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Jesus_Blesses_A_Thankful_Man.hwp|
Luke 17:11-19 Key Verse: 17:16 Jesus Blesses A Thankful Man "He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan." The third weekend of November, we celebrate it as thanksgiving day in Korea. The thanksgiving day is an American holiday made official by President Abraham Lincoln. The ancestors of the United States of America are the Puritans of England. They left their home country escaping from the persecution of the Church of England. They set sailed onboard Mayflower for the freedom of faith on the year 1620 and arrived at the new land of America. First they built the church to serve God and then hospital, school. Their homes were built later on. However, while the 102 Pilgrims had the first harsh winter, half of them died of cold and diseases. But they thanked God for enabling them to survive and celebrate the first harvest, although which was not enough. Under any circumstances, they praised God first and thanked for all he had done. Their thankfulness pleased God. So God blessed them and their country abundantly. That is why USA became the most powerful nation. However, nowadays when they lost the thankfulness to God, their power diminished and their influence to the world is not good. The Bible speaks about the importance of being thankful. In today's message Jesus heals ten men with leprosy. It is a great miracle. However, this time the focus is on the response of those who were healed rather than the healing power. Among ten lepers, only one praised God and thanked Jesus. Jesus blessed him. If we want to be blessed by Jesus, we should learn from him. At this time, let us learn the thankfulness from the samaritan leper, so that we may receive God's blessings. Part 1. Jesus heals ten men with leprosy (11-14). Look at verse 11, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. There, the crucifixion awaited. Jesus was walking a lonely way in obedience to God's will. Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. At that time, Jews despised Samaritans because they are considered as mixed blood or pagans from the old history of Israel. They were thought to be faraway from the worship of God. The Jew's insulting attitude offended the Samaritans. The Samaritans in turn, hated the Jews. So they did not associate with each other. However, Jesus set out for Jerusalem passing the border between Galilee and Samaria. When Jesus entered a village, ten men with leprosy met him. Both Jews and Samaritans were together. They traveled together and helped each other. As for them, the barriers between Jews and Samaritans were collapsed. It is because all of them were despised by other people. Lepers were not allowed among healthy people, but should stay in isolated places as quarantines. Lepers could associate only with other lepers. So, they were lonely. Furthermore, they were considered as being cursed by God. However, one day, these men heard that Jesus had compassion on men with leprosy and the power to heal them. Jesus was coming through their place. It might have been impossible for them to leave the territory. However, in God's providence, Jesus came to them. With a new hope, they got together and went to Jesus. They could not even come near Jesus because they all are unclean. So, they stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" They came to Jesus just as they were and pleaded for mercy. Perhaps they might have had many rehearsals for this. They cried out in unison. In this case, their cry revealed their desperate need and faith in Jesus. This cry came from their belief in Jesus' mercy and power. Jesus did not ignore their cry. Jesus did not pass them by. Jesus was willing to help. Even though Jesus was now under his own painful and lonely way to crucifixion, Jesus had compassion on these ten helpless men. Jesus' compassion never dries up or runs out, for Jesus is God. Jesus is always ready to show compassion to the helpless sinners, also to us. However, Jesus want some more in helping out these men with leprosy. Jesus had a greater purpose in mind than just healing them. Look at verse 14a. "When he saw them, he said, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.'" Jesus did not simply say, "Be clean!" Instead, he told them to go and show themselves to the priests. According to the law, people with skin diseases had to be examined by the priest, and if found clean, they could be pronounced fit for social life among God's people. Jesus' words challenged the men to believe in Jesus through acting in obedience to Jesus' direction. Jesus was teaching them to live by faith and to obey the word of God by faith. Jesus wanted to restore their trust in God and relationships with God, which is the first priority that Jesus always wants to make. Verse 14b says, "And as they went, they were cleansed." Jesus' word has awesome power in it. In fact, it is the very word of God who created the heavens and the earth. Sensing his spiritual authority, the lepers obeyed him at once by turning to leave. Miraculously, their leprosy was healed. Their flesh was restored; they were clean and purified young men. In an instant they all became handsome and healthy. Their ugly and stinking skin was as clean as baby's one. What we can expect would happen next? All of the ten lepers would turn back to Jesus with many thanks and praising Jesus in a loud voice. Part 2. Thankful leper and Unthankful leper (15-16). Look at verse 15. "One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice." How did the men respond to Jesus' healing? It is important that this man praised God as his first response. The man recognized God through Jesus. He knew that his healing had come from God. He believed that the great God of the universe knew his sufferings as a leper, and was concerned for him. He felt that God loved him very personally. When he realized God's love for him, waves of praise and thanks began to burst out from his heart. He did not make comparison with other lepers, only focusing on God's mercy to him. And also He was freed from the sense of judgement that God cursed him. Being clean from the leprosy meaned for him that he was not cursed by God but remembered and cared by God. He rejoiced in his healing; but he rejoiced even more in God's mercy on his life. So, he praised God with all his strength in a loud voice: "Praise God!" The healed man did not stop with praising God. He also thanked Jesus. Look at verse 16. "He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan." He first threw himself at Jesus' feet, which means that he was offering himself to Jesus. At that moment, he wanted to give everything to Jesus. He recognized that his new life belonged to Jesus. When he threw himself at Jesus' feet, he was ready to obey Jesus no matter what Jesus said. If Jesus told him to serve the campus students as shepherd, he would go to serve them in thankfulness for Jesus' power and love. In a spirit of surrender, he said again and again, "Thank you! Thank you, Jesus!" His words of thanks expressed an offering of his life to Jesus. He teaches us how to praise God and thank Jesus. In the Bible, leprosy is like the power of sin. As leprosy ruins one's body, sin utterly ruins one's life by making him sick unto death spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually. There is no human cure for sin. Only Jesus can save us from sin and heal us from its consequences. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Jesus can cleanse any sinner completely and give him a new life. I was once so sick with self-centered life with lust that I could not live even ordinarily. But, Jesus forgave me and cleansed me by his blood and helped me grow as a shepherd of campus mission. Many among us have been healed by Jesus. Those who are in Christ Jesus know how Jesus has healed them. Can you tell of Jesus' healing in your life? Do you need healing from pride, selfishness, laziness, lust or any other sinsickness? Let's come to Jesus, our compassionate Healer. Why does Jesus heal us? Jesus heals us so that we may obey the word of God and become useful to God. Luke 1:74,75 says, "...to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days." In Jesus, we can live the most joyful, fruitful, and happy life. We can serve God all our days and then enter into everlasting glory. What a wonderful Savior Jesus is! Jesus was pleased with the thankful leper. Look at verse 19. "Then he said to him, 'Rise and go; your faith has made you well.'" Jesus accepted his respectful submission and became his Lord. Then, the Lord Jesus told him to rise and go. Jesus recognized him as a man of faith and credited his faith for his healing. It meant he had right relationships with God. Now he could go forth as a healthy man to serve God's ministry. His future was promising; he could be a truly great man and blessing to the world. Here we can learn the secret to bearing God's blessings. It is to praise and thank God. The man's praise and thanks to God was like a light shining in the darkness. As much as it pleased Jesus, it also exposed the fault of the other nine. They, too, were cleansed by Jesus. But they did not return to praise God and thank Jesus. This was a tragic mistake. How the 9 lepers did not came back to Jesus with thanks? They might wish to go first to the priests for their approved social life, thinking that they could thank Jesus later on. They might have thought the miraculous healing came from God, so they thanked God for the healing. However, they might have preferred just thanking God verbally to running back to Jesus because they though there were many things to be prepared for their new life. As they are Jews, they might acknowledge that God help them out through Jesus. But, the did not wish to throw their life at Jesus' feet. Their mind focused on their life in this life rather than thanking Jesus. In actual, that is the root of sin, and the cause of our unhappy life in Jesus. 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." Those who fail to praise and thank God become dark and foolish. Eventually they fall into idolatry and becomes slaves of sin. This is why Jesus told another man whom he had healed after 38 years of paralysis, "Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you" (Jn 5:14). In this sentence, sinning includes the unthankfulness only focusing on the worldly life. We must learn to praise and thank God for his blessings. In fact, we should praise and thank God always. So St. Paul said, "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Th 5:18). Even in difficult circumstances, we have many reasons to thank God. God is our Creator who gave us our very lives. God is our Provider who sustains us with all necessary things each day, including food and water and air. God is our Redeemer who gave his one and only Son Jesus Christ as a ransom sacrifice for our sins. He saved us from eternal condemnation. God pours out his blessings on us every day in many ways that we are not even aware of. God is worthy of all our praise and thanks. Let's praise and thank God with all our hearts and lives. However, when we want to praise and thank God, we find that it is not always easy. Our sneaky sinful nature binds us in self-centeredness and ingratitude. It blinds our minds and freezes our hearts so that we cannot thank God. This is manifest in several ways. Sinful people usually see what they do not have instead of seeing what they have. Sinful people usually remember one wrong done by others, while ignoring the many good things done by God and others. Moreover, life in this world can be hard. Sometimes we feel too tired or worn out to be thankful. Sometimes it just seems inconvenient to give thanks to God. There are many exciting and interesting things to do first. But in the course of pursuing them, we can miss the chance to thank God. To express our thanksgiving to God, we must struggle against our sinful nature, fighting a spiritual battle in prayer. |
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