The leper who said thank you...

Luke 17:12-19

If you read the passage above you will read of a lovely occasion when a leper (one of ten in the colony) returned to give thanks to the Lord Jesus as he healed them. In many ways this account is a lovely picture of the sinner being saved and born again, and responding with thanks and praise as they walk in newness of life. As an interesting side-note I believe this is the only example in scripture of an individual actually saying thank you directly to the Lord Jesus following a miracle! I find lots of other interesting points to note from this account:

• Notice that the lepers "stood afar off" forming their own colony on the outskirts of this community. Of course this was scriptural, as in Leviticus 13:46 we read; "all the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be." Leprosy meant uncleanness, corruption, defilement, and meant separation for that person. Surely a perfect picture of the sinner, as we read in Ephesians 2:13 "ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ"


• On top of all this man's problems, scripture records that "he was a Samaritan" and in these times the Samaritans were looked down on by the Jew "the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritan". What a sorry condition for this man! Diseased and decaying, untouched by medicine, unclean by the law, put out from society and shunned by the Jew! But on this day he was to meet one who would deal with the Samaritan, and who was willing and able to cleanse the leper and turn this man's life around.


• I think on the subject of medicine, Luke the physician would have been particularly impressed by these events as they were relayed to him! Leprosy was not a condition that was treatable in those days, in fact leprosy has only been treated successfully in the 20th century. Lepers would almost certainly face a miserable existence where their condition would deteriorate as the decay would further disfigure and debilitate the poor person. Remember that leprosy was a matter for the priest not a doctor, as lepers were pronounced so by the priest (Lev 13) so it was unlikely that a leper had ever seen the inside of a doctors treatment room! Medicine had no answer for the condition, but the Son of God has all the answers, and he loves to show compassion and mercy just as he does when he saves the sinner!

I love to think about the reaction of the priests when this man (and presumably the others) arrived to be examined and pronounced clean. Would a priest ever have been faced with a cured leper? I doubt it! Just think of what the scriptures say about those who were lepers: 

• Gehazi (2 Kings 5) he was told that the leprosy would cleave unto him, there would be no respite or abatement!


• Jereboam (2 Kings 15) he was a leper until the day of his death


• Remember the words of the Lord concerning lepers - "many lepers were in Israel... none of them were cleansed... save Naaman the Syrian". On the subject of Naaman the Syrian, he would not have presented himself to the priest, this man was a Syrian and had no regard for Jewish law!

So perhaps we now find ourselves asking the question, why would the Word of God give us Leviticus chapter 14 then? Here it clearly talks about "the day of his cleansing"  and what the priestly procedure should be. Well my thought is simple - I believe that God in his infinite wisdom, his grace and mercy made provision for the leper knowing that there would come a day when a Samaritan man would come before a priest and say "I've been made clean, and it was Jesus of Nazareth who healed me!" You see the day was coming when God's Son would walk this earth and even the leper in his hopeless condition would be cleansed, such was the power and compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ. The cold-hearted Jew would need clear instruction from the law of Moses to know what to do and to re-integrate these individuals into society. Remember the Lord Jesus told them that some of the law was written for "the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept". 

Is there any wonder then that this man turns to give thanks and worship the one who had transformed his existence? Before he met Christ he had no life, no hope, no prospects, no joy! He now begins his life anew, one with happiness and a whole new outlook, because of the Saviour. Surely this should speak to our hearts as we apply this to ourselves, as sinners saved by grace we should turn and give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and mercy in saving us!

Yours in Christ, Mark

"full of" a short study

As we approach another weekend where are hearts and minds begin to think upon the Saviour, let's share some thoughts together concerning the Lord Jesus. Recently I have been thinking about the little phrase "full of" and it's use in relation to the Lord Jesus and there is a nice train of thought that I would encourage you to follow up on as we consider these thoughts together.

John 1:14 "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth."

This verse takes us back to his incarnation, and does it not amaze us once again to remember that the very Son of God came down into this sinful world? But John recalls the difference and uniqueness of this One, he was 'full of grace and truth' . As we examine that life, surely we can see abundant evidence of both grace and truth in equally perfect measure in that blessed life.

Luke 4:1 "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness."

When we consider this verse it reminds us that the Lord Jesus was always in the current of the Father's will as he was ever filled with and governed by the Holy Spirit. This directed his movements, actions and words. It serves as a challenge to our hearts - do we live our lives in constant reference to the Holy Spirit and seek to do God's will? We as believers should strive to live lives led by the Spirit and 'live by faith' dependant upon Him, or do we relegate God to the back of our minds usually?

Mark 8:19-20 "When I brake the 5 loaves among 5000 how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?"

[caption id="attachment_89" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The countryside by Galilee, a possible site for the feeding of the 5000?"][/caption]

The baskets were FULL OF fragments, the Saviour is most specific in his words! The provision on that occasion we recall was 'super-abundant' (enough for their needs and far more!). How wonderful to note the compassion and provision of the Saviour, he never did things partially or 'just enough', he always fully met the need and exceeded expectations! How different from the world in which we live, which always seems to disappoint on so many levels. Of course this same Lord Jesus has promised his abundant provision to his believing people: "unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think..." What a Saviour is ours!

Luke 5:12 "And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy..."

Just as the baskets were full of fragments, so was this man FULL OF leprosy, and what a wretched sight he must have been. Rejected by society, poor and destitute with a debilitating and terminal condition - until he met the Saviour that is! The question he asked was "if thou wilt" and the lovely answer was "I will, be thou clean". And the scripture records that that leper felt something that he had not felt for a very long time, the compassionate and kind touch of another human being. What a lovely touch by the Lord Jesus! Of course leprosy is a picture of sin that we use in the gospel so we can use this as a picture of ourselves, made destitute by sin with it's awful mark on our lives, destined for death and judgement - until the Saviour stepped in and saved us by grace and changed our lives forever, thanks be to God!

Mark 15:36 "and one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar... and gave him to drink..."

[caption id="attachment_92" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="An example of an ancient Roman sponge on a stick"][/caption]

Finally we close our few thoughts by coming once again to Calvary. From reviewing our other points we see a life full of love and compassion, grace and truth and obedience to God. But when we come to the cross we see the Son of God hanging on a cross in agony and shame, despised and rejected by men and forsaken of God. At the height of his suffering, just when you would think there might be someone to offer relief or to show compassion upon one who had done so much good, what do they offer the very Son of God? A sponge full of vinegar (sour wine). How ironic to see that when we look at the life of the Saviour, we see the phrase 'full of' used to describe his lovely and wonderful virtues and characteristics, but when it comes to man it is used to show his wickedness and cruelty instead. How typical of the world, and still today they offer to Christ the disdain and rejection that they offered to him then - yet to all who repent and believe he will be their Saviour.

To us as believers as well, the world will never encourage, relieve or satisfy us as Christians, it will only offer us instead the proverbial 'sponge full of vinegar'. We should turn to Christ instead "in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" who is our refuge, an ever present help in time of need.

We trust these few simple thoughts will warm our hearts to worship and encourage us at the same time.

Yours in Christ,

Mark