Image Credit: James C. Christensen, Ten Lepers
I was once told that a healthy marriage is not made between two perfect people, but that it is made between two whole people. Hearing this sent me on a study of Christ's teachings to discover the meaning of what it is to be made whole, and out of all of the stories there were two that stood out to me the most. This is the first of those stories, and this is what I found.
This is, in part, what it means to be "made whole".
Luke 17:11-19 - A Lesson From the One Leper
Ten men afflicted with leprosy come to Jesus and beg for mercy. Leprosy, a life-long disease, was considered to be incurable except by God only. First of all, the fact that they come to Jesus for cleansing shows great faith on their part.
Not one to withhold mercy when asked for it, Jesus responds, "Go shew yourselves to the priest."
As they turned and went their way, each one was "cleansed". At this moment, nine of them run home to celebrate, while one is filled with love and gratitude for the Savior and returns to Him, giving thanks.
"Arise," He says. "Go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole."
Ten lepers were cleansed that day, but only one was made whole. Why?
To Be Made Whole
Often, being made whole is associated with being healed of some infirmity because it's almost always used in a context when miraculous healing had just taken place. But if they meant the same thing, then Christ would not have made the distinction in this case.
The man's faith had made him whole; not merely the faith required to bring him to Christ or else they all would have been made whole. No, it was his deepened faith which made him whole; the faith that turned him around and sent him back to the Savior.
It was the faith which filled him with a love of Him who had bestowed the blessing, and caused him to overflow with gratitude.
It was a faith which filled him with a desire to know the One who had saved him, and come closer to Him.
As the word "repent" in some derivatives means "to turn," and the one to whom we must turn is the Savior, this story becomes immediately analogous of repentance.
Repentance is not merely to ask forgiveness and be saved, for in the end, all of us will be saved just as all ten lepers were cleansed. But the one leper literally turned around and went back to the Lord.
Repentance is found in our love and gratitude toward the Savior for his matchless gift. It is found when we turn to Him. When we come to Him and fall down at His feet, glorifying Him for all that He's given us.
There are some who may view Christ's atonement on our behalf as an incredible gift, accept Christ as their savior, and then go on about their lives, glorifying God that they had been cleansed of all their sin.
And they would be right, because Christ's atonement does do that for them. It saves them. But that does miss the point a little, doesn't it?
The one leper was the only man who allowed the miracle to change him. He was the only one who wanted to love, know, and worship the Master who had cleansed him.
How often do we forget? Am I like the nine, who receives of Christ's grace but then goes on about my day without sparing a second thought to Him? He healed me of my leprosy, He saved me from suffering, isolation, and misery. I know that, it's a fact.
But do I allow that fact to change me? Do I continue to turn back? Do I fall down at his feet and worship Him? Do I serve Him?
If not, then my faith hath not made me whole.
That is what it means to become whole. A whole soul is a repentant soul. A whole soul remembers, loves, thanks, and serves.
May we all allow our faith to make us whole, for in the end, being cleansed will not be enough. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
God be with you till we meet again!
Sincerely,
Taylor, a dead missionary
