By Maritza Brunt
Let me ask you a question: When somebody does something nice for you, what do you say? Or when you receive a gift, what do you say? Most of us would say, “Thank you!” and be very grateful! But there’s a story in the Bible where this didn’t happen.
It all started with ten men who were very sick. They had leprosy—a sickness where they had red lumps and bumps on their body. The worst part about leprosy was nobody could touch you, or else they’d get sick, too! So the ten men with leprosy weren’t allowed to live inside their village. They stayed outside, and they must have been pretty sad.
But one day, Jesus was walking to Jerusalem when he came across the village where the lepers lived. One of the lepers sprang to his feet when he saw Jesus coming toward them in the distance.
“Hey!” he called out to his fellow leper friends. “Look! Is that Jesus?”
“It is!” said another leper. “Let’s call out to him!”
The lepers were very excited to see Jesus, because they had heard that Jesus healed people. Could Jesus heal them, too?
“Jesus!” they called out. “Jesus!”
As Jesus came closer, He could see the men with their lumps and bumps. He could see that they were very sick, and His heart filled with care for the lepers. But how many were there? Jesus began to count… one, two, three…eight, nine… ten! Ten lepers! And they were coming closer to him now.
The ten lepers suddenly stopped, afraid they were getting too close to Jesus. They didn’t want to make him sick, after all! But they wanted to get better. They wanted to be healed. As they looked at each other, one of them raised his voice and called out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
Jesus smiled at the lepers.
“Go,” he said to them. “Show yourselves to the priests.”
The lepers were confused. The priests lived in the temple, which was inside the village… which they weren’t supposed to enter! And even if they did get into the village, would the priests want to see them?
But Jesus had said go. And so off they went.
The lepers walked quietly together toward the village. The only sound that could be heard was the crunching of the rocks under their sore feet. They entered the village, and made their way toward the temple. One of the lepers went to scratch his nose… and then let out a loud gasp.
“My hand!” he cried. “Look!”
His hand, which had just been covered in sore red lumps, was now smooth and firm. The leper looked at his other hand. It was also free of lumps and bumps.
The other nine lepers stopped in their tracks and looked down at their own skin. And they couldn’t believe what they saw. Not a lump or a bump remained! They were healed! Some of the lepers quickly hurried to their homes, excited to see their families again. Others headed for the temple to show the priests they were clean again.
Only one man was left standing in the street. And before anyone could say anything to him, he turned and ran as fast as he could, right back through the village to where Jesus was still outside.
When the man saw Jesus, he threw himself down at Jesus’ feet.
“You healed us! You healed us!” he cried. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Jesus was happy. He loved healing people. But then He looked down at the man and helped him stand up.
“Wait a minute,” said Jesus. “I counted you and your friends. There were ten of you. Didn’t I heal ten of you?”
“You did,” said the man slowly.
“Then where are the other nine?” asked Jesus. “Why didn’t they come back and say thank you?”
The man who had been healed shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “But I am here, and I am grateful you healed me. I knew I had to come back and tell you how thankful I am.”
Jesus smiled.
“Go on,” he said to the man. “Your faith has healed you and saved you.”
With one last grateful look at Jesus, the man turned and walked back into the village. He knew he would never forget the gift of healing Jesus had given him, and he was happy to have had the opportunity to say “thank you” to Jesus.
PCTURE CREDIT – Free Bible Images
