Open My Eyes

Where better to turn on the journey for an attitude of gratitude, than to explore the road on the border between Samaria and Galilee and see firsthand, Jesus’ interaction with a group of ten lepers.  This was an unlikely group of people comprised of both Galileans and a Samaritan.  Even though “nothing good came out of Galilee,” Samaritans were despicable.  Not even a Galilean would have anything to do with a Samaritan.  But, leprosy held no prejudices, and disease like this had a tendency to unite the unlikely. 

I can’t imagine the toll leprosy took on a human: the pain, the emotional tsunami, the despair, the loneliness, the poverty, the confusion, the condemnation, the rejection...  Lepers were the untouchable, the unclean, the excluded, the ignored, and the “outcast.”  As hard as that had to be, here’s the “doozy”:  Leprosy was illegal. Yeah, it was “against the law” to be leprous. Seriously. I can’t conceive of being struck with a disease that I could do nothing about and immediately declared “GUILTY (as if I had committed a crime)!”  How do I know?  In verse 14, of chapter 17 (Luke’s gospel), these words are used “they were cleansed.”  The Greek word, which we translate cleansed, meant “made clean,” but it came from a root word that literally implied that they were “made lawful.”  You can’t be made lawful, unless you are first and foremost lawless.  Being a leper meant you were all of the above.  These men needed MERCY - in a BIG WAY!

So, they came to Jesus as he passed through the region. Hoping against hope...  Dreaming of possibilities... Minds whirling with the “what ifs...”  Oh, the compassion of Jesus!  He took one look at them, and said, “Go... to the priests.”  Please take note of this fact:  Jesus said nothing about being healed.  At that very moment the ten saw no evidence of their healing, but they must have had some element of faith, because they went.  “And it came about as they were going; they were cleansed (vs. 14).” 

Healing often comes that way – as we are going, and in spite of how we feel, regardless of what we see, and apart from what we think we know.  As we listen to the voice of Jesus, the possible becomes real. When did they see their healing?  For one, it appears immediate.  The others may have noticed, but didn’t really have their eyes fully opened.  If they had, all ten would have turned back in gratitude.  As it was, only one of the ten, in the midst of ecstatic, mind-blowing, life-altering transformation came back to Jesus, glorifying God with a loud voice...

...and he fell on his face at his feet giving thanks to Him, and he was a Samaritan (vs 16).

This one verse tells me a lot.  The more we recognize our condition without Jesus’ touch, the more grateful we are when we receive it.  The Samaritan was doubly outcast.  For the Jews in the group, there was a little element of “entitlement.”  Secondly, what does it say in general about our ability to be genuinely thankful?  Could it be that only 10% of us truly have our eyes fully opened to our blessings?  It’s caused me to examine myself...and as George Herbert once prayed, so I echo, “Lord, you have given me so many blessings, now I ask for one more thing...a heart of gratitude.”  Open my eyes, Lord, make me fully thankful!  May it be so – Amen & Amen!