Jesus And The Math Problem

Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

Luke 17:17-18

JESUS WAS THE ULTIMATE in-between person. Fully God, yet fully man. Owner of heaven, yet a pauper on earth. All-powerful, yet living in a body that grew tired. And in Luke 17, He was in between Samaria and Galilee. Between the racially mixed Samaritans and the proudly pedigreed Jews.

The ten lepers were in-between as well. They had no acceptance among God-fearing Jews, but they had no home with the Romans either. They were not allowed in the land of the living but were not yet in the grave with the dead. Then these in-between guys met the ultimate in-between guy, and He simply told them to go and show themselves to the priest.

As they went on their way, they began to notice a change. They’d been healed! Then one regained feeling in his chest, and he quickly ran back to Jesus, who had no problem with the math. There had been ten; now there was only one. “Where are the other nine?” He asked. Then He said, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you” (Luke 17:19).

Thanksgiving is an ego-killer, a way of admitting we have riches that we were unable to obtain by ourselves. And this is why we are told to constantly be in an attitude of gratitude. Because when you do the math, you’ve got a lot to be thankful for. One God in between two thieves = infinite life.

BOTTOM LINE

There is nothing you have without the grace of Jesus. Nothing. So everything you have is reason to give thanks.

Moment of Strength: Luke 17:11-19