Gratitude and Faith from the Tenth Leper: Jesus’ Healing of Lepers from Luke 17:11-19

“God save me!” This is the heartfelt cry of those who are amid crisis. It is that moment of realizing, “I got nothing,” and this is the only play left on the table. But very often God comes through. What can be said. Our God saves. Yet, the stumbling is never when hard times come, the problem is that absence of God in our lives when the days are relatively calm.

The account of Jesus healing the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19 encourages thankfulness and gratitude in everything, the good, the bad, and in-betweens. God’s bountiful grace poured out upon ten lepers but only one demonstrated thanksgiving. This thanksgiving is an aspect to the heart of worship central to Christian spirituality.

Ten lepers near a village between Samaria and Galilee spotted Jesus heading towards Jerusalem, while keeping their distance, they called out: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” (Luke 17:13). ^[1] Their plea reflects both recognition of Jesus’ authority and hope that He can provide the healing they desperately needed. The title “Master” indicates a recognition of power and authority, signifying Jesus as the one who can deliver them from their plight.

Jesus then instructs them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests” (Luke 17:14).

According to Jewish law, the one with a skin infection needed to be examined by the priest and the priest would determine whether the sufferer had leprosy (Lev. 13:38-44). The leper was to be isolated from the community, dress in torn cloths, and call out the warning, “Unclean, unclean” (Lev. 13:45-46). When the leprosy cleared, the healed one was to be examined by a priest, once the examination completed, the priest would confirm the healing, and prescribed sacrifices were to be made for the healed one’s reintegration into the mainstream of society (Lev. 14:1-32).

Whereas on a previous occasion the Lord healed a leper by a simple touch (Lk. 5:12-13) but this time He foregoes touching them and directly sends them off to the priest for examination. Luke informs us “As they went they were cleansed” (Lk. 17:14). Just the Naaman the pagan commander in the Syrian army who had been stricken with leprosy followed through with Elisha’s instructions to dip seven times in the Jordan River for healing and Naaman receiving healing (2 Kings 5:1-14), the ten lepers following through with Jesus’ instructions and they too were healed.

Yet, it is here that the story takes a surprising turn. Out of the ten who were healed, only one returns to give thanks to Jesus. Luke tells us that this man was a “Samaritan” (Lk. 17:16), a member of a group often despised and regarded as heretical by mainstream Jews. Despite his social and religious status as an outsider, the Samaritan leper recognizes the divine mercy he has received and returns, praising God with a loud voice and falling at Jesus’ feet in gratitude.

Separated by disease and doctrinal error, God brings the Samaritan into the heavenly kingdom. This is a rehearsal to the assignment Christ gives to all Christians to be reproducing disciple makers sharing the good news from Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Lk. 24:45-49; Acts 1:8; 2:1ff; cf. Matt. 28:19-20).

Jesus responds to this act of thankfulness by asking, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:17-18). Noting that the “foreigner” of the bunch came back emphasizes the unexpectedness of the Samaritan’s gratitude. Nine presumably Jews do not return to express thanks; however, the outsider to the covenant community exemplifies a heart full of gratitude and repentance. This tells us that “God’s grace, even though it is extended to all, does not mean that all gain salvation. God blesses humanity in a general way, but only the responsive who appreciate what he has done in Christ receive his full blessing and acceptance.”^[2]

But what good would optimal physical health do for the nine healed Jewish men who went on their way without giving glory to their God who came to visit them? In our darkest moments, like a health crisis, we are moved to prayer. We seek the Lord for solace and refuge. How remarkable is it that seasons of wellness can we so easily find ourselves taking eyes off the Lord and becoming preoccupied with other meanderings? It is easy to forget God on the other side of crisis. Hard times can be an occasion to abandon God but good times can do the same. It is the thankful heart that makes all the difference.

Jesus then tells the Samaritan, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well” (Luke 17:19). All ten lepers were physically healed but only the Samaritan receives this spiritual affirmation from the Lord. “Your faith has made you well” can also be understood as “your faith has saved you,” pointing to a holistic healing that encompasses both body and soul. This Samaritan, who did not have the benefit of being part of the Jewish religious community and receiving the “right” doctrines still found deliverance from his infirmity from Christ. The Samaritan experienced salvation in both body and soul.

This is a powerful reminder that God’s grace is not limited by cultural or religious boundaries; He seeks and saves the lost, regardless of their background. God saves. Even those who have wandered far off and get stuck with false notions about God can still be found by God and healed.

The healed Samaritan leper models a rich and deep gratitude toward God. It is a genuine response to divine mercy and serves as a model of how all who have experienced God’s grace should respond—with heartfelt thanks and worship. Paul similarly implores believers to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18) and to “be filled with the Spirit…giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:18, 20).

All who have faith can understand: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (Jas. 1:17-18).

Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers reminds us that though God’s grace is extravagantly poured out upon us, our response reveals the condition of the heart. Are we like the nine who called out to the Lord to meet their needs, but while God came through, they never came back to worship Him in the offering of thanks? May we, like the Samaritan leper, recognize the depth of God’s mercy and respond with a faith that not only seeks His blessings but also returns to Him in humble gratitude.

Psalm 139 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever”

— WGN

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Notes:

[1] All Scripture cited from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), unless noted.

[2] Darrell Bock, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Luke, vol. 3. Ed. Grant Osborne (Downers Grove, IL, 1994),284.