Unclean No Longer

And it came to pass, as He went to Jerusalem, that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.  And as He entered into a certain village, there met Him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up their voices, and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”  And when He saw them, He said unto them,
“Go shew yourselves unto the priests.”
And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 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?  There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.”
And He said unto him,
“Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
Luke 17:11-19

The miracles of Jesus were done by Him as evidence and proof of who He is.  According to the prophet Isaiah 61:1-5 He was sent to preach good tidings to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to set captives free, and to set prisoners free,  and to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.  It is at that point where Jesus stopped as He was reading Isaiah 61 in the said in the synagogue in Galilee.

When John the Baptist was in prison, he needed some assurance that  Jesus was indeed the Messiah, so he sent some of his disciples to Jesus and asked Him, “Are You the Messiah (Christ), or do I need to look elsewhere?”  Jesus answered by telling them that they had witnessed the miracle which He did, and that proved true to the Scriptures which teach of the Messiah.

Nine Lepers come to Jesus, they are in rags for clothing, they have a horrid stench about them.  No one wants to be near them, but they call on Jesus for healing, and before  they are healed, Jesus tells them to go perform the word of God’s direction for a healed leper, and as they go they are healed.  One of the men who had been a leper returns to Jesus, and praises and worships Him, and he is a Samaritan; a people group who are despised people to the people of Judah.

Jesus says to this lone former leper,  “Arise, go your way: your faith has made you whole.”

No matter how unclean, or unworthy you feel about receiving forgiveness Jesus has paid our sin debt.  If you see yourself as an unclean individual, Jesus will hear your cry for salvation.  If you are one who feels unworthy of God’s love, mercy and grace it is for you that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose again.

Not Heard

“And He said unto them,
‘Ye will surely say unto Me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal Thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Thy country.’
And He said,
‘Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.’ ”   Luke 4:23-27

“I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.”   Psalm 77:1