Throughout the ministry of Jesus, we find powerful moments that reveal not only His authority to heal, but also the human response to the grace of God. Gratitude, faith, obedience, and the condition of the heart are themes that appear repeatedly in the Gospels. One of the clearest and most impactful examples is the account of the ten lepers. This story not only shows the compassion of Christ toward those who suffer, but also exposes the contrast between those who receive blessings and those who truly recognize the One who gives them. Today, more than ever, this passage invites us to reflect on our own response to God’s mercy and reminds us that genuine faith must always lead to praise and gratitude.
Let’s see the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-18
11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?
18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
While Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, ten lepers came to Him, who, keeping their distance, lifted their voices and begged for mercy. At that time, the law required that people suffering from this disease live isolated from society, separated from family, worship, and every aspect of normal life. Because of this, they stood far from Jesus, but even from a distance they recognized His authority and cried out to Him for compassion. Jesus did not hesitate to respond. Instead of touching them or speaking a healing command, He ordered them to go and show themselves to the priests. This instruction had deep meaning, for according to Leviticus 13:9–17, only the priest could declare a leper healed and restore him to community life.
In a remarkable act of obedience and faith, the ten lepers departed toward the priests even though they had not yet been healed. Their miracle came as they walked—showing that faith often requires movement before evidence. It was on the journey, not before it, that the cleansing took place. Yet among the ten, only one responded to the miracle with true gratitude. When he realized he had been healed, he immediately turned back, glorifying God loudly and falling at Jesus’ feet with thanksgiving. The most surprising detail is that this man was a Samaritan, someone who, culturally, would have been despised and considered an outsider by the Jews. Yet he is the only one who returned to honor the One who healed him.
Jesus’ question still echoes through time: “Where are the nine?” Ten received mercy, but only one chose gratitude. This reveals an uncomfortable truth about human nature: many desire God’s blessings, but few return to honor Him. Many cry out in need, but not all worship in thankfulness when the answer comes. Gratitude is not automatic; it is a choice that flows from a humble heart that recognizes God’s goodness.
As sons and daughters of God, we must cultivate a spirit of gratitude. Everything we have, every breath, every new day, every open door and every trial overcome is a testimony of God’s mercy toward us. Even the challenges we face shape our character and draw us closer to Him. Most importantly, Christ died for our sins and gave us eternal life—which alone is more than enough reason to thank Him continually. Let us not imitate the nine who enjoyed the miracle but forgot the Giver. Instead, let us be like the one who returned, who glorified God with a loud voice and fell at the feet of Jesus with sincere thanksgiving. May our lives reflect constant gratitude, for God deserves glory not only for what He gives, but for who He is.
16 comments on “Are you thankful for Jesus? The story of the ten lepers”
Glory to God in The Highest! Thanks Be to Abba, My Savior, Redeemer, Healer, Rescuer,Friend, Beloved,…My everything! For forgiving me with an Everlasting Love. May I always glorify Him not just in word but in deed til bodies end from Everlasting to Everlasting, Amen. My Immanuel Messiah
Amen!!
THANK YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR WAKING ME MY MOM AND MY WIFE UP TO LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR BEAUTIFUL DAYS THANK YOU JESUS FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE FOR MY MOM MY WIFE AND ME JESUS THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME YOUR TEACHINGS AND WORDS OF THE HOLY BIBLE TO READ EVERYDAY I GIVE YOU ALL THE HONOR PRAISE AND GLORY JESUS I LOVE YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST IN YOUR NAME I PRAY AMEN AND AMEN.
Glory to God for he is rich in mercy and his son Jesus who reigns for Ever and Ever AMEN.
You should always thank God for everthing he do. It may not be big or little but, we need to give him praise even when we low cause he may not show up when you want him to but he is always on time. Glory to his name. Thank Jesus.
Thank you Lord for this day🌏🌏 may the World praise his name🌏🌏🕊🕊🕊🕊
We are blessed to have God in our lives always and I’m so grateful
I have a question for you .What is blasphemy against the holy spirit?
I say To my lord thanks for everything in my life. Oint me of your everlasting love. Thanks To be my savior, my spiritual guide, my master, my shelter, and so on… stay up over each man. Amen.
Thank you so much for this teaching and inspiration vases. The Lord has been very faithful to me and I want to use opportunity to say to the Lord Almighty that I am grateful and glory be to his mercy and grace. Amen.
Thank you Jesus for all that you have done for me. Glory to your name
Thank you God Jesus Glory,power,honor,praise and blessing to you our Mighty God Jesus for ever and ever.
Thank Jesus For Giving Me The Second Chance.
Are you thankful for Jesus?
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The story of the ten lepers
The evangelist Luke tells us about ten lepers healed by the Lord Jesus Christ. We find in his story how Jesus was sorry for those men, who were despised by all and whose presence was feared by people.
He tells us also that only one of ten lepers came back to Jesus glorifying God, and he was a Samaritan, considered a foreigner by the Jews.
The Lord Jesus was surprised that none of the Israelites were grateful as the Samaritan was for having been healed.
“So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?
Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”
And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
(Luke 17:17-19)
In the article presented today, a question is posed:
Are we thankful for Jesus?
If we ourselves want to answer that question, first of all we ought to think about the motive we have to be thankful for—besides, no doubt, being thankful for Jesus himself!
Maybe we need to think what gifts we have received to be thankful for; and now I act by faith, as I go on reflecting and writing these words.
The ten lepers went to show themselves to the priests without doubting, and definitely confidence and faith were needed for this. Then we are moved to think about our past time, before we believed in Jesus. Where were we taken out from—if we felt sinners indeed—, and what a heavy load was unloaded from us!
By faith we expect to be one day in the kingdom of God. This is an important motive to be thankful to God too.
More recently, we surely must have prayed sometimes to be helped in some need we had. The Lord has solved our problem or trouble, we are thankful to Jesus—more or less depending on the load that was unloaded from us.
Each of us is a different person, and our difficulties may also be different things.
But, in all cases, it is God who has delivered us by the intervention and mediation of our high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.
All of us have reasons to be thankful to Jesus. The most important reason is he has given his life for us; he has taken our place and received the punishment our sins deserve, and he has made us children of God. And therefore we are not only thankful to Jesus, but also “for” Jesus himself!
May we all be thankful to God by Jesus Christ our redeemer, who delivered us from the power of darkness and called us to his admirable light
AMEN. AMEN.