9 Times Out of Ten/ The Ten Lepers

Disclaimer : hard photos coming up.

Often times I have been called a lucky person. Every test I take I pass. Well the school ones anyway…Something usually comes along and saves me when I think I have dug a hole too deep. I have gotten just about any job that I ever wanted. If I say I’ll get something, I usually do…maybe not at the moment that I want it…but usually right when I need it. Since being saved, I find myself thanking the Lord for everything. But let me save that part…

When I was out there, I thanked Him, but 9 times out ten…I didn’t.

That phrase.

9 times out of ten.

You ever wondered where it came from? I never did. Until I was taught the message of the “Ungrateful Spirit” by my Bishop last Sunday. He didn’t mention “9 times out of 10” at all, but wow I picked that up too.

“Ungrateful Spirit”

Here’s the scripture…St Luke 17:11-19 and then I will follow what I learned from my Bishop and my own research.

11And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
15And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Summary/Bible Lesson

Jesus was walking to Jerusalem. As usual, crowds of people followed him and tried to get his attention. They heard of his works and like we attack celebrities…they followed him like paparazzi. Way to the back of the crowd were a group of ten lepers following as well. Leprosy was the worse disease you could have in those days. Today there are currently about half a million people living in communities solely composed of lepers. The pictures I posted are some examples of people with Leprosy that I found here.

Here is a description of leprosy: Early signs include discolored or light patches on the skin with loss of feeling. When nerve trunks in the arm are affected, part of the hand becomes numb and small muscles become paralyzed, leading to curling of the fingers and thumb. When leprosy attacks nerves in the legs, it interrupts communication of sensation in the feet. The feet can become subject to erosion through untended wounds and infection. If the facial nerve is affected, a person loses the blinking reflex of the eye, which can eventually lead to dryness, ulceration, and blindness. Bacilli entering the mucous lining of the nose can lead to internal damage and scarring which in time causes the nose to collapse. Untreated, leprosy can cause deformity, crippling, and blindness.
The bacillus attacks nerve endings and destroys the body's ability to feel pain and injury. Without feeling pain, people injure themselves on fire, thorns, rocks, even hot coffee cups. Injuries become infected and result in tissue loss. Fingers and toes become shortened and deformed as the cartilage is absorbed into the body
Is Leprosy contagious? Oh yes! The bacteria is spread primarily through coughing or sneezing on somebody. So it serves to reason that people would shun and exile lepers.

From way off in the back, these 10 men hollered out for Jesus. They had probably discussed it amongst themselves and figured out that if Jesus was healing folks all over the place…this was probably their only chance to be healed as well. There was no cure for the disease then (thank the Lord there is one now!). So they yelled out to Jesus and he heard them. He told them to go and show their bodies to the priests. Now this was important because in Leviticus 14, God told Moses:
1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest:
3And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper

It said the priests had to do a lot of sacrificial stuff also but the main point was in order to be declared “clean”, the lepers had to show their bodies to the priests so that they could be re-inducted into society. So in performing this miracle, Jesus was perfoming the LAW and also proving His point that he was the Messiah who could heal the sick and cleanse the unclean. Jesus also did something that was only done by clear acts of God. Deep. The bacteria that causes Leprosy wasn’t found until the nineteenth century. So weren’t too many lepers getting cured…you could probably count them on one hand through the Bible except with Jesus.
The ten men began to walk to the priests. It must have been a slow going too because if you see the pictures and the descriptions of leprosy, the feet are swollen and most walked with crutches. The pain must have been excruciating and unbearable. As they walked the leprosy began to dry up and they began to regain their strength. Their patches dried up and their nerve endings began to have sensation again. All this was happening as they were walking toward the priests.
One of the men noticed his healing taking place and turned back to cry out to God and Jesus. He ran back to Jesus and lay prostrate at His feet, thanking Him profusely. The leper who ran back was not worried about the priests, the former leper could see them later, he was more concerned about thanking the Ones who healed him. Did you see what Jesus said to him? He said, "What happened to the other 9 that were with you? Were not all ten healed? Ungrateful Behinds!...They would probably never see Jesus again, yet they did not immediately turn back!
And then He made a special note to say that He was doing if for one who was unlike Himself. A different race so to speak.

How heavy is that?

They were all blessed but only one turned back…

9 times out of ten I probably don’t thank God enough for all His blessings…But I’ma start increasing that number.

I got a car today. Not my own. But its very nice and I can drive it till I get my new car.

Thank you Lord…You know I thank You right? I will praise You in the good times and the bad. Thank You.


Today I been thanking him 9 times 10.