Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.

Nine of theses ten lepers were jews, the tenth was a samaritan. Samaritans were considered outcasts by the jewish people. They are from the 10 tribes of Israel that fell away from the orthodox practice of the jewish faith. They had commingled with the pagan cultures, and had set up their own laws of worship, and created their own temple. The jews saw these people as despicable. But as lepers, these ten were all outcasts from both of their societies.

The practice of healing in the jewish world, was a two step process, first you must be physically healed, and then second you would show yourself to the high priest for confirmation, and to be spiritually healed. These lepers hearing that Jesus was a great healer, approached him and asked for healing. Jesus (the great high priest) reverses this order of healing that they knew. Recognizing their faith he heals them spiritually, and tells them to go to the high priest to be certified as healed. But, They were not healed of their leperousy yet, an act of faith was still required of them, they must trust that they will be healed and go to the high priest. When they did this, they were healed along the way.

The jews knew, that by the jewish law, that in order to be reintegrated to the jewish community, that they must continue on to the high priest to be certified, and even though they were healed they continued along the way. The samaritan though knew that he would not be accepted in the jewish temple and so turned around, and return to Jesus (the True, and Great High Priest) and thanked Him, and Jesus knowing that this is what He had meant for all of the 10 asks His question. The samaritan did what Jesus ultimately intended them all to do. Did the tenth leper know? Probably not, but because of his faith in Jesus as God, he got a blessing that the other 9 did not.

So I ask you, do you want to just follow the letter of the law, and do just enough to be healed, or do you want to strive for greatness in Gods kingdom? If the latter, you must turn to Jesus in all things, do not allow one gift to go unthanked, do not allow one trial to not be offered up, and do not allow a single day to go by without praising God for His creation and His love. He has so much more planned for you, you simply need to open your heart up to His grace and will.

Oh. Lord help me today to recognize your hand in all things, and to be grateful for every gift and trial you put in my life. Amen.