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Day 209

Luke 17 : 11-19 "HOW MANY DID JESUS HEAL?"

Day 209 – Luke 17

Text: Luke 17 : 11-19

HOW MANY DID JESUS HEAL?

As we read the Gospel of Luke, we cannot but be struck by the number of people who came to Jesus for healing. Let’s take a look at Luke’s notation of the number of people who Jesus healed.

“When the sun was setting, all those who had
any that were sick with various diseases
brought them to Him;
and He laid hands on everyone of them
and healed them.”
Luke 4:40

“And at that very hour He cured many
of infirmities, afflictions and evil spirits,
and to many blind He gave sight.”

“Go and tell John (the Baptiser) the things you have seen
and heard,
That the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear, the dead are raised,
The poor have the Gospel preached to them.”
Luke 7:21-23

Though Luke did not count the number of people healed, we can easily imagine that thousands must have been healed and helped! In your reading of all these accounts of people who were healed, did you notice that Luke did not record too many instances where people expressed deep gratitude and appreciation of the help they received from Jesus?

TAKEN TOO MUCH FOR GRANTED?

In this portion of Luke’s Gospel, we read about Jesus healing a group of ten lepers. When the lepers saw Jesus, they cried out,

“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
Luke 17:13

Tenderly, Jesus responded to their desperate plea. He said,

“Go, show yourselves to the priests.”
Luke 17:14

As the lepers made their way to see the priests who would certify them fit to re-enter society once again, the lepers discovered that they were cleansed and healed (Luke 17:14)

This act of healing was almost a common, every day affair in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He never asked to be appreciated, but you would imagine that people who have been healed from diseases like leprosy would know no bounds to the gratitude they must surely feel deep in their hearts! Yet, only ONE of the TEN lepers came back to thank Jesus for healing him. Had the many who were healed taken too much for granted?

THE INTENDED LESSONS

Why did Jesus single out this incident to teach His Disciples? What lessons did He want to teach them?

1. The human heart can really take too much for granted!

This incident well illustrates the point. It is astonishing that people can be so helped and healed by Jesus – and take that for granted! What if they had remained as lepers? What if Jesus did not respond to them? They would have been condemned to die as lepers!

2. Faith honoured

Jesus singled out the fact that the one person who came back to thank Him profusely was “a foreigner” (Luke 17:18). He was in fact a Samaritan, a race hated and despised by the Jews who saw them as “half-breeds”. He may have been despised by the Jews, but he was commended by Jesus for his spirit of faith!

This incident well-illustrates the ministry that Jesus had in both Galilee and Judea. People simply took Him too much for granted. It took a foreigner to teach the Jews lessons of gratitude and faith!

In response to the gratitude of the Samaritan Leper, Jesus commended him.

“Arise, go your way.
Your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:19

How did Jesus heal all ten lepers? Surely it was an exercise of His power, His grace and His compassion. The lepers did not need to have any outstanding kind of faith to receive healing! When Jesus commended the Samaritan Leper for his faith, we catch yet another glimpse of how He prized faith in the heart. We are reminded of a Gentile Centurion, another foreigner who exercised great faith in Jesus and was highly praised for his noble faith!

The Disciples had asked Jesus to increase their faith! Here was His answer to this plea! The Disciples must have been greatly challenged, and perhaps even rebuked, when Jesus commended the faith of the Samaritan Leper! This was what faith should be!

EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH

Look at the stirring expression of faith the Samaritan Leper expressed, when he found out that he was healed. This is FAITH indeed! Faith teaches us deep gratitude!

“With a loud voice glorified God,
and fell down on his face at His feet,
giving Him thanks.” Luke 17:16