Scripture to Read: Luke 17:17-19
From yesterday’s devotion, we know that only one healed leper actually stopped and turned back to find Jesus. This leper was also the only one who glorified God with a loud voice. When he found Jesus, he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and gave Him thanks. Then, we finish out this section of Luke as we read Luke 17:17–19, “Then Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? 18 Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?’ 19 And He said to him, ‘Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.’” Probably at this point in Jesus’ ministry, all of His followers were Jews. Samaritans were considered outcasts by the Jews. Jews viewed the Samaritans as religious rivals and outsiders. Samaritans traced their lineage to the Israelites, but they were not fully “pure” Israelites because their ancestry was intermixed with that of the Assyrians who had ruled them centuries earlier. Therefore, the Jews considered them outcasts. But Jesus made it a point to show that the “foreigner”/the “outcast” was the only one who came back to give thanks where thanks were due. This Samaritan had been an outcast among the Jews but also an outcast from his own community for being leprous. When he was healed, he knew he would be welcomed back into his community, but he could not return there without first thanking Jesus. Sin made us unclean, but through Christ we’ve been cleansed and healed completely. We belong to God’s family and are heirs of Christ.
Challenge & Application
How did the Samaritan respond to being healed, and what can we learn from his response?
How has the healing from your sin through Christ changed your life?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!