Sermon by Pastor Suresh Emmanuel Joel
Today we’ll be looking into an incident when Jesus Heals Ten Men with Leprosy. (Luke 17:11-17)
Many of us today have no idea about the disease of leprosy since it has become curable but in the days of Jesus it was considered as a curse from above. They were set outside the community. They used to stink and if anyone comes close to them, they were supposed to say unclean!!unclean!!
There were these 10 Lepers who were cast away from their own homes and villages. They heard about Jesus. They stood far away and called out to Jesus and called out in a loud voice saying “Jesus, please have mercy on us.” In the entire history of mankind only two people i.e. Miriam and Naaman were recorded to have been completely healed of leprosy. Though they were healed about 750 years ago, these 10 lepers had a firm faith on Jesus though they were not just in the worst physical condition, but were absolutely hopeless as well.
Here all the lepers were Jews except one who was a Samaritan. Normally the Samaritans are considered as untouchables by the Jews. The wont even drink water from Samaritans but here in this case since the Jews also had Leprosy, they included the Samaritan without any prejudices. Despite all their hopelessness they believed that Jesus could heal them. They always stayed together and had good fellowship with each other. They displayed amazing faith because the moment Jesus said “Go, show yourselves to the priest”, they all went at once. They all started walking together and as they were walking, they experienced healing. They were all healed even before they reached the priest.
Among these 10 lepers there was this 1 Leper, the Samaritan who chose to turn back to Jesus. He didn’t obey Jesus. He didn’t go to the Priest neither to his family whom he could have met after such a long time of isolation and loneliness. This one guy found someone greater than his healing. He found the one who could heal him, and he wanted that someone more than his own healing or anything else in this world.
Jesus didn’t heal these Lepers so that they can live happily ever after instead he healed them so that they can see him clearly but sadly of the 10 lepers only 1 could see Jesus, the source of all healing. He saw the God of blessing and not just temporary blessings. Jesus said that his faith has made him well.
These lepers were extremely loud in their request to Jesus for healing but only 1 leper was loud in his thanksgiving. The one who came back was a Samaritan as compared to the other 9 who were Jews – the chosen people. After the complete healing, the Samaritan would now be separated from the Jews, but still he chose to come back to Jesus.
We all are like those 9 lepers who get the blessings from God and forget the source of all the blessings. Even when Jesus is naked dying on the cross for us, we would still stand in front of him and say what more can you give me. Sometimes we are better off with leprosy like those 9 thankless lepers because for them it was better off to be with leprosy and know and cry out to Jesus than to be healed and forget Jesus completely. Three men named Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when sentence to death by fire told the King that “our God is able to save us but even if He doesn’t save us we will still trust him.”
Are we like those 9 lepers who never turned back to Jesus or are we like that 1 leper who came back to the God of blessings for who He is and not for what blessing He can give us?
We all want a peaceful and happy and healthy and a joyful life but that is not the promised blessing. The contrary is what is promised. If Christ was made perfect through his sufferings, how much more sufferings do we need to be made perfect. When the Israelites left Egypt as 12 tribes, all 11 got land in Canaan but for the Levites, God said that He was their inheritance. The 11 tribes received the blessings for God, but the Levites got the God of the blessings, the source of all blessings Himself.
Many times, this God of blessings decides to leave us to suffer with our leprosy because he knows that it is the best state to be. It is better to go through the suffering and know Him rather than be healed and forget Him. In Old Testament, worship is always connected with Sacrifice. Sacrifice is not feeling emotional and feeling high while singing a good song, but worship has to have sacrifice.
We pray for marriage, God gives us a wonderful partner, we pray for a job and God gives us a good job, but then we use the same work that God gave as an excuse for not coming to church, we use the same wife whom God gave as an excuse for not reading the bible. If our work is taking more time than it ought to then its better not to have a job. If our marriage is taking more time than it ought to then its better to be single. If anything, that we have, takes more time than it ought to then its better that God doesn’t answer our prayers.
