While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19, NASB)
In the Bible passage above, Dr. Luke tells the story of Jesus’ encounter with ten leprous men. He’s on His way to Jerusalem to fulfill His earthly mission, to die for you and me to save us from sin and death. The men see Jesus, and beg for mercy, wanting to be healed from their leprosy. Jesus tells them to go and show themselves to the priests, which is in accordance with the Law of Moses when a person is healed from leprosy. As the men are on their way, they are healed. One of the men, a Samaritan, returns to praise God and to thank Jesus for his healing. Jesus responds by telling him “your faith has made you well.” A note accompanying the text says the literal translation is “your faith has saved you.”
Several lessons in this passage. As the website Never Thirsty puts it, “Ten lepers healed, only one was saved.” We should never overlook God’s role in healing. Sometimes He heals supernaturally, sometimes He uses doctors. In many cases, He chooses to not heal. In any case, God heals us. We need to acknowledge this and rely on Him. In the story, the ten men begged Jesus for mercy, and He healed them. We must pray to God for healing.
The Samaritan man showed gratitude. Not only was he healed from his disease, but Jesus told him his faith had saved him. He had been saved from the God’s wrath, received God’s grace, and secured a place for himself in heaven for eternity. All because he gave thanks for his healing, and confessed that it was from God.
Luke 17:11-19 image. Found at Never Thirsty, https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-studies/life-of-christ-ministry-perea/ten-lepers-healed-only-one-was-saved/
Luke makes a point that the man is a Samaritan, a foreigner. The Jews considered the Samaritans to be a mongrel race. They wouldn’t have anything to do with them. He was probably one of the first Gentiles to receive salvation. Luke might be pointing out that Jesus was announcing salvation not only to Israel, but to Gentiles as well.
For me, the main lesson is to be grateful. Especially when I ask God for something. We all are big on praying for things, but when God delivers, we forget from where they came. For example, I pray every night that God would keep my lungs clear so Sue wouldn’t have to get up and suction them, thus getting a good night’s sleep for her. In the morning, I remember to thank Him for making it happen. And so on throughout the day.
God is good, all the time. He wants to give us blessing upon blessing. But He also wants us to acknowledge and thank Him for those blessings. The biggest blessing He has given us is His Son Jesus. We must thank Him for this most precious gift without end.