Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.
On of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him - and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
This post is to continue to previous post where I spoke of how God does so much to save us. So before reading this read that one first.
Now the beginning of the passage is Jesus walking along the border when 10 men with leprosy cry out to Him. Now, Jesus was God in human form on earth, He knew those men were there and were going to call to Him. In fact, He could have just healed them by looking at them or just when He passed by, He is God, He could have done anything. But He waited until they called out to Him for pity. God waits for us to call to Him for our sins to be forgiven. He waits for us to repent for how we have wronged Him and ruined what He made. He waits so that He might receive glory for forgiving us for our sins by making us clean.
God is the only one who can forgive our sins. So when He forgives us, He lets us, and all those around us know the He has forgiven us for our sins and changed us. As far as the reason why He does not just forgive us right away (I've been asked this many times at school) the best answer I have is, how can someone receive forgiveness if they do not face the fact that they did something wrong. The men with leprosy were of course going to yell out to Jesus for healing, they had leprosy! They were afflicted with this thing that was killing them, they wanted it gone. In the same way, our sin kills us. It can sometimes not be as obvious as a painful disease, but it all the more worse than leprosy. Our sin leads to eternal death. It is the most afflicting thing we suffer from. So we must see that it is wrong and cry out desperately for healing. Then when we are healed we are different and appear so to all.
Jesus told the men with leprosy to go and show themselves to the priests. The men were healed along the way. So when the priests would see them later, they would see the difference and the power of Jesus. When we are forgiven, we are changed from the inside out. And all people around us see that. They see the Joy of God within us and God's Love and Power. They see it and God then receives glory through us. For we are put in God's light and exposed to the world when we are forgiven so that the world might see God's work in us and glorify His name. But also so that we might ourselves see the work God has done in and for us.
One of the men saw that he was clean, and ran back to Jesus to praise Him in a loud voice and fall at His feet. The Bible even mentions that he was a Samaritan. Samaritans were considered very low in the eyes of the Jews. And of all the men that were healed, this one who was so low came back running and screaming in praise of Jesus and fell at His feet in praise and thanks. I Love picturing myself as the Samaritan. I am a sinner, I am lowly and I fall short everyday. I know all of this, and then I see Jesus and call out to Him for the Mercy and Forgiveness that He freely gives. And when I see that my burden of sin is gone, I run back to Him and fall at His feet screaming and yelling in my Joy. I fall not because of my heavy burden of sin, that is gone. No! I fall at His feet because of the sheer weight of His wonderful Love and Forgiveness that is pouring out on me like the oceans of the world on my heart. I feel such Joy that I don't want to live in my sin or this world anymore and just want to stay on the ground at His feet singing and shouting for all eternity. For He is such a Loving God, and I never want to leave Him.
Jesus asked where the other nine men were, and there was no answer written, but that itself was the answer. What mattered was that they did not come back to Jesus to praise Him and thank Him. They did not come back. So Jesus told the Samaritan to rise and go, for his faith made him well. God forgives those that come to Him asking for forgiveness for the sins that afflict them. But those that change and then come back to Jesus are the faithful ones. They continue to have faith in Jesus. They continue to remember that even though they are forgiven, they messed up in the first place and are still lowly. So Jesus calls them to rise and go. He calls us to rise and shine in this world, to go out and be used by Him to change the things around us. He uses the weak to humble the great. And in the process, Jesus raises us up in His Love.
What will it feel like to have our shame completely cast away, and hear Jesus say "Rise"? Oh I wait for that with a heart filled with Joy and Hope. I am a sinner who cried out to Him for forgiveness for my wrongs. He answered with forgiveness, and with an ocean of Love that I am drowning in. Now I am fallen at His feet shouting thanks. And I will go and show all those around me that He has made me different, and that I no longer belong to this world, but to Him. And I do this while doing my best to not be like the other nine. To not forget the one who has saved me from my sin, but continue remembering my sinfulness. And I wait for the time where I am called to see Him. When I see Him, well I can write that part when I experience it, because for now words cannot express it. So this is me, now who are you? The 1 or the 9?
Thank You For Reading
Long Live Jesus Christ
Amen
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