While we may more
readily recognize our need for gratitude in the midst of trials, it’s not easy
to be grateful in the midst of a storm. Sometimes despite God’s presence we
doubt his promises. And we forget his faithfulness.
That tends to make us
ungrateful, unthankful, unholy.
How then does holiness
relate to thanksgiving? To our giving thanks? Does gratitude sanctify us?
Maybe, maybe not. But it seems certain that however it happens, when we are
grateful, something changes. At least that’s what happened for the tenth leper.
As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between
Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a
distance, crying out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" He looked at
them and said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." And as they went,
their leprosy disappeared. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came
back to Jesus, shouting, "Praise God, I'm healed!" He fell face down
on the ground at Jesus' feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a
Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Didn't I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?
Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?" And Jesus said to
the man, "Stand up and go. Your faith has made you well."[1]
Nine were healed, only
one was made whole. Nine were clean, only one became holy. And he was a
foreigner, but not a stranger.
Look closely at those
ten men. They had little for which to be thankful. Homeless. Jobless. With no
certain future except death. And then they meet Jesus. He heals them. They go
their way. The leprosy, often viewed as a judgment of God against sins,
disappears. They’re forgiven.
But only one obeys
Jesus. He returns to show himself to the High Priest of Heaven. Because he
understands that if a man can heal leprosy, he’s not a man at all. Because only
God can forgive sins.
That’s why the former
leper did what everyone should do when they realize what God has done for them.
He “fell face down on the ground.” Other translations say that he worshipped
Jesus.
A Samaritan worshipping
a Jew. And the Great Physician marvels. Then he commands. “Stand up.” And
commissions. “Go.” And proclaims. “Your faith has made you well.”
Another version
translates the Greek word at the end of that sentence as “whole.” It’s one
thing to be healed. It’s another to be healthy. Wholly holy. Saved.
Saved from what? The
penalty, the power, and the presence of sin.
If that doesn’t make
us holy, I don’t know what does.
And if that doesn’t
make us grateful, even in the midst of a storm, I don’t know what will.
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