KINGDOM GRATITUDE
Opening Prayer
I come with an open heart to meditate on your Word today, Father. Speak to me through it; show me yourself in new ways so that I can be moved to better serve you.
Read LUKE 17:11–19
Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy
11 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[a] 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 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Footnotes
- Luke 17:12 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Ingratitude can corrode us from within. Are you focusing too much on what God has not yet done, rather than on what he has already done?
Think Further
The journey to Jerusalem, begun in Luke 9:51, resumes along the border with Samaria. Jesus has sent the seventy-two out ahead of him.1 Not only are many traveling with him, but Jesus is now expected wherever he goes. A group of people with leprosy, banded together across racial tensions by their desperate plight, seize their opportunity. Standing at a distance—both because they fear making others unclean and because they fear being driven away because their condition provoked loathing— they shout out together as loudly as they can. They want to stop Jesus before he enters the village, from which they were barred. They name Jesus as their Master and implore him to share God’s mercy with them.
Halted by their shouts, conscious that they’re grasping for the presence of the kingdom, Jesus tells them to go and present themselves to the priests according to the Law. Such an examination was key: being certified as clean by a priest released them from isolation and restored them to community. Then, as they exercise faith in Jesus and obey his instruction, something amazing happens: they are cleansed. In going in faith to obey the Law, they receive the kingdom instead. They are all cleansed, but only one gives proper acknowledgement to Jesus. Feeling it seemingly in his body, he returns full of loud and ecstatic praise. His reverent response is close to worship, but Jesus doesn’t refuse it. He simply wonders aloud how the other nine have not been similarly moved. This foreigner, responding in joy, not just from obligation, has discerned the right response. Jesus sends him back to life and community as another healed by his faith in Jesus, who alone has the authority to heal.
Apply
Ask God to give you the hunger for his kingdom and a boldness in prayer, returning to your prayer agenda from Sunday, 1/7.
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, I am grateful for the grace and mercy you have poured out on me. Help me to express my thanksgiving in ways that bless you and make a difference, even an eternal difference, in the lives of those around me.
1 See Luke 10:1
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