New skin and new life

(By Martina Gounder )

The Bible talks about the story of 10 lepers who came face to face with Jesus. As you may be aware, leprosy is an infectious disease that causes severe sores, disfiguring of skin and nerve damage in organs. In the Old Testament times, leprosy was viewed as a curse from God, often connected with sin. 

The 10 lepers approached Jesus from a distance and cried out in a loud voice: 

Jesus, Master, have mercy on us (Luke 17:13). 

You see, it is good to cry, and to cry out to the One who can transform our lives. A cry speaks of desperation and until we reach that point of desperation, we will still be juggling with the world’s opinions and solutions.

David says in Psalm 18:6, 

In my distress I called to the Lord;

I cried to my God for help. 

From his temple he heard my voice; 

my cry came before him, into his ears. 

Their cry caught the attention of Jesus and He gives them an instruction to follow: Go, show yourselves to the priests (Luke 17:14). And as they went, all of them were miraculously made clean!

However out of the ten, one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice (Luke 17:15).

This unnamed leper was a pagan from the land of Samaria, who had not yet encountered the living God – a God who loved him unconditionally and who left the highest of heavens only for this day, and this moment.  

The nine others came for the gift and when they received it, they went about their way. But this man came back to acknowledge the Giver of the gift.  

He threw himself at the feet of Jesus, laying his face downward and started thanking him over and over again. He was shameless and extravagant in pouring out his gratitude to Him. 

A thankful heart is the best offering you can give (I Thessalonians 5:18), and he offered it straight to the High Priest Jesus.

Oh, he must have said to himself, “First time when I met Him, leprosy stopped me from drawing near. But now that I am clean, I don’t want to miss this moment of getting close to Him. Where else can I go? For down at his feet is the most high place.”

On that day, history was written. 

On that day, heaven celebrated.

While the rest of the nine lepers got a new skin, this leper got a new life; while they encountered the Healer, this one leper encountered the Savior! 

Life Application

1.  A thankful heart attracts God.

2.  Seek the Giver more than a gift.