DFW Church Article
AABulletin
Has Your Faith Made You Well?
Imagine having your entire life transformed in the span of an hour.
Debilitating health problems cured and your body healthy and whole
again. Prospects for your job and economic future changed from
hopelessness to hopes and dreams. Doors re-opened to restore
shattered relationships with family and friends. Spiritual walls torn down
that kept you separated from God and his people.
The Bible relates such an account of ten individuals in Luke 17: 10-19.
While travelling, Jesus encounters ten lepers who cry out to him for
mercy. It is odd that a miracle of such astounding impact is described in
an almost matter-of-fact tone. The entire healing is recounted in just four
verses. The encounter seemingly happens at random as Jesus is
passing through an unnamed town on his way to Jerusalem. The healed
themselves are described only as “ten men who had leprosy”. It even
appears that Jesus had no interaction with them outside of a single
sentence spoken from a distance, “Go show yourselves to the priests”.
The healing itself takes place out of sight, as they run on their way to the
priests. Jesus appears, heals and moves on. End of miracle. But not the
end of the story!
The power (and lesson) in this story comes in the response afterwards –
or perhaps more accurately the lack of response. In contrast to the
healing itself, the response of Jesus is anything but casual. His
questions, “Were not all cleansed?” “Where are the other nine?” “Was no
one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” What
was communicated was astonishment and dismay. But why was Jesus so
disturbed? Was it a concern for lack of appreciation, the missing “thank
you”? Did Jesus just need to get a thicker skin? Certainly not! For on
this very ordinary day and place, the extraordinary had happened. God
came near. There had been a great physical healing, but even more
remarkably God himself had come down and shared in their individual
lives. Only one Samaritan man understood this and fittingly came back
praising God in a loud voice. Although ten were healed that day, only one
had a faith that made him truly well. The question for us (fellow spiritual
lepers) as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday is this:
Has your faith made you well?
Don Murray