HOLY HEALED
Luke 17:14-19 And when he [Jesus] saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
Go to church! Go to Mass! Go out and get some religion! Come on in, have a cup of Joe, and get your church on. How many times have we heard the old mantra, “Religion can change your life.”? Why do we seek to clean up our lives? Why do we always walk the path of a twelve step plan to cleanse our souls? Do we find the cure along the way in our twelve step plan like these lepers found themselves cleansed as they went to the priests? When did they realize they were healed? Did they walk ten, twelve, fifty or a hundred steps? Usually we ignore the bigger picture and focus on one small detail at a time in our lives. We happily clean up our lives here and there; find a balm for the outward symptoms of our little sins and ignore the sin-stained soul within. Ten lepers were cleansed, but only one was made whole!
When the great mass of people in these United States do wrong and look to find an answer for burning consciences, what do they do? In fact, the same behavior can be observed in the people of the whole world. There is none among all of humanity that can’t see their corrupt nature and wish to find a cure for the disease of sin in their life. Oh, yes, there are those who have taken the path of wickedness and no longer seek refuge from their sin, but instead have embraced their inadequacy and pronounced themselves incurable. All of them truly lost souls; souls that have given up and closed off God in their lives. How do we account for the likes of Hitler, Stalin, the Khmer Rouge, and serial killers? These have denied God for the last time; the Holy Ghost leaving them to their depravity. Could they have been saved? Anyone can be saved, but there is a time when Jesus Christ calls and the Holy Ghost pleads, and a time when they cease. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”, Ecclesiastes 3:1. These ten lepers hadn’t given up hope for a cure. They were still able to be healed. They could have all been whole.
And, healed they were! Jesus does not do things in half measures. God can heal with or without our faith in it. Read the account of Naaman in II Kings. He went grudgingly to the river Jordan and in his skepticism, (anti-faith), was healed. God has great and independent power!
So, God’s power is limitless? Limitless in application, yes, but bound by the hearts of men to God’s self imposed constraints. God does not force salvation. It is in His power to save when we by faith believe on Jesus Christ and Christ alone. God can’t save the unbeliever. God has limits! A crude illustration would be to compare God to a power plant that can supply power to a home. The power does no good until the master switch is engaged to make the connection between the power plant and the home. The power is there to supply all our needs but it’s up to us to flip the switch. And, likewise, it’s up to us to receive Christ in our lives.
The ten lepers called for mercy. Jesus showed the mercy of God through the cleansing of their bodies. Yet, nine were happy to be cured of leprosy and ignore the disease of their souls. Did not Jesus say, “Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?”, Luke 5:23. It is easier to see the healed body than to see the healed soul. Yet, Jesus says the one is as simple and complete as the other. We seek evidence in all things, even spiritual. One leper took the evidence of bodily healing as proof of Jesus’ power to heal the soul. He heard more than the nine; he heard Jesus’ call. The nine were happy. But, how long did the happiness last? Going to church and getting some religion might help you through a family crisis, but it won’t get you through life. Showing up for a youth group activity may create a reprieve from teen stresses, but they don’t provide a cure. The nine went to put on a show for the priests; a show of Jesus’ deity and power. What were they thinking? Here is a man with supernatural, divine, God, power to heal and they turn in the direction of the priests which never healed and could only diagnose. One in ten made the connection or, perhaps, had made the connection from the beginning. Had he been the one to tell the other nine of the miracles Jesus wrought? When they had called to Jesus had it been at the direction or instigation of the one?
Where did the other nine start the quest for healing and how’d they end up? Were they caught in the ritual of sacrifice at the temple after the death of Christ, continuing in a fruitless and wasted endeavor? The change from Old Testament sin covering to New Testament sin cleansing happened at the Cross. The effectiveness and authority of the temple sacrifices were nullified when the veil was rent from top to bottom and the Holy of Holies revealed to the world. If God was still in that room, why wasn’t everyone killed when the veil was torn? No one died at the temple because Jesus Christ said, “It is finished”, becoming the final and complete sacrifice for our sin! Perhaps the other nine found the cure for the soul later down the road.
It doesn’t help to simply say a prayer, fall to our knees at the altar, or bend our head in humility, if we do not believe on Jesus Christ and through faith receive salvation. The prayer, altar, and position do nothing to save. This behavior creates an illusion of cleansing; a cleansing of our guilt over sin. Judas sought a cleansing of guilt for the betrayal of innocent blood. When Judas committed suicide he hasted the day of atonement; the beginning of an eternity of guilt cleansing in a devil’s hell. Jesus does not seek to cleanse the soul of guilt; He’s already paid that part. Jesus seeks to cleanse the soul of sin, the source of our guilt.
One is such a small number. The bible says, “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Mathew 7:14. This one, after returning, was not told to show himself to the priests. Once he had been made whole the priests could do nothing for him. Jesus sent him on his way. A man saved by grace, humble, and praising God, knows the way which he should go without being told.
Are you one in ten?
Or, are you going to church to put on a show?
Has your faith truly made you whole?
