Giving Jesus Thanks - Luke 17:16

The beloved physician Luke wrote about Jesus, “as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, ...”, and in chapter seventeen and verse sixteen of his book Luke wrote how the one leper, “fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks” where we read:

And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

The verse reads, “And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks:” Luke began with the words, “and fell down” or “and descended from a higher place to a lower, was thrust down and prostrate” “on his face” which means “upon the man's physical face” “at his feet” or “near Jesus' physical feet”, “giving him thanks” which means “being grateful and expressing thankfulness to Jesus”. Luke shared how the man who had leprosy came to Jesus, fell on his face and prostrated himself before Jesus' feet in “thanks”.

The verse goes on to say, “and he was a Samaritan.” Luke continued with the words, “and he was” or “and the leprous man who fell at Jesus' feet was” “a Samaritan” which means “an inhabitant of Samaria”. Luke shared how the man who came to give “thanks” to Jesus was an “inhabitant of Samaria”.

When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we learn how the “one leper” returned to Jesus, fell on his face at His feet and thanked Him for healing his body. Luke noted that this man was a “Samaritan” who were “hated” people by the Jews. Luke noted the rarity of this “one leper” showing gratitude to Jesus over the other nine who simply went to the priests as Jesus instructed. God does so many things for people for which they are rarely grateful, and when they yield their lives to His Son Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord”, those who understand what He has done for them will “fall on their faces at His feet” and thank Him for wonderful gift of saving their souls.

Next time Luke shares how Jesus asks, “were there not ten cleansed?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".