Where did they go?

I started to share with you yesterday the story found in Luke 17:11-19. It’s the story of the ten lepers Jesus healed. This story shares the heart of Jesus and shows us His willingness to share His mercy and how compassionate He is. Once again He travels through Samaria which is something a Jew definitely did not do. If you were a Jew and you stepped even a toe on Samaritan soil, then you were considered unclean. You have defiled yourself and that means a trip to the priest. But once again we have Jesus challenging their laws and walking through Samaria. Why not? It’s a shorter walk, right? As He enters a certain village ten lepers, standing far away from Jesus (because of the Law), get His attention. They yell at Him to have mercy on them. He looks over at them and tells them to “go and show yourselves to the priest.” Verse 14 makes an interesting point…don’t miss it! It says “as they were going, they were cleansed.” It wasn’t an “instant healing”…it took faith. And evidently they had some because they took the first step. And as they went to see the priest they were cleansed. Now get this. Evidently they were still in Jesus’ sight when only one of them turned back and yelled “thanks!” Luke 17:15-16 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, 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. My question is, “What happened to the other nine?” Where did they go? And Jesus thought the same thing: Luke 17:18-19 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” What did these guys think when this one Samaritan turned around to go back to Jesus? Did they think “Dude! He said go to the priest. The temple is that way! Well, he didn’t follow instructions so he’s going to loose his blessing.” I don’t know what they thought or where they went after seeing the priest but what I do know is this…they didn’t say thanks! They were given a great blessing, this miracle. They had been healed from leprosy which meant they could now return to society and live a normal live but they didn’t say thanks, only one…the Samaritan. Not only are we greedy and selfish with Jesus, but we are also unthankful. We take God for granted. Just like these nine that went off with their blessing never to be heard from again, God blesses us time and time again but we are too busy to stop and say “thank you.” Oh, we might say a quick, microwaved prayer, but what we need to do is take some quality time and spend it at the feet of Jesus just like the Samaritan. He fell on his face at the feet of Jesus, giving thanks to Jesus.

Lord, we take time today, to worship you, to sit at Your feet, and to glorify Your Holy Name. We thank You for all that You have done for us. Bless those who are less fortunate than we are. Continue to bless our churches, our nation, our families, and most of all, may You be uplifted and glorified in all things. In Christ name I pray…AMEN. Randy