Ten Lepers Healed, One Restored

"Thy faith has made thee whole." What does it mean for Jesus to say these words to you? Well first we have to look at the three different times He said it in the Bible. 

The first we have the woman with the issue of blood. Then we have Blind Bartimaeus, and finally The ten Lepers. I will focus on the Ten Lepers in this post. I am sure in the upcoming weeks we will talk about the woman with the issue of blood and Blind Bartimaeus because each incident has some wonderful gems to gleam for understanding in healing, transformation and restoration.

Let me just briefly say that each account has Jesus asking a question before He says the famous words, "Thy faith has made thee whole." In the testimony with the woman with the issue of the blood the question was: "Who Touched my clothes" Mark 5:30, "Who Touched Me?" Luke 8:45. I find it interesting that Matthew does not make mention of the question just said Jesus turned and saw her. Again that's another post. In the testimony of Blind Bartimaeus, He asked "What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" Mark 10:52. In the testimony we are going to focus on His question is "Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?" Luke 17:17. 

One more thing you should take note of regarding the similarities in these testimonies. In all Jesus asked a question and in all He gets a reply. In Testimony of the woman with the issue of blood it was His disciple, Peter that answered. In the testimony with Blind Bartimaeus, it was Bartimaeus that answered. However, in the testimony of the ten lepers; Jesus, Himself, answers.

So let's look at this unique healing. The entire account is found in Luke 17:11-19. Here's a quick recap. Ten lepers see Jesus traveling afar off and they cry out to Him, Master have mercy on us. Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the Priest. They all leave to do just that, the Bible says that as they went they received their healing. One realizing that he was indeed healed; ran back to Jesus and with a loud voice praised him, showing his gratitude. Jesus ask where are the others and makes reference to him being a Samaritan (stranger) and then utters the words; Thy faith has made thee whole.

As I prayed about a revelation, some very important things stuck out to me from the Scripture and then God breathed a revelation that floored me. So let's take a look at the points this passage has. 

Note: Now don't get me wrong, there are more but for the sake of time, here are just a few of my main points. :)

1. Jesus was recognizable from afar off. Since these men were lepers they could not interact with others. They were uncleaned and they had to keep their distance. "A leper wasn't allowed to come within six feet of any other human, including his own family. The disease was considered so revolting that the leper wasn't permitted to come within 150 feet of anyone when the wind was blowing." (Got Questions?org). 

2. Leprosy was a outward symbol of sin in the life of those afflicted. The way that leprosy disfigured it's host was symbolic of how God views sin and it's destructive nature in our lives. "In ancient Israel leprosy was a powerful object lesson of the debilitating influence of sin in a person’s life." (Got Questions?org). Leprosy cannot be cured by man, thus you have to fall on the mercy of God to override the sin and it's affects in your life. Just like they had to go to the Priest to show themselves, we must confess our sins to one another that we might find forgives in the house of the Lord. It is by God's grace and mercy toward us that we can be redeemed, restored and reaffirmed.

3. Now it required faith on their part to go to the Priest to show themselves. When as they turned, their situation still looked the same. It required faith in Jesus' spoken word. Many times Jesus has spoken to us to do something. He does not give more instructions than that. Sometimes we are like Nathan and we take offense at his request. It seems so silly, so insignificant. Surely he would wave his hands, have a prophet call me out in a service, or split the sky open to answer me. However, all He says is "Go wash or show yourself to the priest. We are underwhelmed. We wanted more. These men just moved on his request. as they moved, something changed. They were healed.

4. Now the Bible makes specific mention that one of the lepers was a Samaritan. This is important only because Jews did not like Samaritans. It is assumed that all the other lepers in this group were Jews. Now this is two part for me. 1. It shows me that misery loves company and it does not matter if it is coming from a professed enemy. When you are low you will do things that you would not have done normally. 2. It also shows that the Jews, felt entitled. They took Jesus at His word and now they could get back to their lives and be normal again. However, the Samaritan, realized that this was not a small feat. It was God that had given him a second chance at life. He realized that a mere man could not have done this. His thoughts were on glorifying the giver of this new life. Everything he had lost was something he could acquire again.

Now he turns and falls at the feet of Jesus. "He turned back towards Him who was the Author of his cure, whom he wished to have the glory of it, before he received the benefit of it. The Samaritans were separatists from the Jewish church, and had not the pure knowledge and worship of God among them that the Jews had, and yet it was one of them that glorified God, when the Jews forgot, or, when it was moved to them, refused, to do it." (Matthew Henry Complete Commentary) This Samaritan worshiped, God the best way he knew how.

5. Jesus notices that he was the only one to return and for this, he gets an added blessing. He hears Jesus utter the words, "Thy faith has made thee whole."

As I pondered on this, God spoke to me and said, "Linda, would you want to be healed or Whole?" I then asked, "Is there a difference?" Then it hit me. there was a flash of a man disfigured and mangled by leprosy. He was missing skin, limbs, hair and badly scarred. I saw this man from head to toe. His entire body had been affected by this disease. I could see the disease was gone but the aftermath was horrific. This man would always have signs of the disease that ate his flesh and claimed body parts. It was hard for me to look. Then I heard God say, "healed." As I continued to look, this same man began to change right before my eyes. Where there had been no nose, now a nose grew. Where his eyes were discolored, they were now a brilliant blue color. The white scars on his skin turned to creamy smooth ivory skin, blemish free. This transformation took a few minutes until the man stood before me, restored. Then I heard God say, "Whole."

What God showed me was that everything that this man had lost was now returned to him. He would not have reminders that his disease had robbed him of his life. He was whole again, new and redeemed. His mind, his soul and his spirit were free to breathe again. Elder Smith said on a prayer call that he was restored emotionally, mentally, physically, financially, socially and spiritually. I agree! Nothing lacking, nothing missing, WHOLE. Free to live a new life with all it's benefits.

"The rest were made whole by the power of Christ, in compassion to their distress, and in answer to their prayer; but he was made whole by his faith, by which Christ saw him distinguished from the rest. Note, Temporal mercies are then doubled and sweetened to us when they are fetched in by the prayers of faith, and returned by the praises of faith." (Matthew Henry Complete Commentary).

So in conclusion, I am still studying this but I just had to share this with you. I think as we move forward and we allow God to reveal to us what's holding us back from living a complete and fulfilled life. As He uncovers our hurts, habits and hang ups, that we don't forget to thank Him for His mercy bestowed upon us. We worship Him for who He is. We shout it from the mountain top that although we appreciate what He has done, we know that HE was the only one that could do it. Before we bask in the benefits of no longer being bound, confined, or an outcast...we remember the Author of our cure and magnify him.

You are Bound No More.

Pastor Linda Hillman

(c) 2014 Living Above Hurt Ministries

(209) 565-4055

Pastorlindahillman@hotmail.com

References:

Why is leprosy talked about so much in the bible. Got Questions?org http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-leprosy.html

Luke 17. Matthew Henry Complete Commentary http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/luke/17.html

Self Talk: Words of Faith by Guest Blogger David Stoop

Words, said either in the privacy of the mind or spoken aloud, are powerful. Written across the pages of history are phrases uttered at crucial moments that turned the course of world events. At the beginning of World War II, Winston Churchill told the British people that even thought all of Europe might fall, ‘We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end—we shall fight on the seas and oceans—we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.’ And the free world rallied to the task.

Look back through the pages of the Old Testament. David as a young man, affirms his faith to King Saul and then to the giant Goliath. He tells the king, ‘The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine’ (1 Sam. 17:37). Then, as David goes out to meet the giant, Goliath curses him. And David responds with powerful words; ‘I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand’ (vv.45-46). And history records the results.

Now that is not to say that the words in and of themselves are miracle workers. They are the reflections of what is in the heart and mind of David. And they release within David’s life the power of God. They are an extension of his Self-Talk during the years prior to that event. They are an expression of his faith.

Words Release Faith

Most of us think of faith as being trust in some positive benevolent deity. But faith is a process of life. No one is faithless. It is not a question of whether we possess faith or not. It is rather a question of where we place our faith. And our Faith is a process that works in releasing life-changing power in either a positive or negative direction.

For example, have you ever noticed how much more tired you feel after yawning and saying, ‘I’m so tired?’ You feel more tired because your Self-Talk has just released power in the direction of tiredness.

In the same way, recent studies have shown that people who begin to talk about the possibility of divorce often find themselves proceeding inevitably in the direction of divorce. Later they comment on how they felt trapped by their words. Things were not that bad, but talking about divorce gave power to that possibility.

All these examples illustrate the importance of our Self-Talk. We all talk to ourselves, sometimes out loud, but most of the time in the privacy of our minds. The result is always the same–the things we say determine the way we live our lives.

What are you in the habit of saying? What kinds of expressions would your family or friends recognize as being typical of you? You may have simply passed off some of these remarks as not being serious or even as jokes. But what you say and think is a very important indicator of where you are placing your faith.

Take some time now to make a list of the kinds of Self-Talk you usually make. What kinds of things do you say out loud? What kinds of statements do you make about yourself in your thoughts? For example, do you say or think things like:

“I can’t do this job; its too hard.”
“I’m always late. Guess I’ll be late for my wedding, even.”
“I’m so shy, I couldn’t talk to him.”
“I can’t lose weight. Nothing I do will help”

Write down some of the statements you make.

Now make another list, writing sown some of the statements you want to begin to make about yourself. For example you could change the above statements to read;

“I don’t like this job, but step by step I can do it.”
“I’ve had a habit of being late, but I can change my schedule and be on time.”
“I can lose weight, and I will find how I need to do it for me.”

Bound No More

The one thing we need but many of us struggle to get is respect. In life, we will go through some hard times and if we are lucky, we will be able to come out on the winning side. However, what about the one that are caught in the cracks. Is there hope for the woman whose been abused (emotionally, mentally, physically or socially)? Who is there to let that woman know there is hope in her hopeless situation?

We hear so much about sisterhood yet we are set apart. We gossip about one another steal each other men and if we get the chance, we will ruin another’s reputation so we look good. Now does this sound like sisterhood? More importantly how are we being good examples for the girls and women to come after us? Are we allowing them to find hope for their situations? Let me share my story and may be, someone will see there is hope and make a change for the better.

As a teenager, I suffered being molested, verbally abused and lived in a house raging with domestic violence. I grew up with anger issues and never tried to deal with them. I had relationship after relationship fail. One day I came to the realization that the life I was living was just a shadow of what could be. I did not have to live with the pain, frustration and depression. I could rise above it. I could be free. However, I knew that it would take some restoration of my inner emotions. I would have to learn how to look at life differently, not using my own reasoning because it was skewed and fragile.

I sought help from counselors and coaches that help my see past the hurt, habits and hang-ups. I was able to start a relationship on a healthy note and those negative friends – well I was able to influence them to be more positive. This did not happen over night it only started with a single step.

The first step can be the hardest however, if you are truly ready for healing to occur in your life then you will allow this step to take place, including removing all negative and unhealthy influences in your life. Many times, it is what we allow in our lives that hinder us the most. I had to deal with the past in order to maintain my present and secure my future.

We learned in history that if we do not learn from history it is bound to repeat itself. Well, this is true even in our lives. If we are not willing to learn from bad decisions, our fears, our failure and, even more importantly, our successes then we are bound to repeat them. Dr. Susan Jeffers says, “Life is not a struggle but an opportunity”. Additionally, you only get a single opportunity to make it count. Do not live with regret and remorse. Not to make light of the experiences you have been through, Nevertheless, if I can learn to let go of the pain and anger, then why not you?