Nine or One

Luke 17:11  And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

Luke 17:12  And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

Luke 17:13  And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

Luke 17:14  And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

Luke 17:15  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

Luke 17:16  And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

Luke 17:17  And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

As we read those verses there should be a few things that jump out at us.  Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem and as He traveled toward Jerusalem He passed through the midst; what does that mean? Webster says this  The phrase, in the midst, often signifies involved in, surrounded or overwhelmed by, or in the thickest part, or in the depths of; as in the midst of afflictions, troubles or cares; in the midst of gospel light; in the midst of the ocean; in the midst of civil dissensions. MIDST, adv. In the middle. Here we see Jesus passing through the middle of Samaria and Galilee. We also see 10 men in the middle of their leprosy already pronounced unclean by the religious of their day, they had to leave their families, and no one wanted anything to do with these men for they didn’t want to catch what they had. Know what? Who is this we see coming? It’s Jesus to the rescue. Did you notice He didn’t seem to care about their problems but wanted to help in the middle of their troubles? With their weak voices they cried as loud as they could while the crowd passed by and all of a sudden we read “And when he [Jesus]saw them “  Jesus once again takes time out of His busy day to spend it with those others had forgotten about. Before this day is over there are 10 men healed of a deadly disease. You would think that these ten men that had no hope would have returned to say thanks; but only one of them did. Now I really don’t understand the reasoning behind the other nine; but wait a minute I must stop and ask myself are there whole days I let slip by and not one time say thank you Lord? When all is well do I forget? Maybe you have heard talk like this  we are living in bad times many are without work, losing their homes and on and on it goes. Why not stop and be thankful for what we do have and we may realize that things are all that bad. You know they are still running three shifts at many places, department stores are storing up for the Christmas sales; so I guess many people are still buying. Put me in the class of the one not the nine for I am thankful for every day the Lord give me, for my health; I would rather have health than wealth, a family than fame, and I just want to say thank you Lord for what you have giving me. I will thank Him today with my voice I will lift Him up today for His goodness to me and just the moment I think all is bad I will remember the day that HE FOUND ME with all my troubles and problems. He put me in His family and called me Son. Excuse me while I lift my hands and wipe the tears from my eyes for I have so much to thank Him for! I’ll see some of you tonight at the Reformers meeting, I’ll see some of you on Saturday as we work together helping others and I’ll see many of you at Church this Sunday as we lift our voices in praise. For the those I want be able to see just stop, look around and see the treasures  that’s all around you; here comes one now running down the hall calling your name, Mommy or Daddy don’t you want to just thank and praise HIM for His goodness to you? Or would you rather talk about how bad things are? It’s how you look at it nine or one.