Martin Luther was once asked to describe the nature of true worship. His answer?

“The tenth leper turning back.”

What did he mean? He was referring to the story of the ten lepers told in Luke 17:11-19. Jesus enters a village en route to Jerusalem, probably tired, hungry and weary from the long and dusty journey. He is met by a group of ten desperate lepers crying out from a distance:

“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

Luke 17:13b

Leprosy was the name for a number of different skin diseases at that time, but it was commonly believed to be inflicted on a person as a punishment for some particular sin. It was nothing short of a mark of God’s displeasure.

What would Jesus, the Son of God, do in response to the cries he heard?

A Peculiar Response

He neither ignored them, nor did he heal them right away, as he was often found doing in response to others’ pleas for healing and help. Rather, he offered this rather peculiar response:

“Go, show yourselves to the priests.”

Luke 17:14b

Why? Ceremonial practice required by the law (see Leviticus 13) stated that if anyone had a leperous disease, he must go to the priest to be declared ‘clean’ and be allowed to enter back into society, or ‘unclean’ and be removed again from society. So they went, and the text says that it was as they were on their way to see the priest that they were healed. Poof!! Their skin diseases instantly vanished.

The One Who Turned Back

It is a mystery why Jesus chose to heal them as they were heading somewhere else. But what’s even more intriguing is the response of each leper as they realized they were healed. Though we are not given the details, we do know that nine out of the ten lepers continued on their way, even as they realized they were freed from their leperous condition. And we can’t blame them, for that it was Jesus told them to do! But there was one leper who did something different than the rest of his peers. He turned back the way he came. Not only that, but…

“He was ‘praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks.'”

Luke 17:15-16

What a scene! 

The leper approached Jesus reverently and gave praise to God for what had been done. Somehow he understood what had been done and something deep inside him drove him to give thanks where the thanks was due.

Jesus is struck by his reverence, but he is even more struck by the fact that he is the only one who turned back, asking,

“Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

Luke 17:17-18

At first glance we might wonder, Why does Jesus have such high expectations when it comes to showing gratitude? Is he driven by what he will get in return?

It may be helpful to consider an analogy. Say you are a parent who sends your child to college. You pay for their tuition, make sure they have a food allowance every week and you even give them some extra spending money. Your motivation for doing this is driven by your love for your child – not getting something in return right? But imagine if your child after the first and the second and the third semester doesn’t give you even one phone call, text or email. Not even one. The child may even be thinking,

“Well they are my parents, they should provide for me shouldn’t they?”

When Entitlement Creeps In

Do you see what’s happening? Entitlement creeps in. The child feels they deserve the blessing so when it does come, there is no response. The parent will go on providing because of the love for the child, but it is much less meaningful because there is no relationship with the child.

Perhaps this is what Jesus is getting at here. God – out of his great love for us – enjoys giving good gifts to his children. He loves to care for us, provide for us and show us mercy…without any expectation of return. After all, the nine went on their way and their physical blessing of healing was not revoked. However, when we realize we truly are undeserving of the mercy, it will and should have the effect of driving us back to the feet of Jesus in utter gratitude.  

And here’s the kicker: it’s not for Him. It’s actually for us. Look at Jesus’ words to the one who turned back,

“Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Luke 17:19

Wait, but wasn’t he already healed? The word for ‘made you well’ might also be translated, ‘healed, saved, made whole.’

God Desires to Heal Us Deeply from the Inside Out

However we translate it, one thing is clear: there is more at stake here than physical healing. There was a deeper spiritual healing and blessing that occurred as a result of the one going back to Jesus. One commentator says,

“Temporal mercies are then doubled and sweetened to us when… we return to give praises of faith.”  

Another says,

“We increase the sweetness of our gifts by thankfulness for them. We taste them twice when we ruminate on them in gratitude. They live after their death when we bless God and thank Jesus for them all. ”

In other words, focusing on the benefits of the blessing instead of the One who blesses is actually only a fraction of what God intends for us to receive. Yet, when we turn back to him to sit at his feet, his wonderful presence often doubles, deepens and sweetens our blessing. We are made whole in the fullest sense of the word.

Have you experienced that? The wholeness that comes in the presence of God as we give Him thanks and praise?

If you’re like me, you often delay your thanksgiving or forget about it all together. It may be an afterthought and you sort of mumble to God a quick “Thank you” as you’re falling asleep or onto your next thing. But this passage is calling us to be like the one who turned back – intentionally going to God to give thanks for things big and small, which comes out of our awareness of our unworthiness, yet also makes us receptive of and responsive to God’s lavish display mercy towards us. Wow.

Let me say that again: to be like the one leper means to regularly and intentionally go to God to give thanks for things big and small, which comes out of our awareness of our unworthiness, and makes us receptive of and responsive to God’s tender and generous mercy. An important balance to strike. I always love returning to the soul-soothing words of Lamentations 3:

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

v 22-23

God’s mercies and compassions are constantly new. Every. Single. Morning. No matter what we are dealing with, what we’ve done (or not done), no matter how we might be failing at life or relationships or showing our devotion to Him. His tender mercies are waiting to meet us on our road back to Him, as we run to His feet. What a beautiful promise.

On the heals of another (American) Thanksgiving, and as we look now towards Advent and preparing our hearts for Christmas, may we be like the one leper, stopping mid-stride to turn back to the One who longs for our response. It is not always the most logical, convenient or comfortable choice. But when we make the choice to turn back from our blessings and run to the feet of our merciful Lord, we will discover that it is in that humble and quiet place, away from the crowds, where we will find what our hearts have longed for all along. The place where we will experience double, deeper and sweeter blessings from the inside out.

Don’t wait, turn back now and starting running!

When Your Cries for Mercy Have Not Yet Been Answered

You may be saying, “Yeah, that is great for the lepers, but God hasn’t answered my prayer yet.” This may very well be true and it is not uncommon on the journey of life and faith for us all to have seasons of waiting and hoping for the healing…restoration…conception of a child…financial provision…or whatever it is….to finally come. You are not alone and you don’t have to walk through these seasons alone either. If you are in a time of waiting, disappointment, discouragement or doubt right now, I invite you to consider booking a free consult on my coaching page. It would be a privilege for me to get to hear your story and walk the journey with you.