Jesus Said,

Were there not ten cleansed? Luke 17:17

While traveling in Samaria, Jesus met ten lepers, who stood far off. Which is what they were expected to do. Lepers were outcasts. They were unclean. Anyone they touched would become unclean. The law of Moses had laws regarding the treatment of lepers. The laws were strict. The laws were for instruction, “to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. this is the law of leprosy” Leviticus 14:57. The law required the priest to declare what was clean and unclean. When the leprosy was gone it was the responsibility of the priest to declare the person clean.

Which brings us back to Jesus and the ten lepers in Samaria. They asked of Jesus, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”Luke 17:13. A simple request. Jesus’ response is just as direct: Go, show yourselves to the priests. And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. The lepers were made clean as they obeyed; not before. There is no mention of faith, just obedience. As they went, they were cleansed; not healed, but made clean. Jesus does not require much. This is grace.

Luke continues, verse 15: And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. Verse 17: Jesus said, were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? Apparently not. Only one out of ten took the time to give thanks for what God had done; to glorify God for His mercy.

Then Jesus said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” There, Jesus acknowledges faith in the small act of demonstrating gratitude.

Later, in Gethsemane, Jesus will pray. In one of those prayers Jesus will make an astonishing declaration. John 17:22 & 23: And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and loved them as You have loved Me.

Read that again, And the glory which You gave Me I have given them. You have been given the same glory God gave Jesus. And for a very good reason: that you may be one with Jesus just as He is one with the Father. That you may be made perfect. That the world may know God sent Jesus and God loves the world just as God loves His Son. 

Glorifying God in our gratitude is grace at work. There is more to church than just fellowship with each other. Church is an amazing experience in our fellowship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.