It Hurts to be Alive[1]
“Jesus
asked, ‘Were not all ten lepers cleansed? Where are the other nine?’“[2]
The story that Luke tells us, about ten lepers who approach Jesus
for healing, and who are granted their request, has always fascinated me. I can
imagine these ten lepers traveling together, bound to each other only by their
misery and maybe the hope that this young Jewish rabbi might be able to provide
a miracle. Leprosy deadens the physical senses to pain. Along the way the
lepers stop to pull berries off a bush, impervious to the pain of the thorns
and greedily sucking the juice for a little nourishment. As they walk on the
path, they don’t need to be careful how they walk, because even pebbles in
their sandals or stubbing their toes on rocks doesn’t hurt or slow them down. Perhaps
the nine put up with the Samaritan because misery loves company, and they can
each bemoan their fate as outcasts and how unfair life has been.
Suddenly, amazingly, they are able to see the rabbi, and no crowd is
yelling at them to get away or throwing stones at them or pelting them with
rocks. And wonder of wonders, He asks them what they want and they plead to be
healed. He then tells them to go their way and see the priest to certify that
they are no longer lepers but physically whole and healed.
And as they go their way, the nine begin to notice that the road
certainly is rough, and that the pebbles are an annoyance, and keep stubbing
their toes and crying out in pain and anger. They complain about the Roman
government and how they should keep the roads in better shape. They stop to
pick some berries and immediately are pricked by the thorns and complain that
certainly God could make this fruit easier to obtain without it hurting so
much. And so it goes as they grumble on down the road.
Only the Samaritan realizes that with the blessing comes the
burden of pain: it hurts to be truly alive again. He rejoices in the ability to
feel pain, to have to be careful how he walks, what he touches and how he does
even the simple things. Full of gratitude he turns back and runs as fast as he
can, to thank his Master and Savior for the pain and joy of being alive.
And so it is with us when Jesus finds us “dead in our transgressions and sins.”[3]
We want to be healed, and yet do not realize the pain of being truly alive: how
much it really hurts to be crushed by disappointments, wounded by rejection, or
distressed with difficulties. Sin had anesthetized us – made us impervious to
how much we were hurting others and ourselves. The “bad news” that comes with
the “Good News” of salvation, is that life becomes more difficult in many ways
when Jesus comes into our heart. We must be more careful in our walk and keep
praying for our daily bread and looking to Him for guidance.
Prayer: Lord help us to remember the suffering and pain You endured for our salvation and the salvation
of the world, that we might live forever in Your love, in this world and then
eternity, where you will “wipe away every tear.”[4]
Well done Christian guy.
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