LUKE 17 (PART 2): ONE IN TEN

Have you heard the story
about the ten men
with leprosy,
and how they cried out to Jesus
begging Him to heal them?

He told them to go,
and show themselves
to the priests,
and as they went,
they were cleansed
from their leprosy.

But only one man
recognized Jesus,
as the source.
Only one man
returned to the Lord.

The man shouted,
“Praise God!”
as he fell to the ground,
to thank Jesus
for what he had done.

And guess what?
This man was a Samaritan -
not someone who you would think
would come back to Him.

Jesus said,
“Has no one returned
to give glory to God,
except this foreigner?”

I imagine even Jesus
stood in disbelief.
How is that His kinsmen
would so easily believe
that their healing
came from a human being,
and not Christ the King.

Jesus said to the man,
“Stand up and go.
Your faith has healed you.”

And for a moment,
I wondered what He meant?
Wasn’t the man already healed
from his skin condition?

And for a moment,
I wondered what happened
to the other men.
Did their healing stand,
since they did not come back?

But that’s when Holy Spirit
opened my eyes to see,
what happened to ALL the men
who had leprosy.

Since God’s Word is always correct,
the nine other men
must have remained healed,
even though they did not come back.

But only one man
of the ten,
knew where his healing
came from;
and only one man
of the ten,
returned to the source
from which it all began.

This man
had faith enough to see,
that Jesus
is the source of everything.

My guess is that the healing
that Jesus spoke of,
was not only
a physical manifestation,
but a spiritual one.

The truth behind this mystery
is that faith comes
from what the physical eyes
cannot see.

The nine other men
must have believed
that the priests
had something to do
with their healing,
if they did not come back to Him. 
Or even worse,
they took Jesus for granted
and moved on with their lives.

But not this man!
His faith was strong.
He knew exactly
where his healing came from.

“The Kingdom of God
can’t be detected by visible signs.
You won’t be able to say,
“Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’
For the Kingdom of God
is already among you.”
From the mouth of Jesus,
Luke 17

May the healers go,
as Jesus did
May the disciples follow,
as Peter did.
May the apostles serve,
as Paul did.
May the prophets prophesy
in truth and love,
just as John did.
May the humble pray,
for even more humility.
May the Church
resemble the body,
and follow
the Head,
Jesus Christ.