Only One Returned

Luke 17:17-19
17 So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" 19 And He said to him, "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well."    NKJV

Amazing word given...........ten came..........ten were cleansed.........yet only ONE CAME TO GIVE GLORY TO GOD!

Did only one have the "grateful heart"?

Luke 17:11-19

11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 14 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. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. 17 So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" 19 And He said to him, "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well."    NKJV

Having a faith in God.........being made well......made whole, delivered, the healed, the saved.

WE can see Jesus had gone to Jerusalem and was passing in the midst of Samaria and Galilee. When entering this village, it must have been in Samaria.........because by the time we get to verse 16, it states the healed one was a Samaritan. Only the foreigner would give glory to God! 

All had spoken together, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us, yet as they went and all healed, only one returned.

Have we not seen that before........the least likely to return,........was one who gave thanks. It  is the one so touched by God returns again and again to give thanks. They return to church to be with other believer's. Aah yes, there are many who come, and may speak like you can speak, but what is in their heart regarding the goodness of God?

Instead of this Samaritan obeying the letter of the law........he came to give thanks to God! Instead of the ritual and religion, he came to give thanks to Him who created him.

Mark 10:46-52

46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you." 50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. 51 So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight." 52 Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road. 

NKJV

In the above scripture passage, we see pretty much the same thing. We see the group going with Jesus and His disciples as they left Jericho. We find the blind man Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, by the road begging.

He can know it is Jesus because of what he hears the crowd speak. Because he heard, he was able to speak out, " Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Instantly there were those, you know who they are, probably seen them in church. They are the ones........who say.............."ssshhhh"..........or "be quiet". or they give a look, when you are yelling and giving praise to God...............giving a yell,........AND  those next to you, rolling those whites in their eyes, letting you know that you are offending them, by being OH SO "LOUD ABOUT JESUS".

COME ON NOW, I KNOW YOU HAVE SEEN THEM, RIGHT?

Then, after those try to quiet Bartimaeus above the "roar" of the "crowd", then Bartimaeus again speaks, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Yep, he did it again. THEN JESUS STOOD STILL. HE COMMANDED Bartimaeus to be called.

THEN, the blind man threw aside his garment...........while those with Jesus told him to come. He threw off that which stated, "he was the BLIND MAN", HE WAS THE SON OF A BLIND MAN. He threw off that which denoted a beggar in despair.

AND Jesus spoke to him..........."What do you want Me to do for you?"

And Bartimaeus answered..........."Rabboni, that I may receive my sight." Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." AND IMMEDIATELY HE RECEIVED HIS SIGHT AND FOLLOWED JESUS ON THE ROAD.!

IN  a crowd of people there will always be a low roar, but even more so when there are people walking down the road together. Ever been to the Spaghetti Factory in Seattle......????......well, that is "a roar of people speaking like all at the same time." It can get pretty "loud" in there. I remember eating in there a couple of times, and each time I could not hear the people seated across from me or next to me while we all gathered to eat.

Matthew 23:5-12

5 "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.' 

8 "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.  11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.    NIV

Jesus taught us that those who were called Rabbi, surely like the title. They liked being greeted in the marketplaces and for those there to call them "Rabbi". But Jesus said His disciples were not to be called "Rabbi", but the one who was the Master, the Father in heaven, was the Teacher of all in Christ.

When Bartimaeus mentioned "Rabboni", he was calling him "Lord". He was speaking, 

"Jesus, "Son of a King" have compassion, mercy on me!"

Bartimaeus cried, he SCREAMED OUT LOUDLY.........SON OF A KING HAVE MERCY ON ME!

What a glorious picture of that which was broken was now made whole! What was of the poor, the blind was now restored to run and jump AND YES SEE. He was restored to follow Jesus and not be led by anyone. May we all have that same type of life, to be the healed and restored to follow Jesus willingly and not be led!  May we all follow having an active part in seeing the glory of the Lord daily in our lives.
Will we return to give thanks or just be "one of the nine".......who were healed but not made whole like the "one"!

Father, we pray in Jesus' name to be men and women who will have the same courage to speak loudly in returning in giving thanks to You. As we do, we expect that light of Your Word to continue to bring us to Your glorious presence which is of the King, the rightful ruler of our hearts. We desire to submit willingly to Your authority and rule. Put that longing in our hearts to talk with You and hear Your voice. May we always be willing to step away from the "crowd" and give a  yell for Your goodness to us. We have seen restoration and life brought to us through believing. We pray to continue to have faith -filled lives. May we live each day with a leading by Your Holy Spirit.

Lord, please quiet those voices from the outside that represent to us the world and our five senses. Today we are the accepted in Jesus and we are free. We pray to follow You all the days of our lives and live in Your House forever and ever. You are the King of glory.Amen.

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