Where Are the Nine?

KJV - Luke 17:11-19 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. (12) And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: (13) And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. (14) And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. (15) And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, (16) And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. (17) And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? (18) There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. (19) And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

NIV - Luke 17:11-19 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. (12) As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance (13) and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” (14)  When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. (15)  One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. (16) He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. (17)  Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? (18) Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” (19) Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

From the earliest ages that a child learns to speak, one of the first things that we teach them is to say “please” and “thank-you”.  Without saying please when making a request of someone, makes that request sound like a command or order.  That is not what you want to hear coming from a toddler’s mouth.  For that matter, do you really want to be ordered around by anyone?

Similarly, failing to say “thank-you” after a kind act is not much better. Failing to show appreciation, no matter how big or small the act, can appear arrogant.  There is a subtle feeling of “you owed that to me” when a simple “thank you” goes unsaid.  In short. the lack of proper manners comes across as just plain selfish.

In our text today, Jesus crosses paths with 10 lepers.  Remember, Jesus lived and preached in Israel, so these men would have been guided by the Law of Moses.

Leviticus 13:9 When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest; 

It was the priest that had the sole responsibility of looking at the infected site of a skin irritation and declaring if it were leprosy or not.  If the priests declared that one had it, it was official and they were declared unclean and was an outcast to the community.  That is why the 10 lepers were together.  They had suffered as social outcasts together. If after having this ailment, the priest saw that it had healed, they could declare you clean again and you could go back to your life.  This is why, when Jesus healed these 10 men, he told them all to go show themselves to the priest.  It was then and only then that they could be regain the life that they once had.

Once given that order by Jesus, they all went their way to regain their place in society.  Except the one.  The one, single, lonely person turned back to give thanks.  We could make all kinds of excuses and justifications for what they did.  They wanted to see their families.  They left their wives and children in a bind and wanted to assist them.  But when it is said and done, nothing really explains their behavior.  

Even Jesus noted the absence of the other men.  Likewise, I believe God notices every single time that we too receive a blessing from him and do not take but a moment and acknowledge it.  EVERY single blessing we must realize comes from God.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 

Let us always be mindful of what God does for us and take but a moment to express to him our gratitude!.

Reflecting His SON,  

Dennis Hogan

Minister, North Hardin Church of Christ

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

1804 Sam Stewart Dr.

Radcliff, KY  40160

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The Behavior of Gratitude!

Luke 4:38-39 And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her. (39) And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them. 

We have been taught from early on in our lives to say “Thank You” at at kind gesture.  If someone gives us a stick of gum, if some one offers us a compliment, a warm “Thank You” tells the giver that their act of kindness did not go unnoticed.  To fail to offer a word of appreciation is generally understood to be just plain rude.  Depending on the nature of the kind gesture, the lack of appreciation can be interpreted as arrogance or selfishness.   

As we got older, we also grew to understand that the larger the act of kindness the greater the expression of appreciation. For instance, If my car breaks down and I am stranded I might buy lunch for the friend who comes to help.  Sometimes the words “thank you” are just not big enough to fully convey the appreciation felt.

In our text today, Jesus has come to Simon Peter’s house because Peter’s mother-in-law is ill with a fever.  The text says that she has a “great” fever.  Although the text does not specifically say this, I would guess that they were afraid that she was going to die.  Jesus, being full of compassion that he was, comes and instantly ends the fever.

I want us to really focus on the woman’s response after she was healed.  The text says that: 

Luke 4:39 .... immediately she arose and ministered unto them. 

The word “ministered”, as used in the King’s James version, simply means to serve.  The NIV version used the phrase “waited on”.  She got up and served Jesus and those responsible for bringing him there.  She was so thankful, she was so grateful that she wanted to express it by serving them with what she could do.  Could she have really served them in any manner as to “repay” them for helping her?  Of course not!  Life is too precious to be able to “repay”!  But that is not why we DO things in return.  It is all about the expression of appreciation.

What would have been the alternative behavior?  She could have gotten up, thought “whew...I escaped that bullet” and served HERSELF!  What if she popped up and said “thank you” and THEN went about serving herself?  Better?  Not really!  The act of healing her was much too big for simple words.

For those of us that are Christians we have similarly escaped death by the hand of Jesus and healed from the disease of sin.  Furthermore, the price that he paid to offer us this renewed life was far too significant.

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 

So what is our subsequent behavior saying?  Have we been behaving like Peter’s mother-in-law by serving to express our gratitude?  Or have we gone about serving ourselves?

Let us contemplate the enormous gift that God has given to us by giving us new life and to a greater degree serve him to express our gratitude!