The Power of Grace
As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.
One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.” Luke 17:11-19
In my journey of faith, I did not always understand the power of grace. In fact, most of my years in my 20s and early 30s were spent believing I was not worthy of God’s grace. It was only through forgiveness that I became thankful for such a gift. There was no greater feeling than to call those dear to me to tell them that I had given my life over to Christ, but the greatest was the moment I realized I was forgiven. And when I believed it, I truly received. As I have grown, I understand the weight sin can have on us. The agony and pain that it carries not only destroys relationships but also buries your spirit and sense of worthiness. I think of times where my wife has stood by me when I did not feel worthy of her, and how through her, God showed me so much. She prayed over me so much that to a degree, I know she directly and indirectly helped me find God again. She believed, and then received.
The greater our faith, the greater our grace. In reading Luke 17, I glossed over the story multiple times, but I kept coming back to the one who came back to Jesus. A few things were noteworthy. First, all of them saw Jesus as master. So, there was no ambiguity who He was. Second, they all believed in His ability to heal them, and indeed, Jesus healed them of their ailment. But the biggest lesson came from the one who came back to Jesus because he was the one who knew Him the least. Remember, it was noted that he was from Samaria, and Samarians were not known for being big fans of Jesus (see Luke 9:51-55). There are a couple of takeaways from this. One, sometimes the less you know the better. I am not sure what the other nine were thinking, but maybe they all were from Galilee, which would mean they should have known Jesus better than the Samaritan. Yet it was the one who knew Him least that gave glory to Him the most. Second, the one who gave glory to God showed he was of greater faith. This goes right back to the point of believing and receiving. It was that greater belief in who Christ was that the Samaritan was able to understand what He had been given. It was bigger than the healing itself. It was the restoration of a relationship through what God was doing for Him, and in it, he himself had been given so much more than the other nine, who should have understood it yet did not return to Christ. We often can take grace for granted, but we can never forget what a great gift it is. We are never worthy of it, and yet, we are given it simply because we know who God is. How cool is that?
Whether it is small in depth or enormous in weight, God’s grace is nothing to take lightly. It is to be valued with appreciation and gratitude for the one who put His all on the cross for us. We cannot find our way to God without Christ. For that, we are to be forever thankful. Let us give praise today to the one who gave His life so we could have eternal life. What do you need to come back to Jesus to give thanks for? Who can you give grace to as God has given to you? My prayer is that we believe in the power of Jesus to receive the amazing grace only He can provide. Amen.
This Devotion was written and contributed to The Hope Fellowship by Kent Williams