They were ten unhappy men. Unhappy because they were not only sick, but their disease had no cure. The law said that anyone having the terrible disease of leprosy must not come near to anyone, not even to their own family, because others could catch the disease. Each of those ten men had the miserable, lonely disease of leprosy.
At the time those ten men lived, there was no cure. There are doctors now who have wonderful success in curing leprosy, but they can never restore what the disease has done to a person’s body. Only God can do that.
Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem when the ten men saw Him. Nobody else knew what would happen to Him in that city, but Jesus knew. It was just outside that city that there was a place called Calvary where He would die on a cross for sinners.
As Jesus came to their village, the ten men were near enough to see who was coming. They shouted with all that was left of their voices, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us”!
Jesus saw their misery, and He knew that their problem was deeper than leprosy. “Go show yourselves unto the priests,” He told them.
Now, if you have read the law of God, you will know that the priests’ duty was to say whether or not it was really leprosy, but the priests could not heal the disease. If the sick person really had active leprosy, he was shut out. And that’s exactly the best any person on earth can do for a guilty sinner. Are you a sinner? Then nobody can do anything for your sins. Nobody but One! Only God! And Jesus is God.
As those ten men went to find a priest, every one of them was cleansed completely with not a trace of leprosy remaining. What excitement went right through them! They knew the priest had not performed the miracle of curing them - that was impossible, for they had not even seen him yet.
Now what did they do with their cured, healthy bodies? Well, what are you doing with yours? or what would you do if you had one? Maybe you can think of lots of ways to have fun, and lots of friends to go out with, and ambitions to work on. We don’t know what nine of them did, but there was one—just one -whose heart was full of praise to God. Only one.
That one man turned back and with a loud voice glorified God. He was not ashamed of being the only one, for his voice was loud. And he not only glorified God, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him.
Jesus was glad, but He was sorry too. “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?” Jesus asked. Sadly, none of the other nine returned to give glory to God and to thank Jesus.
God wants to give you far more than a healthy body. He wants to give you the forgiveness of your sins, and He will do this if you will call to Him.
Are you wondering, If Jesus is in heaven, how can I call to Him? Do you know about the Bible verse that says, “Christ died for our sins. . . and. . . He rose again” (1 Corinthians 15:3-43For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (1 Corinthians 15:3‑4))? He is alive in heaven, and His hearing is so perfect that He can even hear you think! Distance is nothing to Him. Call out to Him wherever you are, and He will hear and He will forgive every one of your sins. When He has forgiven you, get down on your knees and thank Him, and then tell others about Him.
Then Jesus said to the cleansed man at His feet, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith [has] made thee whole.” We can’t tell you where he went or where you will go after you are forgiven, but the wonderful news is that Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. Never! Not even if you die.
Think About God’s Word!
1. How many returned to thank God?
Project: How many different things do you have to thank God for? You might start your list by reading Ephesians 1 and writing down some of your spiritual blessings.