Were There Not Any Found?

Yesterday my pastor preached on the following passage:

    “Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ So when He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?’ And He said to him, ‘Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.’” (Luke 17:11-19)

Bro Dennis reminded us the number ten in the Bible is the number of complete judgment. These ten lepers had the disease that all considered a sign as judgment for sin, leprosy. When Jesus told all these men to go to the priest after begging our Lord for healing, Jesus did so not based on these men’s faith. He showed them mercy and healed them. The act of going did not bring them salvation, it brought them a miracle healing.

And so should not all of the ten returned to Christ as did the Samaritan? Of course, but this is human nature. Our Lord was demanded of for signs and miracles.

    “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.’” (Matthew 12:38-39)

Many who saw Jesus signs and miracles plotted to kill Him because they were afraid of losing their positions of power:

    “But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ‘What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.’” (John 11:46-48)

I know many a non-believer who have said that if God showed Himself to them they would believe in them. I know of a couple of cases were God intervened in their lives, some even being saved from sure death, and yet they still do not believe. That is what these 9 lepers did; Jesus saved them from sure death, miraculously so, and yet they did not believe in Him. Jesus had shown these men and those who witnessed the healing that He is the healing for sin.

Why is that? What is it about human nature that keeps us from believing in Jesus’ miracle works?

These nine men concentrated on their healing instead of the Healer. The one Samaritan saw his healing and sought the Healer. The truth is no matter the miracles from God, only a few will give God glory and come to a saving relationship through Jesus Christ. And some who think they are Christians are not because they come to God on their terms instead of His terms. God the Father will not accept a substitute for Jesus His Son as payment for our sins. Only the blood of Christ will heal us.

The literal translation of Jesus words to the Samaritan is, “Your faith has saved you.” Let us realize that Jesus did not say the act of this man’s faith, his works, is what saved him. No, our Lord was telling the Samaritan and tells us through His Word that His being the object of our faith is what saves us. Remember?

    “… that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10)

The Samaritan was not saved when Jesus healed him nor was he saved when he gave God glory at Jesus’ feet. He was saved when he turned and went back to Jesus. He repented of his old life and sought the One who brought him new life.

Oh what a wonderful picture of salvation!

Oh what a horrible depiction of Christ being rejected by the other nine.

I believe that 90% of those who experience God and come face-to-face no doubt reject Jesus.

How tragic to be healed physically and condemned spiritually.

Is that you? Have you seen God work miracles in and around your life and still you reject Jesus?

Do not be like the 9 cleansed lepers. Turn to Jesus right now and confess your sins, repent of your old lifestyle, and ask Jesus to be Lord of your life. Believe it in your heart and confess it with your mouth. That is true salvation.

I pray you find that today.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2011 David Jeffers

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