Celebration is an incredibly significant part of our society. We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, holidays, good grades, promotions at work, and so much more! There is something about celebration that we long for! Often, we see it as an honoring of something that was or has been good, so we relate celebration to good things that have happened in our lives.
DISCUSS: What are some things that we celebrate on a regular basis?
Let’s spend a little bit of time looking at Luke 17. In this passage, Jesus is on a journey to Jerusalem. On this journey, He is passing along the border of Samaria and Galilee. This is the journey that will eventually lead him to the triumphal entry, and we will see Him encounter many who are seeking Him during this journey. Let’s check out the text, starting in verse 12.
“And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’”
Jesus sees people who are in a place of hurt. He sees people who are calling towards Him because they are diseased. Due to the fear of contagion, people with skin diseases were required to withdraw from the community and alert anyone who was approaching. This was not just something that was custom; this was something they were called to do (check out Leviticus 13:45-46 for that specific calling).
These individuals did NOT have much to celebrate. They were miserable, their diseases were overtaking them, and the hope of survival was low. From a distance, they see someone who they have heard could be their only hope, and they call out “JESUS, MASTER, have mercy on us…”
Don’t let the parallel to our lives be lost on us. We may not be diseased like these individuals were, but we have been cast outside the presence of God with the disease of sin that we have allowed to enter our lives.
DISCUSS: In what ways do we allow the disease of sin to overcome our lives?
DISCUSS: If the sacrifice of Jesus did not exist, how would you feel when sin entered your life?
The reality is this: without Jesus, we would feel totally hopeless. We would feel like an outcast who had no hope. Thankfully, we have Jesus, who was willing to come be our Savior. He has mercy on these lepers. Check out the next part of the passage in verse 14.
“ When he saw them he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went they were cleansed.”
Jesus is a healer! He cleanses us from something that does not seem healable! We started out by discussing celebration, and THIS HEALING is absolutely a reason to celebrate.
Check out what happens next in this passage.
“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. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.””
One… the number of people who celebrate the healing of Jesus. I fear in the modern church that we have become guilty of this. We are healed from our disease of sin by Jesus daily, yet our celebration of the healing He gives us is minor.
Shouldn’t we be “praising God with a loud voice” constantly, giving Him thanks for all that he’s done for us?
Today, I want to challenge us: what are we doing to celebrate the salvation that we have been given through Jesus?
For birthdays, we eat cake. For anniversaries, we go out to a nice dinner without the kids. For our championship-winning sports teams, we hold parades.
To close out this at-home devo today, have this discussion with those who have been a part of this study:
- What are ways that our households can do a better job at celebrating the healing of Jesus on a daily basis?
Print article and questions HERE.