Luke 17
by Philip Layton
Jesus talks about service for God and heals 10 lepers
Discussion Question
- How would you interpret verses 7-10 and apply them to your life?
Share your thoughts below, or tweet about it with the #boundlessbible hashtag. Don't forget this week's Children's Challenge!
Going Deeper from 'Words of Life'
Many people today say they are ‘lucky’ to be alive or ‘lucky’ to have a place to live and food to eat. At times, because of certain circumstances, people might say, ‘This is your lucky day!’ – then go on to relate why they think luck has come to that individual. To be honest, I don’t like the word ‘lucky’ – at all! I don’t believe ‘luck’ has anything to do with the life we live. If something good happens to me, I feel blessed. I’m sure you feel likewise. Blessed to have health, a family. Blessed to be God’s child.
Scripture tells us 10 lepers were healed by Jesus, but only one came back to thank him. Perhaps the other nine felt it was their ‘lucky day’. After all, they were cured from a terrible disease. But one returned, praising God. Blessed. He gave thanks.
Then, a blind beggar was sitting by the roadside near Jericho. Jesus stopped, taking time for this man who was suffering – no doubt a ‘street person’, one of the marginalised of society. Jesus asked the man what he wanted. The beggar wanted to see.
On the walls of a cellar in Cologne, Germany – where a number of escaped prisoners of war hid – this inscription was found: ‘I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining. I believe in love, even when feeling it not. I believe in God, even when he is silent.’ Perhaps the beggar had felt, through the years, God had been silent. Yet he still believed God would heal him.
And he did receive his sight. Not by luck, but because of faith. He gave thanks.
Finally, there is Zacchaeus. He desperately wanted to see Jesus. The Master spoke to him, telling him to get down from the tree, for he wanted to accompany him to his home. Not simply Zacchaeus’s ‘lucky day’. The tax collector knew he was blessed to be in Christ’s presence. He gave thanks.
We are all blessed – in so many ways. Because of this truth, let us give thanks to the Lord for everything he has given to us.
Beverly Ivany
Tags: Luke