And yet, while the other nine were quite happy to perform the required religious ceremony and be declared clean by the priest, only this man was so filled with awe, praise and thanksgiving that he simply had to let it out. The religious recognition of his cleansing could wait, but his response to Jesus could not. So he “came back, praising God in a loud voice … threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.”

To Jesus, this spontaneous and heartfelt act of thanksgiving was a clear revelation of the man’s faith (v.17-19). It showed that he honestly believed his healing was directly caused by Jesus, and that this meant Jesus was worthy of worship and thanks. It was not chance that his skin suddenly cleared shortly after he prayed to Jesus for healing. It was not just the passage of time that had allowed his body to heal. It was a direct intervention by Jesus. The thought seems not to have occurred to the other nine. They had asked Jesus to heal them because they’d heard of Jesus’ reputation for healing, but their subsequent healing did not cause them to make the shift of faith that God had been at work to heal them through Jesus. Unlike the tenth man, they were not moved to thansgiving and worship. And so all they received was physical healing and a return to society. But the tenth man, the thankful man, the faith-filled man, was also restored to relationship with God through his faith in Jesus. His faith had made him truly and fully “well”.

How about us? So much good has happened this year. Did it just happen to happen? Or are we willing to acknowledge that every good and perfect gift happened because of the LORD’s goodness and grace. Will we have the faith to acknowledge Him, thank Him, and fall at His feet to worship Him for all His goodness to us? Let’s take time to ponder that today and to make the necessary connections between all our blessings and our loving LORD. Amen.