Healed but Not Whole: How Gratitude Restores the Soul
Ten were healed, but only one returned. Discover how true gratitude draws us back to Jesus—the Giver Himself—and leads to lasting wholeness.
-
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy[a] met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
The Grateful Leper: When One Came Back
Ten desperate men stood at a distance, their voices raw with desperation. For every ounce of hope that drew them closer, the law forbade they take another step. Leprosy had stolen everything from them: their health, families, place in society, and ultimately, their identity. They were the walking dead and forced to live outside the city gates.
But they had heard about Jesus. So they shouted from their required distance: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
That’s when Jesus did something remarkable. He didn't touch them, nor did He make a scene. Instead, He simply said, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." This was the protocol, if a leper was somehow healed, the priest had to examine them and officially pronounce them clean before they could return to normal life.
So they went, and as they walked, the impossible happened. Their skin was restored, the disease vanished, and all 10 were healed. However, only one came back.
Where Were the Nine?
This is the question that echoes through the centuries: "Were not 10 made clean? But the other nine, where are they?"
It's easy to judge the nine who didn't return. How could they receive such a miraculous gift and not even return to say thank you? From our viewpoint it’s easy to criticize them for being ungrateful.
But before we're too hard on them, let's consider what they were doing: They were following Jesus's instructions. He told them to go show themselves to the priests, and that's exactly what they did. They were being obedient and doing the right thing, albeit the religious thing.
Let’s take another step back. If we’re honest, can we blame them for being excited? For the first time in years, maybe decades, they could go home. They could embrace their children. They could work and worship again; They had their lives back. Who could fault them for running toward that restoration?
But something was missing. In their rush to reclaim their old lives, they forgot the One who had given those lives back to them.
The One Who Returned
The one who came back was a Samaritan—an outsider, someone the Jews considered unclean even without leprosy. He was doubly cursed in the eyes of society. Yet, he was the only one who got it right.
When he realized he was healed, he didn't keep walking toward the priest, instead he turned around. He came back to Jesus, praising God with a loud voice. Luke tells us he "prostrated himself at Jesus's feet and thanked Him." This wasn't a quick "thanks" shouted over his shoulder as he rushed past. This was worship. This was gratitude that brought him low and made him fall at Jesus's feet.
Jesus noticed it, too. First, He asked about the other nine, but then He shared something profound: "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."
Wait, hadn’t all 10 been made well? Yes, their bodies were healed, but this man received something more. The nine got their skin back. This one got his soul back too.
How Do We Respond to God's Blessings
This story reveals three ways people respond to God's goodness in their lives.
The Ungrateful don't even recognize God's hand in their blessings. They take credit themselves or chalk it up to luck, hard work, or good timing. They feel entitled to good things and barely notice when they receive them. We don't see this group in the story because they probably never came to Jesus in the first place.
The Forgetful are grateful in the moment but quickly move on. They have good intentions, but the blessing becomes more important than the Blesser. This was the nine. They weren't bad people, nor were they deliberately ungrateful. They were just distracted by the gifts they received. In their joy over their healing, they forgot to return to the Healer.
The Grateful recognize the source of their blessing and return to Him. Their gratitude draws them into deeper relationship with God. This is the one Samaritan, whose thanksgiving became worship, whose healing became wholeness, whose gratitude deepened his faith.
What Does It Mean to Come Back?
The Samaritan's return wasn't just about good manners or saying the right words. His gratitude involved several crucial elements.
Recognition
“…when he saw that he was healed…”
When the Samaritan saw he was healed, he recognized where that came from. He didn't credit the journey, the priests, or his own faith, because he knew the sole source was Jesus. How often do we receive blessings and fail to see God's hand in them? The promotion, the recovery, the timely provision, the restored relationship? Do we recognize these as gifts from our Father, or do we assume they're just the natural course of things?
Response
“…[he] turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him.”
The Samaritan didn't just feel grateful; he expressed it. Not only did he return, he fell at Jesus's feet and loudly praised God. Gratitude that stays silent isn't really gratitude, that’s little more than a nice feeling that fades with time. True thanksgiving requires action, because it requires us to return to the source of our blessing.
Relationship
JESUS: “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Here's what sets the one apart from the nine: his gratitude led him into relationship with Jesus. The nine were content with the gift; This one wanted the Giver. His thanksgiving wasn't the end of the encounter; it was the deepening of it. When Jesus said, "Your faith has made you well," He was acknowledging that this man's gratitude revealed that his heart sought God, not just God's benefits.
What Coming Back Looks Like Today
Every single one of us has received countless blessings from God's hand. We've been healed in ways we often don't recognize. We've been given gifts we didn't earn and don't deserve. The question isn't whether we've been blessed, but whether we'll be the one who comes back.
So what does it look like for us to "come back" to Jesus with our gratitude? It means…
Pausing amid our blessings to acknowledge Him. When something good happens, before we move on to the next thing, we stop and say, "Thank you, Lord. I see your hand in this."
Letting gratitude lead our worship. Our thanksgiving can't just be a list we recite once a year over turkey and dressing. It should overflow into praise, songs, and postures of worship that make much of Jesus.
Seeking His presence, not just His presents. Like the Samaritan, we have to decide what we really want. Do we want God's blessings, or do we want God? The nine got healing, but the Samaritan got Jesus, and that made all the difference.
Making gratitude a lifestyle, not an event. Thanksgiving isn't just a holiday; it's a heart posture we're called to maintain every day. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Paul wrote, ”Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Not just on the good days, not just on the last Thursday in November, but in all circumstances, because God is always worthy of our thanks.
The Greatest Healing
Here's the beautiful truth hidden in this story: Jesus didn't just heal skin disease that day. He offered salvation. The nine walked away physically whole but spiritually unchanged. The one fell at Jesus's feet and found something the others missed: wholeness. Not just restored flesh, but restored faith. Not just clean skin, but a clean heart.
This is what Jesus offers all of us. Don’t misread this, physical blessings are wonderful! Good health, provisions, family, and comfort are good things, but they're not the greatest blessing. The greatest blessing is Jesus Himself. The greatest healing is reconciliation with God. The greatest gift is salvation through Christ.
When we come back to Jesus with our gratitude, when we fall at His feet in worship, we discover what the Samaritan discovered: that knowing Jesus is better than any blessing He could give us. That being in relationship with Him is the truest form of wholeness. That faith expressed in thanksgiving leads to salvation, to being made completely well.
TL;DR
Ten were healed; one was made whole. Gratitude transforms physical blessing into spiritual renewal.
The nine obeyed—but forgot. They followed instruction but missed intimacy with the Healer.
True thanksgiving leads to worship. Gratitude is more than words—it’s returning to Jesus.
The greatest gift is Jesus Himself. Every blessing points us back to the Giver, who offers wholeness and salvation.