To have leprosy in Jesus' day was a death sentence. You were pronounced "unclean" and driven away from family and society, forced to live in isolation from all that you once held dear. Think, if you were to wake up tomorrow morning with some kind of strange sore on your skin that would take you away from your family, your friends, your work, your church, everything!

But even worse, lepers were considered to be under the curse of God. According to Maclear’s Handbook, Leprosy was “the outward and visible sign of the innermost spiritual corruption; a meet emblem in its small beginnings, its gradual spread, its internal disfigurement, its dissolution little by little of the whole body, of that which corrupts, degrades, and defiles man’s inner nature, and renders him unmeet to enter the presence of a pure and holy God”

Not only were you unfit for service in God's house, you were unfit for God. To be a leper was to be cast away from not only everyone you loved, but from the One who provided any kind of hope, God Himself. Can you imagine yourself a leper? Can you understand their depth of despair?

Against such despair and hoplessness, the story of the 10 lepers in Luke 17 (Lesson #25) stands out as both a gracious redemptive triumph as well as a horrific tragedy. Jesus' healing of these lepers showed that they were not beyond the gracious work of God. They were not under His curse. This was even more true for the one who returned to give thanks, for he was also considered an outcast for another reason. He was a Samaritan. His healing and return to Jesus is proof that no one is beyond the reach of grace.

The tragedy is that there were ten who were healed, but only one who returned in worship and thanks. Nine were healed outwardly. They returned to their families, free from leprosy, but still riddled with sin.

This story is much more than than a physical healing from leprosy. It's a story of salvation, the birth of a worshipper. What's the greatest miracle God could ever do for you? Isn't it what He has already done in Christ? Is your life characterized by gratefulness for this great gift? Or have you forgotten?

Oh, let us consider the love of Christ for such lepers like us - and worship!

Pastor Jonathan