Sermon Title: Why We Should Be a Thankful People
"Now on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As He was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met Him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, 'Jesus, Master, have pity on us!' When He saw them, He said, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when He saw He was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, 'Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?' Then He said to him, ' Rise and go; your faith has made you well.'"
A Samaritan was what was often considered a half Hebrew. This was a person who was a descendant of a group of people who were not taken into captivity by the Assyrians and Babylonians. In fact, they helped to erect the temple when Zerubbabel led a group of captives back to Jerusalem to rebuild it (Ezra 4:2). By the time Jesus lived, the Samaritans were considered by other Israelites to be people to be shunned, and they attempted little to no association with them. This was primarily because the Samaritans did not accept the writings of the prophets and only believed the Torah (the Law) had spiritual authority. The Samaritans were also considered not to have "pure" Hebrew blood and thus their worship was thought to be contaminated.
So why would someone like this be the only one out of ten (the rest were probably Hebrews) to come back to thank Jesus for his healing? Perhaps it is because he felt he was even more undeserving of healing than the other nine. Though in truth none of the ten "deserved" to be healed and were healed by the grace of God, the Samaritan may have understood just how undeserving he was of this, and he was overflowing with gratitude (note verse 15, "he threw himself at Jesus' feet").
We, too, are much like the Samaritan - we are undeserving of God's grace and His work in our lives, and yet we receive it on a daily basis. And we, too, should respond with the same type of overflowing gratitude towards our Lord. This coming Sunday I will further discuss why we should be a thankful people as Christians. I hope to see you then!
"Now on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As He was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met Him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, 'Jesus, Master, have pity on us!' When He saw them, He said, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when He saw He was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, 'Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?' Then He said to him, ' Rise and go; your faith has made you well.'"
A Samaritan was what was often considered a half Hebrew. This was a person who was a descendant of a group of people who were not taken into captivity by the Assyrians and Babylonians. In fact, they helped to erect the temple when Zerubbabel led a group of captives back to Jerusalem to rebuild it (Ezra 4:2). By the time Jesus lived, the Samaritans were considered by other Israelites to be people to be shunned, and they attempted little to no association with them. This was primarily because the Samaritans did not accept the writings of the prophets and only believed the Torah (the Law) had spiritual authority. The Samaritans were also considered not to have "pure" Hebrew blood and thus their worship was thought to be contaminated.
So why would someone like this be the only one out of ten (the rest were probably Hebrews) to come back to thank Jesus for his healing? Perhaps it is because he felt he was even more undeserving of healing than the other nine. Though in truth none of the ten "deserved" to be healed and were healed by the grace of God, the Samaritan may have understood just how undeserving he was of this, and he was overflowing with gratitude (note verse 15, "he threw himself at Jesus' feet").
We, too, are much like the Samaritan - we are undeserving of God's grace and His work in our lives, and yet we receive it on a daily basis. And we, too, should respond with the same type of overflowing gratitude towards our Lord. This coming Sunday I will further discuss why we should be a thankful people as Christians. I hope to see you then!
