Daily Devotional for Tuesday, April 7
The Request of the Ten Lepers
“And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us,” Luke 17:13.
As Jesus made His final trip to Jerusalem, He passed through Samaria. Jesus was purposeful and strategic with His travel. In John 4:4, John recorded that Jesus “must needs go through Samaria” because He needed to have a life-changing conversation with a Samaritan woman. Her whole village invited Jesus to teach them, and many believed in Him because He did not bypass Samaria like other Jews.
In Luke 17, He encountered a group of leprous Samaritan men. These ten men were isolated from their families and communities and only approached Jesus and His disciples at a distance. They understood they were unclean, and they could be rejected because of their contagion. The group cried out all together, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” (verse 13). They recognized Jesus as Master, and that His mercy was a necessity for them. Only He could change their circumstance.
Jesus indeed had mercy and called out to them. They must go show themselves to the priests. In Leviticus 14, God commanded those healed from leprosy to present themselves to the priest, and he would declare them clean or unclean. The priest would examine them and determine the progression of the disease, whether it had run its course or worsened. He alone would give permission for them to return home.
Jesus did not say, “You are healed. Go in your faith.” He directed them to follow the Law and go to the priest. The priest would decide. That encounter could be devastating with rejection or astonishing with a clean bill of health. We do not know if there was a look on Jesus’ face or a twinkle in His eye that assured them, but they turned toward the city in faith and anticipation of healing. As they turned to go, they got their answer. They were healed!
THOUGHT
“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth” (Malachi 4:2).
Kelli Reynolds