Mad at the one
October 30, 2008
Luke 17:11-16 ISV
11 One day, Jesus was traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee on the way to Jerusalem.
12 As he was going into a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance
13 and shouted, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 When he saw them, he told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” While they were going, they were made clean.
15 But one of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back and praised God with a loud voice.
16 He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. Now the man was a Samaritan.
This story always kind of bothered me. Here is Jesus healing the people and then getting mad at them for going to do what He asked them to do. In Old Testament law, any type of skin disease was considered leprosy, so it was a common disease. But the people were still considered outcast and could not be near normal people because others could get it. So the priest would act like a doctor, examine where the disease was and then determine if the person was healed. This was to be accompanied by a sacrifice, some of which the priest kept. So what Jesus was asking them to do was normal. It was, in fact, Jewish law. When he told them to fulfill the law like a good Jewish person did, 9 kept going, 1 came back. Wasn't the one guilty of not doing what Jesus asked him to do. Get mad at the one who was breaking the law.
Jesus however had a different agenda then I do. While it was quite clear that He came from the kingly line of David, He is also our high priest. And the one who came back realized that if Jesus had the power to heal, then Jesus was his priest as well. The priest would talk to God for the people, and so it is with us. We are to bring our prayers to Jesus who as a high priest will bring them to God for us. When we pray, we do it in Jesus, our high priests name.
Take some time to meditate on the dual nature of Jesus today, He is our King and our High Priest. What exactly does that mean?
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