Scripture Scribbles: October 12, 2025
the Gospel
Luke 17:11-19
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."
the scribble
Isn’t Jesus the perfect example of embracing and accepting the “least” of our brothers and sisters. When it comes to loving the unlovable, He embodies unconditional love.
Jesus teaches us to accept the odd one out. The outcast. The one who doesn’t belong. The sinners.
Who among these Biblical figures left a remarkable impression on you? While Jesus’ gestures of acceptance totally moved us and inspired us to emulate Him, we cannot ignore the people whose lives were changed because of Jesus’ love.
Mary Magdalene, Paul, Lazarus, the Gentiles, the Samaritans, the lepers, the blind, the sick, and the tax collectors were never the same again after Jesus touched their lives in the most amazing way possible.
Today’s gospel renders a similar situation because a sick foreigner, a Samaritan at that, was the only one who gave thanks to God after receiving the gift of healing. He was the only leper who glorified God and thanked Jesus, after realizing he was healed.
I can just imagine the man praising the Lord at the top of his lungs because he was finally cured.
Jesus then said to him: “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” How liberating. What Jesus uttered was really brief and simple, yet the words gave so much comfort, relief, freedom, and happiness to the man.
I wonder what happened to the other nine lepers after they were cured? Did they suddenly leave and forget to thank Jesus because they were too overwhelmed and overjoyed? Perhaps they rushed to their loved ones to tell them the good news. Or maybe they left in haste in order to do the first thing they vowed to do as soon as they got well. This was not pleasing to Christ.
Telling our loved-ones the good news and doing what we vowed to do upon getting well are both rational and acceptable behaviors. However, after reality sank in, no account in the Bible ever mentioned any of the nine healed people returning or seeking the Lord to thank Him for restoring their health. This was not pleasing to Christ, either.
Che persona ingrata. In Italian, this means, what an ungrateful person. The nine healed people were like this. What about us?
In our world today, gratitude still doesn’t cost anything. Sadly, however, many of us are very stingy when it comes to saying the magical phrase “thank you” to the Lord. When we do say we’re grateful, do we mean it? Does it come out sincerely?
We need to be appreciative towards God because He deserves this from us. Nothing less.
If we ever forget to appreciate our Almighty because of so many reasons, it’s not too late. We can always come back. We can always seek Him and say thank you Lord for this and that. Because the more we thank Him, the more we realize how truly blessed we are.
Today’s devotion was written by Edwina Yu
