Title: Gratitude and Faith
Contents
Today's text reports an incident where Jesus and ten lepers met in a village on the border of Samaria and Galilee. As soon as the ten lepers met Jesus, they raised their voices and cried out. "Jesus Teacher, have pity on us." The original word translated 'teacher' here is 'epstates'. This word is usually different from 'teacher'. In general, the word 'didaskalos' is used to mean 'teacher'. 'epstates' has a much more respectful meaning than 'didaskalos'. The translation 'Master' is closer to the original text than 'Teacher'. No one could use this word carelessly. Therefore, only the disciples, including Peter, called Jesus 'Master'. These lepers were the only ones other than the disciples who called Jesus Master. When this title is used, the lepers must have either genuinely respected Jesus or pretended to respect him for healing.
Jesus answered the lepers' plea, "Have mercy on us." At this time, according to verse 11, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. The reason for going to Jerusalem was to be executed. Soon, Jesus' heart must have been complicated. Later, as he prayed, “Not my will, but your will” (Luke 22:42), the road to Jerusalem was a difficult road. Nevertheless, Jesus granted the lepers' request. He did not refuse, saying, 'I am going to die soon, and I do not have the energy to take care of you.' When we are discouraged, when we are in a difficult situation, when people come to us and ask for help without knowing the situation, it is easy to say no. I'm having a hard time right now! It's hard to keep even my body! But even in his difficult circumstances, Jesus did not turn away from the cry of the lepers. Jesus told the priests to show yourselves. When the lepers are healed, they must show their bodies to the priest, and the priest must examine them. This was the duty of both parties. The inspection had to be relatively precise.
The reason why people at that time considered leprosy as the most feared disease was that once caught, they had to live in isolation and isolated from society until they were cleansed. Movies like Ben-Hur have vividly portrayed the wretchedness and desperation of that isolated life. The scenes in the film are by no means exaggerating the actual situation at the time. Among Handel's Messiah, No. 7 'He will purify' or 'He will make clean' is also understandable with this context in mind. Malachi 3:3, used in the lyrics, foretells that God's messenger will purify people from all unclean conditions, not just leprosy. To 'be cleansed' or 'to become clean' means to be able to return to society. It is the good news of salvation that you can do normal activities. Handel understood God's envoy prophesied in Malachi as Jesus Christ, and interpreted the role of Jesus Christ as the one leading the restoration of society by purifying the unclean people who were isolated from society. In this respect, Handel must have been a great musician as well as a person with high theological insight.
In today's text, it is by no means a pretentious greeting that one of those who was cleansed 'glorified God'. I have no choice but to glorify Because being cleansed was a moving event that not only his body but his entire life was restored.
But only one returned to Jesus and fell at His feet. When ordered to go to the priests, ten people started together, but only one returned to thank Jesus. Verse 16 says that he was a Samaritan. The nine Jews who prided themselves on being God's chosen people did not glorify God at that moment of emotion, and therefore did not thank Jesus. Rather, only one Samaritan, who was considered to have been rejected from God's chosen people, gave glory and thanks. At this time Jesus said: "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the nine?" (verse 17). How did Jesus feel when he saw the change in his heart when he was in a hurry and after the fire was extinguished? Didn't you suddenly feel sad or lonely at those shallow attitudes? "Where are the nine?" Is a single word of thanks so powerful? Do you mean that you easily forget me, who completely and decisively restored that life? Moreover, didn't they even call me Master, not Teacher? Where are the nine now?
The excitement wasn't the only one. The rescuers who tied them up with ropes from the third basement level said that while answering an interview after all 24 people were rescued. The first words he said after he struggled to break through the wall, approach them and see them, were, "Thank you so much for being alive, everyone." Who should be audited? Aren't you the one who went to the rescue? But he was rather grateful. I would also like to express my deep gratitude to him. The reason is that he not only showed the utmost gratitude, but also awakened all the people with a fresh shock.
It's a story from a long time ago, but I think that a representative example of showing the utmost gratitude as a foreigner can be found in Belgium's Father Damian. Father Damian, determined to spend the rest of his life with lepers, went to the island of Molokai in the South Pacific where lepers were held in groups and devoted themselves to them. However, since they, who are patients, considered themselves to be different from their fate, not the patients, this priest realized that there was a limit to interacting with them emotionally. So the priest daily prayed to the Lord that he would become a leper so that he himself could experience their sufferings, not with his head. "Please give me leprosy." Then, after a few years, he eventually contracted leprosy. As soon as the priest was diagnosed with leprosy, he exclaimed: "Thank God. Thank God. Now I can truly love them. Now their pain has become my pain. Glory to God." He was truly moved to tears.
Gratitude should be ingrained in the body from an early age. Therefore, home education is crucial. Kids these days who can put what they want so easily are easy to grow up without knowing how to be grateful. Also, there is a tendency for adults to only interfere when they are not studying and think that even if they do not teach gratitude, it is not a big deal. This is a very unfortunate phenomenon. Children who have grown up like that know only 'me' and are often unaware of the importance of 'others'. Gratitude must be taught. how? only in words? Adults must always have an attitude of gratitude, so children learn from watching it. If you tell your children to live with gratitude while living a life far from gratitude, you will only have less trust in your parents.
In verse 18, Jesus asked, "Has no one returned to glorify God except this Gentile?" The children of the noble family who expected to be grateful were not grateful, but rather the children of the lowly family who did not expect to be grateful were grateful. When a Samaritan said he was grateful, he was considered by the Jews to be a lowly person and not to engage with (John 4:9). In John 8:48, the Jews did this when they criticized Jesus. "Are you not a Samaritan or a demon-possessed man?" In this accusation, the prejudice that the Samaritan was a kind of man possessed by a demon was implied. The Samaritans were so despised. However, the Samaritans were warm-hearted people, contrary to the prejudices of the Jews. The Jewish priest and the Jewish Levite, who said he was a good person, escaped the man who was hit by the robber, but it was a good Samaritan who took pity on him and took him to an inn (Luke 10:29-37). After conversing with Jesus, it was none other than the Samaritan woman at the well of Suga City who testified of Jesus and made many people believe (John 4:39).
The report that of the ten lepers who were healed, only a Samaritan gave thanks is of great significance to us. We Christians who claim to be people who live by practicing the word to be thankful for everything are not thankful, and I am impatient, wondering if non-Christians who seem far from gratitude are more accustomed to gratitude.
Jesus declared to the Samaritan who had been healed and gave thanks, “Rise and go, and your faith has made you well.” When it comes to your faith here, the content of that belief does not consist solely of trust in the power of God revealed through Jesus' activity. The belief here consists of that plus thanksgiving. It means that your trust in God's grace and your gratitude for that grace have saved you. If this Samaritan had not been as grateful as the other nine men, he would not have heard the proclamation of salvation. In that case, his body would have been healed but his spirit could not have been healed.
Today, this event in Luke 17 reminds us that we can enjoy the glory of salvation only when we include thanksgiving in our faith. Gratitude comes only when we have a clear awareness of God's grace. In other words, gratitude comes out when you deeply recognize that you have given it even though you do not have the qualifications or merit to receive such grace. Only when this awareness becomes clear will we be able to give thanks from the depths of our lives, not from words of thanks.