Where Are the Other Nine?

I promise that this is going to be my last posting on having a cold for awhile. Three blogs on it is enough. Misery loves company, to a point. Then I cry, and cry alone. Intriguing how proverbial adages conflict with another.

Since I have been sick for the better part of two weeks, it has been on my mind. By God's grace, I am finally feeling better. Being ill certainly has taught me the gift of health. When I am healthy, it is easy to forget that I should be grateful for being well. Nothing is a given in this sad world and sickness is a reality for many.

I was drawn to sermons about healing this past couple of weeks and one of the preachers addressed the text in Luke 17:17 where Jesus heals the ten lepers and only one returns to say thanks, and loudly at that. This enthusiastic proclamation of gratitude and appreciation is an interesting redemptive juxtaposition from what lepers had to shout when out in public in Israel/Judea of "Unclean" to those within 100 steps of them.

But, the other nine go on their way, never taking the time to thank Jesus or even send him a card.

Leprosy is truly a terrifying disease. It essentially destroys nerve sensation and that puts the body severely at risk of being injured AND not knowing it, leading thus to further damage. Dr. Paul Brand and Phillip Yancey wrote a book called Pain: The Gift the Nobody Wants detailing how pain is a gift of God, telling us something is dangerous. And, this is not just physical pain...but also includes emotional and psychological distress and etc.

Leprosy just happens to be case in point of what happens when a person no longer feels pain. For example, putting one's hand over a flame causes healthy-sensing people to recoil immediately from the heat. For a leper, he might wonder what is cooking, not realizing it is his hand.

If one was a leper in Jesus day (or today for that matter), you would either be alone a lot or in the company of other lepers...you would only be able to eat, sleep, marry, and the like, with other lepers. So, there was no escape from the horrifying shackles of the disease. It was a 24/7 reality. Add to this, the presumption that you had leprosy because of some specific sin, and God was singling you out for an especially cruel punishment.

In light of the physical, psychological, and emotional consequences of leprosy, it is truly amazing that the other 9 former lepers were so ungrateful for Jesus's healing of them. Jesus is surprised by this, so it is clear that their ingratitude was morally-deficient. A common theme in the sermons that I listened to and the biblical commentators on this incident was the word INGRATITUDE.

Hate to say it but this is a malady not just of the 9 lepers in the 1st century Palestine who got their healing and thought little of expressing appreciation to the God who wrought it. May we not be lepers of the soul where we feel little gratitude to the God who loves us.

Luke 17:17

Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?

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