Thanksgiving Lesson: True Gratitude

In the first part of Luke 17, Jesus taught His disciples how to deal with sin, that faith can have amazing results, and that a true disciple is a servant at the Master’s call. At some point afterward, Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to face the agony of the cross when He met ten lepers. Luke was the only gospel writer who recorded the miraculous healing Jesus performed for these lepers. Only one leper returned to thank Christ after He healed them, so the importance of having gratitude is obvious. Jesus, however, also emphasized the importance of faith in the man’s life, which is attributed to the reason for his healing.

Luke, more than any other Gospel writer, focused on the all-encompassing reach of the Gospel. He related accounts of Jesus offering His grace and mercy to the Gentiles, Samaritans, and other societal outcasts of that day. Today’s passage is one example of this.

Luke 17:11  On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. Samaria was a predominantly Gentile region. Because the Israelites who had inhabited Samaria had intermarried with their people and had adopted their idolatrous religion, Samaritans were generally considered “half-breeds” and were universally despised by the Jews. Galilee was also a region where interracial mixing between Jews and Gentiles was common. Thus the Jews often looked down on the Galileans.

Luke 17:12-13  As Jesus traveled that way and came to a village (which is unnamed in this verse), ten men who had Leprosy met him. Since leprosy was an infectious skin disease, those afflicted with leprosy were considered unclean and were ostracized from society and temple life according to Mosaic Law (Lev. 13:45-46; Num. 5:2-3). To be assimilated back into society and to be allowed to enter the temple, they had to be examined by a priest and determined to be free from leprosy. It was not unusual for lepers to congregate with one another since they were outcasts and had no company besides others who were also afflicted with this same disease.

The ten lepers mentioned in this verse would have been outside the village limits, as they would not have been allowed to enter the village while afflicted. These men also stood at a distance from other people, as they were required to do so by Mosaic Law. But when these men saw Jesus, it is obvious that they knew who He was as they called out to Him by name. Possibly the news that Jesus had healed other lepers had made its way to them. These desperate men called Jesus by name, referred to Him as “Master,” and asked Him to have pity on their dreadful situation.

Luke 17:14  In this particular verse, it is easy to miss the fact that when Jesus saw the lepers, He instructed them at that point to go show themselves to the priests—while they were still lepers! This act truly required the men to step out on faith because Jesus did not first heal them and then tell them to go to a priest. Jesus instructed them to go without first assuring them that they would be healed, and without any evidence of being healed, at least at this point. The lepers would be required to act on faith alone. They did so, and as a result were healed of their leprosy as they traveled to the priest.

Luke 17:15-16  One of the men, grateful for what Jesus had done, returned to Him to express his gratitude. It is evident that the leper who returned was on his way to the priest when he noticed that his leprosy was gone. At that point, instead of continuing on his way to present himself to the priest, he returned to Jesus to thank Him. He showed his gratitude by throwing himself at Jesus’ feet and praising God for this miracle with a loud voice, ecstatic because he was healed.

What makes this story even more interesting is that the healed leper who returned to thank Jesus was a Samaritan—the most unlikely one of the group. While not specifically stated in the verse, it can be assumed that the other nine lepers were Jews. The Jews considered themselves holy and viewed Samaritans as second-class citizens and despised them. However, this example, like the Parable of the Good Samaritan, showed that their negative bias toward the Samaritans was misplaced.

It is assumed that after the man had given thanks to Jesus, he proceeded to the priest as Jesus had directed him earlier. He could not have been restored to society without doing so, but he first poured out his thanks to Jesus and praised God for this wonderful miracle.

Luke 17:17-18 After the one man gave thanks to Jesus, He asked rhetorically—since He knew the other nine men had already left—where the others, who had been cured of leprosy as well, had gone. Since Jesus had commanded the lepers to go to the priest, they obeyed Him literally. Apparently they were so excited about being declared “clean” that they failed to give thanks to Christ for their healing (MacArthur, p. 1314). This action by the other nine reveals the truth about the ingratitude that is typical in human nature; one man came back to give thanks for the miracle in his life and the other nine were never heard from again. It is so easy for people to go from a desperate situation to a selfish one as soon as their need has been met.

It can be assumed that the foreigner, as Jesus called the man who returned to thank Him, would have been the least expected of the ten to express gratitude to God since he was a Samaritan. The Jews had more knowledge about the Messiah and His coming than foreigners, so they should have recognized who Jesus was and expressed their gratitude as well. However, their lack of responsiveness was typical of the Jews in Jesus' day (Dean, p. 109). It also teaches us that the most unlikely people are sometimes the most grateful.  

Luke 17:19  When Jesus told the man to go, He no doubt meant to the priest so that he could be declared “clean” and then restored to his family, friends, and society as a whole. Jesus also told the man that it was his faith that had ultimately led to being cured of his leprosy—not just his obedience.

This incident teaches that the people Jesus delivers and who believe in Him have a moral obligation to express their gratitude to Him for what He has done. It also illustrates the fact that the Jews were happy to receive the benefits of Jesus’ ministry without thanking Him or connecting His goodness with God.

It can be argued here that there was an extra healing for this tenth leper. When Jesus said that “your faith has made you well,” He could have meant that the man’s heart had been cleansed and made well in addition to his body. While the other nine lepers had whole bodies but still had sinful hearts (Guzik, available online), as evidenced by their ungratefulness, this one man had a whole body and a cleansed heart. When all ten were miraculously cured, nine of them had all they desired. But in this one man, grace entered his heart and healed a far deeper disease than leprosy.

God was and will always be the Giver of all good things. This was precisely what the ten lepers experienced when they encountered Jesus (Luke 17:11-19). They were hopeless outcasts from society. They had no way of becoming valued members of society again based on their own works, which they had probably tried numerous times. Despite the reversal of their circumstances and hopelessness, only one leper returned to show gratitude to Jesus. He understood who his healer was and responded accordingly.

Adults face a similar struggle on a daily basis. Each day brings experiences and challenges that are both good and bad. Many times they can get so bogged down with the negative things in their lives that they miss when God blesses them and delivers them. God is blessing them. Challenge the adults in your group to realize this and show gratitude towards God for the good things happening in their lives. This will completely change their outlook on life. God wants His children to live joyful lives. When people recognize God’s blessings in their lives and intentionally show gratitude for them, they will be taking a giant step towards a joyful life.