Luke 17:12-19 NKJV
[12] Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. [13] And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” [14] So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. [15] 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. [17] 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?” [19] And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
One of the many amazing healing of Jesus Christ!
These ten lepers, ousted from society. Deemed unclean, unworthy and unwanted.
I am always amazed at the compassion the Lord has on people.
Cleaning the unclean. Forgiving the unforgivable. Loving the unlovable.
He restores what is lost. He redeems what has been taken. He saves what seems unsaveable.
There is no restriction to His Healing Hand!
The Lord is just passing through a nameless village.
What makes The King of Glory stop for these ten lepers?
Jesus stopped for the cry of mercy!
The cry of mercy!
“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
One of God’s greatest attributes is His mercy. Wanting to relent from the punishment we deserve. And His only Son passing through on the way to His Cross stops to hear the cry of mercy. And the Lord responds to it.
A cry for mercy bends the Ear of the Lord.
A cry from mercy is where Salvation is found. A cry for mercy is where forgivness is offered. It is where His compassion is waiting!
His love, His Grace and His Mercy is found in His mercy!
And the mercy was great. The Grace of God was about to shine on these men!
Somehow they knew that this was the Messiah, the Master, the Healer!
Jesus asks no questions!
There was a need for His mercy.
We all need mercy! Where would we be without the mercy of God in our lives?
Everything starts with a cry of mercy!
Mercy requires the acknowledgement of a need that can only come from a heart thatvis ready for the Mercy of The Lord. It takes great humility and even desperation to lift our voices.
Mercy is God holding back what we deserve!
Once we have the mercy of God then the Grace of God comes in.
His Grace is giving to us what we don’t deserve!
Jesus didn’t have to stop.
It was the cry for mercy that stirs the heart of Christ to show it.
When was the last time all you asked of the Lord was His mercy?
These 10 men call out to Jesus. They recognized Him as Master. Their cry for mercy is asked and their healing was given.
Completely and totally healed! Cleansed as if nothing ever happened. No evidence, no remainder, just cleansed.
“Go, show yourselves to the priests.” the only ask of Christ.
There’s a little difference between being thankful and being grateful.
All ten of these men had some sort of faith in Jesus to call out Him, but not all had the same gratitude.
Gratitude is expressing what one has or been given.
Gratitude is the opposite of selfishness, being grateful requires us to realize the mercy of God.
Being grateful for the kind things the Lord has done for us should stir our hearts beyond thankfulness and into gratitude.
It’s the gratitude that should lead us to do kind things for others in turn.
Thankfulness is expressing the state of where you are.
Being thankful is an Immediate response to what the Lord has done.
Healed, cleansed, restored, redeemed.
We have all thanked Jesus for something either good or bad in our lives.
All ten men go to the High Priest to get His approval that the leprosy was gone.
Nine go back to where life left off.
Maybe thankful for the gift that was given.
Maybe hiking back to their families and telling them about Jesus. How they saw Him. They called out for mercy and they were healed.
It’s one thing to be thankful but sometimes thankfulness starts to fade.
Only one man goes back and searches for Jesus after.
Only one came and fell at the Feet of Christ.
Only one gave Him thanks.
More than thanks, but gratitude!
He knew what he was saved from.
He was now clean.
He was now accepted.
He could be reunited with the ones he loved.
He could now live his life with gratitude.
He was able to do all this because he knew exactly what had been given back to him and he was grateful!
Where is our gratitude?
How far does your thanks go?
How long does it last?
Gratitude brings appreciation.
Appreciation is acknowledging that we recognize that something kind has been done for us which we did nothing to earn.
That is the mercy of God!
Psalms 51:1 NKJV
[1] Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.
We must learn to recognize that we have not done everything for ourselves, but that we must depend on God.
It’s His lovingkindness.
It’s His tender mercy that we need to appreciate.
So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?
I believe that the nine were thankful but not grateful.
When someone is grateful that person will actually take the time to step outside of themselves. They have the ability to reflect and recognize what the Lord has done.
They can see the Greatness and Power in their life. They can understand that it is only by the grace, mercy and the love of Jesus could produce the needed healing.
It calls out how GREAT our God is!
This is the difference between being just thankful and being Eternally Grateful!
Only one out of ten came to the foot of Christ.
Only one out of ten recognized the miracle enough that expressed faith.
Only one out of ten stepped outside of himself and called attention to what is great about Jesus Christ.
Only one out of ten was more than thankful.
Only one out of ten was grateful.
Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” [19] And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
Only one out of ten gave Glory To God!
Only one out of ten had faith.
And only one out of ten was not just healed but made well!
Today go beyond giving thanks to the Lord but be Grateful and appreciate what He has done to make you thankful!
Pastor Ed
