Luke 17:11

SUMMARY: The passage in Luke 17:11-19 reminds us of the importance of gratitude in the Christian life. Only one out of ten lepers who were healed by Jesus came back to thank him, and he was a Samaritan, an outcast in Jewish society. Gratitude is not a minor virtue, but something deep and connected to other important truths of the Gospel. Gratitude is also important in our daily lives, as we should express gratitude to people who bless us, such as parents, teachers, and doctors. When we have a chance to thank someone, we should do it, as it blesses both the giver and receiver. Finally, when we express gratitude to God and others, it leads us to worship and a deeper understanding of Jesus.

The story of the ten lepers teaches us about the importance of gratitude. Only one of them came back to thank Jesus for his healing, and Jesus praised him for his faith. Gratitude is important because it generates blessings and opens doors. We should ask God for a grateful heart and take time to thank Him for the blessings in our lives. May the grace and peace of the Lord be with us all. Amen.

Luke 17:11 says: "...as Jesus was going to Jerusalem, he passed between Samaria and Galilee and as he entered a village, 10 men with lepers met him, who stood at a distance and raised their voices saying: Jesus, teacher, have mercy on us. When he saw them he said to them: Go, show yourselves to the priests, and it came to pass that as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, seeing that he had been healed, returned glorifying God with a loud voice and fell face down at his feet giving him thanks, and he was a Samaritan. Answering Jesus said: Are there not 10 that were cleansed? And where are the 9, there was no one who returned and gave glory to God except this foreigner? and said to him: get up, go, your faith has saved you.

Brothers, what a wonderful passage that reminds us about the importance of being grateful. I believe that this passage is one of the most beautiful illustrations of why we should give grace to the Lord. We can think of many different attributes and values. There are many of those values that we know that the Bible calls us to have as a Christian, for example, none of us has a problem knowing that love is a hallmark of the Christian life, we also know that mercy is another attribute of the believer, we know also that holiness is an attribute of the Christian life. But what about gratitude? That is also a value that Scripture often calls us to embrace as a value that we too must express in our lives. A disposition of gratitude must be one of the things that characterizes the man, the Christian woman.