Be "That Guy"

Soap Dentures?

Scripture: Luke 17:15-16 "Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus 'feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan."

Observation: The Samaritan (there may have been other Samaritans among the lepers, but this one came back) returned to Jesus because he recognized Jesus' lordship. As far as the story describes they were all healed and very likely all responded in faith. Jesus, however, says in verse 19, "Your faith has made you well."

What was significant about this man's faith that separated him from the others? The answer, which verifies my conjecture about this man's recognition of Jesus' deity, comes in verse 18, where Jesus says, "Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" The truth is that the other nine did give glory to God. They did it at the temple just as Jesus commanded. What does Jesus mean then? I think that this "foreigner" came to Jesus himself. He saw Jesus for who he truly is rather than just a healer. He saw Jesus as greater than the priest, greater than the temple; Jesus was worth of the praise and worship. Incredibly, Jesus took his praise, which according to Jesus fulfilled th Law's requirement to show himself to the priest: "Arise, go your way . . ." (vs. 19)

Application: Jesus is the new covenant. He has finished the requirements of the Law. I cannot, and should not try to, earn God's approval. First, it never was nor ever will be possible for me to get anywhere near heaven or God by doing or being good or good enough. According to the one setting the standard (God) only perfection is "good enough" and, frankly, we've all blown that 1,000,000 times over already.

Second, to even attempt to be good enough is an offense to Jesus of the most grotesque kind. Why is that? We all know the offense of someone's attempts to repay us for a gift. The offense only grows as the cost of the gift climbs--and that "cost" doesn't does not alway indicate financial burden. How can anyone price the cost to Jesus that my forgiveness required of him? Jesus not only freely died in my place, but he also lived in my place. His entire 33 years, every day of them, were for me . . . for us. What a scandal it is when we--I--purpose to repay him with Sunday morning service attendance, or a tithe, or prayer, reading the Bible, volunteering at a non-profit or youth group.

But even more than that, Satan and our own blind thinking would have us thinking God doesn't view us in love. We erroneously believe that God puts up with us so long as we tow the line. We fail to see that he desperately and passionately loves us! We forget that God pursued us first! He didn't do that just to turn around and require some slavish effort. No! God bought us and brought us into a life of freedom.

He's not glaring at us with arms crossed! His arms are wide open waiting for us to notice that he is running to us and wants us to run to him. Application? Run to Jesus!

Prayer: . . .