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The grateful Samaritan:
v. 15. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
v. 16. and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks; and he was a Samaritan.
v. 17. And Jesus, answering, said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?
v. 18. There are not found that returned to give glory to God save this stranger.
v. 19. And He said unto him, Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.
Ten lepers had shown faith; ten lepers had been healed. But out of that entire number only one felt the obligation of thankfulness. Only one, seeing what a miracle had been done in his case, felt the need of turning back and giving thanks to the Healer. This man sought the Lord, who was probably still in the village, meanwhile praising God loudly and with fully restored voice. And when he found Jesus, he fell down on his face before Him, at His feet, in complete surrender, signifying his willingness to be the Lord's servant forever. And all the while his mouth poured forth words of thankfulness. And yet this man, who thus put to shame his former companions in misery, was a Samaritan. a member of the race which was despised by the Jews and Galileans. The incident made a deep impression upon Jesus. In a bitter cry over the ingratitude of the former lepers He said: Is it not that ten were cleansed? But the nine, where are they? Were there not found such as would turn back to give glory to God but only this stranger, this man of a different race, and one that is ordinarily looked down upon by the Jews? "That is the true worship of God, to come back, to praise God with a loud voice. That is the greatest work in heaven and earth, and also the only one which we may show God; for of the others He has no need, neither does He receive them: only to be loved and praised by us, that He likes... But that is terrible, that the Lord just knows that ten have been cleansed, a fact they had not reckoned with; and He does not hold His peace about it, but asks for them and seeks them: Where are the nine? O what a terror that will be when at that time they will feel the question and have to answer where they went when they did not give honor to God! We have all vowed in Baptism to follow Christ and His doctrine; no one has vowed to follow the Pope, bishops, and clerics. Thus Christ has altogether rejected and prohibited the doctrine of men. " This question is a very important and serious one for all Christians. The gifts of God which we have received from Him through the means of grace during our whole life amount to far more than a cleansing from bodily leprosy. We have received, and are continually receiving, the riches of God's unmerited love and mercy Sunday after Sunday, day by day. And yet we are very dilatory about the gratitude which we owe to Him in thoughts, words, and deeds. The Lord will think kindly of us for any show of appreciation, as He showed in this instance. For He dismissed the Samaritan with the words: Arise, go thy way; thy faith has healed and saved thee. Jesus does not refer to the faith of the others, which had been extinguished in the midst of their newly found happiness. He praises only the faith of him that. remained faithful. Those who forget His kindness He also forgets. Many a person has come to faith, had the beginning of faith in his heart, learned to pray in trouble, to trust in God for help; but later the same person, by base ingratitude, has suffocated the young plant of spiritual life. Faith for a time, followed by backsliding, results in the loss of faith and also of the mercy of God. Only lasting, grateful faith will provide lasting help and will save a person in body and soul.