"11 And so it was when he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria, and Galilee.
12 And as he entered into a certain town, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off.
13 And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go, show yourselves unto the Priests. And it came to pass, that as they went, they were cleansed.
15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice praised God,
16 And fell down on his face at his feet, and gave him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17 And Jesus answered, and said, Are there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18 There is none found that returned to give God praise, save this stranger.
19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way, thy FAITH hath saved thee."
In July 2007 I was hospitalized for an extended period of time due to a brain hemorrhage. My medical bills were enormous. I figure that my insurance company was billed well in excess of $500,000 for my treatment. I was in a hospital for 52 days. My condition was "bleak", to say the least. Around the end of July "something happened" and my condition took a dramatic improvement. My medical records from September 25, 2007 indicate "However, he has had a remarkable recovery that can only be defined as a miracle from GOD!"
The "ten lepers" in Luke 17 needed no reminding that "something happened" and they had been healed from leprosy. JESUS had passed by and their lives were changed forever. Scripture indicates that JESUS instructed them to go show themselves to the priest, for that was the tradition to be recognized as being made whole. But, cleansing only came "as they went"! They had to show FAITH in the word of JESUS before the healing came.
The next thing that jumps out at me is that the ONLY ONE that stopped to give honor and praise to the ONE who healed him was a Samaritan. In biblical times, Samaritans were considered to be "low-lifes"! Yet, the only one of the lepers who took time to "PRAISE GOD" for his healing was the one who was humbled to even be talked to by JESUS! He was unlike the others in that he "saw" GOD had healed him. He was healed physically, but he was about to be healed spiritually!
In verse 19 JESUS says "thy FAITH hath saved thee!" Sure, ten lepers were healed of leprosy that day. That is a pretty miraculous accomplishment! But the miracle of "ONE SOUL" being eternally rescued is even more impressive. The bodies of all TEN LEPERS eventually wore out, and they died physically. But the Spirit of the one who believed that day will be eternally alive.
Almost seven years later there are no remnants of the "massive hemorrhagic stroke". As a matter of fact, I sometimes have to remind myself how miraculous my healing has been. But I never have to remind myself of the Spiritual Healing I experienced in January 1978. I am proud to be one who pauses from the busyness of the world to HONOR and PRAISE the ONE who healed me, both physically and Spiritually, and to proclaim "SOMETHING HAPPENED"!
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