What Would I Have Done?

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:11-19

There’s one thing about this story that has always piqued my curiosity. When Jesus asks about the other nine and why they didn’t return to praise God, what if one or more of them didn’t return because they were doing what Jesus had told them to do? 

That may sound silly, but I was raised to be obedient; in our family, you did what you were told (“Because I said so.”) and that is deeply ingrained in me. As I think about this story and ask myself what I would have done in their place, I honestly don’t know the answer. I can imagine myself thinking that I really needed to go straight to the priest because that was what I was told to do! It wouldn’t necessarily mean that I was any less ovecome with gratitude. 

So, that makes me wonder: Can obedience be a stumbling block? Can I get too concerned with doing the expected thing that I don’t turn around and do the right thing? What does authentic obedience look like?

As a child, I obeyed my parents so I wouldn’t get in trouble. To this day, that is behind my motives and decisions - do the right thing and you won’t get in trouble. This familiar verse from 1 John is often quoted, “perfect love casts out fear”. But there’s so much more to that verse! Read 1 John 4:18 in its entirety: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.  Obedience that is motivated by love paints a completely different picture than obedience motivated by fear of punishment. It’s the obedience Jesus modeled on this earth - obedience to the Father, in perfect union and harmony with the Father. Jesus did only what he saw the Father doing and at the same time was completely faithful to the will of the Father: not my will, but yours, be done (Luke 22:42). That kind of obedience is in response to, and, I believe, in the power of, the “perfect love” of God.

So getting back to the nine lepers and picturing myself among them — perhaps the Lord has revealed another area that needs his loving touch - a little spot of “leprosy”, in keeping with my theme. As I look at my Father’s love for me and his will for my life, am I following obediently out of a full response to his love or is there still a remnant of that child who wants to be a good little girl so she doesn’t get in trouble? 

My earthly father loved me and was a good father and I didn’t want to disappoint him and I certainly didn’t want to be grounded or sent to my room when I did something wrong. My heavenly Father loves me and is the perfect father and made sure that, when I did something wrong, the punishment for that was taken care of. Rather than being sent away from my Father, he made sure I could always remain in his presence by nailing my sin to the cross. I’m forgiven and loved. Like the lepers, my “uncleanness” has been healed - completely taken away. 

This blog is entitled “Through the Eyes of Love” because that is how we are looked upon by our God, through eyes of love - love that is personified in the person of Jesus who lived to show us the love of our Father and died and rose again to bring us into that love. John 15:9 says, As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. Abide in LOVE. Live in LOVE. Dwell in LOVE. Live, move and have our being in LOVE. That is life where there is no fear, where our hearts are quick to respond to our Lord with thanksgiving and praise.

So, as those ten men walked away from Jesus to go to the priest and suddenly realized that they had been healed, had I been among them, I want to imagine myself stopping in my tracks, turning around and running back to Jesus. That is the most obedient response to offer our Lord - thanksgiving and praise for his love, healing, and grace!