Where Are the Nine?

"And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks; and he was a Samaritan.  And Jesus answering said, 'Were there not ten cleansed?  But where are the nine?'" (Luke 17:15-17)

Genuine "thankfulness" seems to have become a rare commodity indeed, beloved!  Even in Jesus' day when He graciously healed ten men of the dreaded disease of leprosy, only one of them showed true gratitude of heart and returned to thank Him after showing himself to the priest according to the dictates of the Mosaic Law.  And when he returned and fell on his face in thanksgiving before Him, Jesus rightly posed the question that should be on our hearts today: "Where are the nine?"

This sad but true incident in the life of Jesus reveals to us a number of key truths concerning genuine thankfulness today.  The first is that a thankful heart will always recognize that help has come from outside to one who is essentially unworthy.  No one in Hebrew society was considered more of an outcast than a "leper."  No one afflicted with this horrible and terminal disease was allowed within the walls of a city, much less in any public building.  The penalty was often death.  Likewise truly grateful hearts today will recognize and freely acknowledge that, as Paul told the Ephesians about their life before Christ: "You were dead in your trespasses and sins" and that "by grace you have been saved through faith" (2:1, 8).  Before God you and I are all equally unworthy of a second look from God and completely, like those ten lepers, unable to improve our standing.

But a second wonderful truth that should be obvious in this account, beloved, is that genuine worship can only come from genuine gratitude.  Much of what is called "worship" today and what men mistake for worship is actually only structured religious ceremony.  No matter how it is contrived or carried out, whether it is "traditional" or "contemporary"/"liturgical" or "charismatic" - it matters not - unless it is prompted by genuine and heartfelt gratitude for God's grace, it is shallow and empty and means nothing at all to God. The cry of "Thanks be to God!" from a single heart touched by His grace and transformed by His power is more of "worship" than the loftiest anthem or the grandest sermon ever delivered.

Finally, a truth that should rivet our attention upon the nature of true redemption is that only the one who is truly grateful gives evidence of having been truly converted.  In Jesus' closing words to this one of ten who returned to fall on his face and give thanks, we find His promise that "your faith has made you well" (v. 19).  But wait a moment!  Were not the ungrateful nine just as healed of leprosy as was this one who returned?  What then did Jesus mean?  Here the word for being made "well" or "whole" means literally "saved you."  Jesus said to the one who came back: "Your faith has saved you."  That one man, then, not only went home that day free from the curse of leprosy, beloved, but free from the eternal curse of sin and its condemnation as well.

So to pose Jesus' question once more: "Where are the nine?"  Are you one of them?  Am I?  Not if we truly understand that in and of ourselves we are not worthy of what Jesus did for us in love on the cross.  And not if we understand that only hearts that are grateful for what He did for us can in turn give Him the worship that He so richly deserves.  And not if we understand, above all else, that only a truly grateful heart will show to our world what a truly saved heart and transformed life is like.

So where are the nine at this Thanksgiving season?  Let's hope that all are on their way back to fall again at His feet and to thank Him for His glorious grace!

Ron