June 5, 2000
GREAT QUESTIONS OF THE BIBLE:
"Where are the other nine?"
"Jesus asked, 'Were not all 10 cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?' Then he said to him, 'Rise and go; your faith has made you well'" (Luke 17:17-19).
___Ouch! How embarrassing! Jesus miraculously heals all 10 of these men. And nine of them go forward with their lives without even looking back over their shoulders.
Steve Washburn
Pastor
First Baptist Church
Pflugerville
___Notice they did nothing to deserve this help. And yet Jesus helped them anyway. Do you know why? Because that's what Jesus does. He helps people. All people. There is no record in Scripture of Jesus refusing to help anyone. That means along the way, on several occasions, Jesus has helped everyone out of terrible situations in miraculous ways. Including you. Tell me something: Did you notice?
___The wire service picked up a story coming out of Nashville. A policeman stopped a car that had been involved in an accident. In fact, it was later declared "totaled," although it was still traveling when the officer pulled it over. It had three flat tires, all of the windows were shattered, and the roof was caved in from having rolled over at least once. The woman driving the car didn't even realize she had been in a major accident until she tried to roll down her window to talk to the officer and it fell out onto the ground. When asked if she'd been drinking she said, "I've had a few beers." She had been through a major event in her life and was totally oblivious to it.
___You see, there's no telling what great and miraculous help Jesus has given to each of us. Dramatic events! But very often we are so intoxicated on the things of this world that we hardly even notice. We just keep moving on with life. Full speed ahead.
___Apparently, all 10 of these men had important places to be. They had urgent things to do. They had crowded schedules. Yet one of them recognized Jesus had just positively changed the direction of this life. And he was so humbled by it that he publicly praised Jesus for it!
___Look at one more thing. In addition to being cleansed, this man was made well. The old King James Version says he was made "whole."
___General Sherman is the name of a giant California sequoia tree. It stands nearly 300 feet tall. Its root system stretches out over three acres. Its bark is 12 inches thick, making it almost immune to insects, disease and fire. This tree is whole. Psalm 1:3 says, "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." Why? Because he is whole.
___How about you? Are you whole? Or are you one of the many rushing forward with your life, while far behind you Jesus asks, "Where are the other nine?"
___
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