Articles
Thank You Lord For All You Have Done For Me
Thank You Lord For All You Have Done For Me
Scriptural Text: Luke 17:11-19
As Christians, we have something to be thankful for each and every day of our lives. Yet, it appears we are some of the least thankful people. One of the ways we show our lack of gratitude is by only giving thanks on special occasions, when the Bible commands us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].” When we limit our thanksgiving to God once a year or when it is convenient for us, then we are suggesting to God He has only been good to us once a year, or every now and then, when God is good to us every day. Therefore, in these passages of scripture, God is simply looking for us to just say, “Thank you Lord, for all you have done for me.”
This story begins with Jesus passing through Samaria and Galilee on His way to Jerusalem. As Jesus went on His way, ten men who were lepers met Him. In Luke 17:13, these ten lepers asked the Lord to have mercy on them. They were simply asking the Lord to pity them and to have compassion on them. Listen to your Bible! In Zechariah 7:9-10, the Bible reads, "Thus has the Lord of hosts spoken: Execute true judgment and show mercy and kindness and tender compassion, every man to his brother; and oppress not the widow or the fatherless, the temporary resident or the poor, and let none of you devise or imagine or think evil against his brother in your heart." They were asking Jesus to execute true judgment towards them. They were asking Jesus not to oppress them. They were asking the Lord not to think evil in His heart towards them. As children of God, when we show compassion towards others, we are sensitive to their needs. For Jesus to have compassion upon these men, He could not pass judgment upon their condition by making His response contingent upon the reason why they have leprosy. Jesus could have passed judgment upon these men because according to the Levitical Law, these men were supposed to yell, "Unclean! Unclean!" in an effort to warn those passing by of the fact they had leprosy (Leviticus 13:45). However, this they did not do, yet Jesus had pity and exercised compassion upon these men.
Jesus’ response to the lepers was a response of compassion and faith. Jesus had compassion upon these men and told them to "Go show yourselves unto the priests." Why send them to the priests? Well, according to the Levitical Law, once an individual has been pronounce unclean by the priest as a result of one's leprosy, the only reason they were to go back to the priest was for the priest to confirm they have been healed of their leprosy (Leviticus 14:1-7). What can we gather from this text? 1) When Jesus talks, we need to listen and do. This is an act of faith. In 2 Corinthians 5:7, the Bible reads, “For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction and belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance.” These men were not healed, yet they were going to visit the priest to have him confirm they were healed. These men were walking by faith and not by sight. Sight told them they were lepers, but faith told them they were healed. 2) As they went on their way, they were healed in the process. Healing is both mental and physical. In order for an individual to be made whole completely, the healing must take place in the mind first. Again, this is a sign of our faith. We must attempt in our lives as Christians to imitate the faith of God. Listen to your Bible! In Romans 4:17, the Bible reads, "As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations. [He was appointed our father] in the sight of God in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things that [He has foretold and promised] as if they [already] existed." These men were not to even attempt to go to the priest until they were healed first, yet while still in their leprosy, Jesus told them to "go show yourselves unto the priests." What was Jesus doing? He was exercising His faith, by calling those things that be not as though they were. Jesus was commanding these men as if they were healed already. These men believed in Jesus' ability to have mercy on them. These men believed Jesus would not tell them something that was not true. Faith causes us to react to the unseen, for faith is the evidence of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1). Their leprosy was still on their body, but their leprosy had to leave their mind first, for had it not left their mind first, then they would have never attempted to go show themselves to the priests. Our faith is for the sole purpose of keeping us faithful to God. If our faith fails us, then we become dependent upon what we see and not upon what God has said. For this reason, the only thing we have that Satan is interested in is our faith. Listen to your Bible! In Luke 22:31-32, "Simon, Simon (Peter), listen! Satan has asked excessively that [all of] you be given up to him [out of the power and keeping of God], that he might sift [all of] you like grain, but I have prayed especially for you [Peter], that your [own] faith may not fail; and when you yourself have turned again, strengthen and establish your brethren." The devil knows something many Christians have failed to recognize. Many will say the devil is after our souls and he is, but Satan knows once he has our faith, then he has our souls, our money, our family, and everything else God has blessed us with according to His riches & glory. However, when we make it our resolve not to let go of our faith, then Satan can blow his mighty wind; he can disturb the waters and engulf us in his waves; he can send supernatural disasters like typhoon tribulation and hurricane hell, but we are not going anywhere because our soul and our faith is anchored in the Lord (Hebrews 6:19).
In Luke 17:15, we see the first sign of gratitude and glorification given to Christ and it was a Samaritan who showed this gratitude towards Christ. The Bible teaches all ten men were healed, yet when one discovered he was healed, with a loud voice, he glorified God and fell at Jesus’ feet. The Bible goes on to say this man was a Samaritan. The emphasis on this text has to do with 4 things: 1) This man was a Samaritan, 2) The gratitude displayed by the Samaritan, 3) The lack of gratitude showed by the other nine, and 4) Jesus' response to the Samaritan.
This is not the only time in scripture in which the Bible shows the reverence of a Samaritan being greater than the people of God. In Luke 10:30-37, Jesus tells His disciples a parable about the Good Samaritan. We also have in John 4:1-42, the Bible goes into great detail about the conversation and zeal of the woman at the well who just happens to be a Samaritan. During this time, Samaritans were outcast and looked down upon because they were not considered Jews, but rather a half-breed. A Samaritan was considered more Gentile and pagan in nature than they were Jews. Therefore, the Jews had no dealings with them. However, Jesus, being a Jew, had mercy on him, pitied him, talked with him, and healed him. Once this Samaritan realized He was cleansed from his leprosy, he returned back to the Lord to give thanks to the Lord for all He has done for him!
Notice Jesus' command to the lepers prior to the healing, "Go show yourselves to the priests." The word "priests" in this text is plural, yet the law only demanded they show themselves to the priest singular (Leviticus 14:2). So, we have to ask ourselves what Jesus was really commanding them to do in Luke 17:14. Jesus was telling them to do exactly what the Samaritan did. Jesus was telling them to not only show yourselves to the Levitical priest, but show yourselves also to Me, for I am the High Priest and it is my declaration of your cleanness that will truly verify you as being whole. Listen to your Bible! In Hebrews 2:17, this is what the Bible says about Jesus, "So it is evident that it was essential that He be made like His brethren in every respect, in order that He might become a merciful (sympathetic) and faithful High Priest in the things related to God, to make atonement and propitiation for the people’s sins." The Levitical priest could only declare us clean, but Christ, being the High Priest, is the only one who can pronounce us whole. The question today is: Do we want to be made whole?
This was the command of Jesus due to the rhetorical question He asked the Samaritan in Luke 17:17-18, when He said, "Were not [all] ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was there no one found to return and to recognize and give thanks and praise to God except this alien?" Based upon these scriptures, it appears God is in heaven, looking down at the church, and is shaking His head in disbelief, for it appears those dying in their sins, who have not obeyed the gospel, and are on the outside of the ark of safety express more gratitude to the God of heaven of whom they renounce daily through their lifestyles than Christians do. God is good to the sinner because He is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11), but He is also good to the sinner because the goodness of God leads one to repentance (Romans 2:4). Oftentimes, that person may never repent as a result of God's goodness, but they do express their gratitude to God because they understand something many Christians do not and that is, they are not deserving of God's goodness. However, many Christians believe they are deserving of God’s goodness and for this reason, the Christian will pray to God when they are going through something and when God delivers them, they continue to live their lives not giving God a second thought until the next time they go through something. When we neglect to say, "Thank you Lord, for all you have done for us," we are expressing a lack of gratitude towards God. I know God commands us to keep His commandments and to love one another, for this is how we display our love for Him (John 14:15 and John 13:34). However, we are keeping His commands when we thank Him for all He has done for us, for God knows by us doing this, we are displaying our love for Him more through this command than any other command.
God has been better to us than we could ever be to ourselves. He has been so good. He has healed us from the leprosy of sin and for this we ought to be eternally grateful. Jesus is the only one who can make us whole. Therefore, if our life is incomplete, then Jesus is the one who is missing from it. Let Him heal us of our despair like only He can on today. Once He has healed us, please do not hesitate or delay in thanking Him for all He has done and will continue to do for us.
