a Leper's Thanksgiving

Recently I was watching an episode of “No Reservations” (a program on the travel channel) in which Anthony Bourdain (the host) was in Columbia. Throughout the episode the Columbians were expressing and showing Bourdain how “thankful” they were that things there had changed…that things were so much better from the years when the drug cartels had operated without restraint. At a party Bourdain made a comment that I thought was obvious, yet insightful, “people who’ve been through hard times really know how to party” he said.

Luke (17) records the account of ten lepers who met Jesus and had a life-changing encounter with Jesus; they were all healed! Lepers were alienated in every way. They couldn’t participate in the synagogue or festivals, had to cry out “unclean”, and maintain a distance of 100 paces from the clean. In addition to this, while a misnomer, leprosy (in some ways like AIDS in the 90s) carried a bit of a spiritual and moral stigma with it. They were outcasts.

Surprisingly, out of the ten only one returned to thank Jesus. Have you ever wondered what happened to the other nine? Me too. Luke doesn’t reveal their reasons and so we can only speculate, but…let’s speculate. Maybe:

· One waited to see if the cure was real.


· One said he would see Jesus later and thank Him then.

· Another decided that he had never really had leprosy.
- One thought he probably would have gotten well anyway through a new holistic process.

-Still another said, “I have so much to do. Jesus will understand.”
-One said, “Actually, I wasn’t as bad as the others.”
-Another said, “I should’ve never had leprosy in the first place”
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To me, what’s most interesting is that Jesus actually takes notice of their absence. I mean, Jesus, i.e., God noticed! God noticed that nine didn’t give thanks.
But one was different. The Bible says, “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed…” Most English versions translate the verse as saying that he saw he was healed. The Greek word used is “eido” and it’s a little broader than visual sight and means to know, see, and/or perceive. The thankful one took the time to note that he had been blessed. He realized that something wonderful had happened to him. He was sensitive to the power of Christ working in his life. He “saw” that he was healed, he turned back and glorified God.

His perception had entirely changed.

In addition to all that we have to thankful for this Thanksgiving, I want to also encourage you to “see” all that God has done in your life. Visit again in your mind the place where you first met God and His mercy and grace and in addition to everything else, be sure to give thanks for how He’s saved you. Because of Jesus, you’ve come so very far. Because of Jesus we see differently. Because of Jesus we should know how to party. Happy Thanksgiving.