Luke 17:11-19
Jesus Heals Ten Lepers
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Philippians 4:6-7
Give Thanks to God
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 11:1
Faith is Confidence in Those Things We Cannot See
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
One day when Jesus was traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee ten men who had leprosy met Him from afar...They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”...When Jesus 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 Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”...
Lepers were rejected by societies...Lepers were outcasts...They normally lived outside the cities...And that seems to be where Jesus meets this large group of ten lepers...The men ask Jesus to have mercy on them...And He does...Then He asks them to show their faith...He asks them to go present themselves to the priests, before they are healed...This is a sign of faith, in Jesus that they would follow His directions and go to the priests...The lepers were to go to the priests even before they saw the healing process...These lepers had a confidence in something they could not see, that they would be healed...And as these lepers walked, they were healed and cleansed of their leprosy...One of them came back...He was praising God in a loud voice...This one particular leper had an attitude of gratitude...He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him—and he was a Samaritan...Jesus asked where were the other nine that He had healed...We might assume that the other nine were from Israel, since Jesus says "Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?"...One might wonder if the other nine just forgot to thank Him, or if they thought they were entitled, or just what they were thinking...And were they grateful to Jesus, and to God?...
Jesus makes the point that after the ten lepers were healed, only one gave thanks...In Jesus' teaching this and it being worded as it is, it seems that gratitude and giving thanks for God's help is a part of faith...When God shows us mercy, we should both thank Him and praise Him...The Samaritan is the one most thankful to Jesus...The ones of strong faith, maybe the ones we might not expect...Often we ignore God and do not show Him our appreciation...Gratitude takes time, it pauses us, and it focuses on our blessings and what we have to be thankful for...It is sometimes good to take a time of day and think about what we are grateful for...Jesus makes this point...When we focus on what is good and that God is good, we can better focus on gratitude...
Some of us think that we are entitled to different things...Sometimes we just forget to say thanks...Sometimes we feel that we are to give out thanks, only after a favor has been granted to us...We sometimes forget that when we were children we were completely dependent on our parents for years...Then we needed teachers to educate us, so that we might become independent and self sufficient...And then we go to work and need a boss or someone to hire us...In all of these situations, some sort of gratitude is due the parent, the teacher, and the boss or the one hiring you...These are some examples of what we should be thankful for in life...
And there is this faith and gratitude connection...St. Paul tells us not to be anxious about anything, but in every situation say prayers and petition...And pray with thanksgiving to God...Be grateful to Him...Through your prayers, present your requests to God...And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus...It is not possible and not likely we will praise God when we feel we are entitled to something...We probably will not worship God, if we are always getting what we want and are completely self sufficient in our eyes...If we are totally independent, we are probably not praising and worshiping God...
We need to be grateful to God, for the things that He has blessed us with...Some relate gratefulness to the past blessings, and faith to the future of things to happen by our Father and His Son...
If our hearts are filled with gratitude, they are more likely to be filled with faith and hope for these things of the future and what we do not see...