Thank you!

One day Jesus came upon ten men with leprosy.  (Luke 17)  They begged Him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”  Jesus’s response must have puzzled them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”  "Why?" they may have wondered.  "To show them that we still have leprosy?"  But they believed they would be healed and started for Jerusalem, where a pronouncement from the priests that they were clean would allow them to rejoin their families and friends from whom they had been ostracized, and attend the Temple, from which they were banished because of their disease.  Miraculously, they were healed on the way.

At that point they had a choice to make:  Go back and thank Jesus or continue on to see the priest.  Since they were likely still together, they almost certainly discussed what to do among themselves. No doubt they were happy and grateful!  But nine of the ten were intent upon getting on with their lives. They may have even justified their actions, “Jesus told us to go to the priest!”  “We don’t even know that we can find Him!”  “He knows we are grateful!  We don’t have to tell Him.”  Only one was so grateful that he briefly put his restored life on hold and went back to thank Jesus.

God has healed you and me, too.  At the cost of the life of His Son, he healed us of our leprous sin.  Let us pause our busy lives and go back, over and over, to Him and thank Him.  “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!  For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”  (Rev. 19:7)

By the way, there is a moving depiction of gratitude in the movie “Magdalena: Released From Shame.”  (Available for free on YouTube but the DVD is of better quality.)  The movie is the story of the gospel and the scene is that of the healing of Mary Magdalena from her demon possession.  It is a great movie to share with family and friends.

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