Luke 17:11-19
As one who has been a follower of Christ for a good while
and remember you can be a follower and not really believe and trust in Jesus,
and this can be confirmed from the first twelve guys Jesus picked to follow
Him. But as a follower who understands
and trusts that Jesus tells the truth and that He is the only Son of God, who
showed up on planet earth in the womb of a virgin named Mary. He lived life for over 30 years and died for
the sins of all people, and three days later arose victorious over death and
the grave and now He sits at the right hand of the Father and is soon to
return.
Now with that confession of faith, let me also confess I
wrestle with faith, I’m good at talking about faith, but when needing faith I
often fall back to how can I fix this problem, have you ever struggled with
your faith? As I read this account of
Jesus cleansing ten lepers, this thought came to mind; does desperation take a
follower of Christ to a deeper faith?
Do you recall Peter’s confession about Jesus, after Jesus
asked Peter “who do you say I am?” “Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed
are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but
my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:15-17 ESV) That same Peter who is warned by Jesus at the
Mount of Olives about denying Him, and before throwing stones, this is each of
us at the very best of our flesh. Listen
to Peter with yourself in mind; “Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of
you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the
rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!”
And all the disciples said the same.” (Matthew 26:33-35) And history reminds you and me that Jesus
tells the truth.
But remember also what Jesus told them that night; “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” (Matthew
26:32 ESV) The next day when they saw
Jesus die, what did these followers think, he is dead and we are in trouble,
but three days later some of them encountered the risen Christ, and an amazing
thing happened to those who saw, they believed and recalled what Jesus had said
to them.
The Acts of the Apostles in chapter 1 gives this account: “He presented
himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them
during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart
from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;
for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not
many days from now.” (Acts 1:3-5 ESV)
And a few days later they received power when the Holy
Spirit came to them, and please understand they did not do any amazing work at
this point that set them apart, Jesus set them apart and after Pentecost they
were never the same.
Now back to Luke 17:11-19, and let me answer my question; (“Does
desperation take a follower of Christ to a deeper faith?”) it sure can, it
often does, and sometimes it exposes who we trust. These 10 lepers were in a bad way, the only
hope they had was Jesus, and this was their cry for help; “Jesus,
Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw
them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” (Note: a
requirement of the law that a leper after being healed must show themselves to
the priests.) “And as they went they were cleansed.”
You can read all about what happen next it’s a great read,
all 10 were healed, but what happens next tells a lot about mankind.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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