Thankful yelling

He was going into a village when he was met by ten men suffering from a dreaded skin disease. They stood at a distance and shouted, ‘Jesus! Master! Have pity on us!’

Jesus saw them and said to them, ‘Go and let the priests examine you.’

On the way they were made clean. When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan. (verses 12-16)

Read Luke 17:11-19

It’s often the case that people who are drawn to faith in Jesus or experience renewal in faith are fairly overwhelming people to be around! One could even say that they are a bit ‘gushy’ or ‘over the top’ in their highly emotion-charged expressions of thanks and praise to God.

The one leper who came back to Jesus to give thanks to God by thanking his Son, Jesus, was a bit ‘over the top’. Luke says that this foreigner came back yelling out the praises of God! That was his way, but it may not be yours. Yet, the point is that this man gave thanks. He recognised Jesus as the living God of mercy and healing and was grateful for that.

The Lord Jesus has healed you by his blood, and still does every time you receive his body and blood at the altar. May you give thanks to him today and in this way recognise that he gives you complete forgiveness and healing always.

Lord Jesus, thank you for the healing gift of your body and blood by which you forgive and renew me. Grant that I may live in the contentment of knowing that everything I am and do is in your gracious hands. Amen.

by Adrian Kitson, in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)

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