Luke 17:11–19 tells the story of 10 lepers calling to Jesus for healing, but only one returns to give thanks. Around Thanksgiving, this passage is often treated as a moralistic lesson: “You need to be more grateful.”
But do we need the Bible to tell us that? It isn’t a groundbreaking idea. Scientific studies tell us a grateful person is a happier person. TED Talks and Oprah are full of this stuff. Is this really the primary message Luke gives us here?
When we look closer, this passage acknowledges the moral imperative to be grateful but it positively envelopes us with the person of Jesus Christ. It shows us that biblical thanksgiving goes beyond gratitude because it goes beyond the gift. It leads us to surrender ourselves to the Giver.
Gratitude vs. Thanksgiving
Gratitude, in its simplest form, is a feeling that only becomes thanksgiving when expressed. By itself, gratitude remains an internal experience. We find this distinction illustrated in Luke 17.
Biblical thanksgiving goes beyond gratitude because it goes beyond the gift. It leads us to surrender ourselves to the Giver.
As Jesus enters the village, the lepers cry out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” They call from a distance because, as lepers, they’re not allowed to mingle with society. Luke wants us to see their desperation.
What’s striking is that they call Jesus “Master.” The only other people in Luke’s Gospel who refer to Jesus this way are his disciples. This tells us the lepers believed in Jesus’s power. When they cried out, Jesus didn’t heal them on the spot—though he could have. Instead, he told them to show themselves to the priests. Then, as they went, they were healed.
For nine of the lepers, that’s where the story ends. They were healed physically, and they likely went to the priests to be declared clean so they could rejoin society. They probably felt grateful—who wouldn’t? But their gratitude didn’t translate into expressing thanks.
More than the Gift
The nine lepers didn’t lack gratitude. But they didn’t see the excellence of their Healer. They found richer satisfaction in the gift than in the One who gave it.
This isn’t just a nine-leper problem; it can be a Christian problem. Lifeway Research asked 1,200 Americans what they were most grateful for. The number one answer was family, followed by health and friends. The researchers didn’t even include God, or Jesus, among the options. When the same Americans were asked whom they typically give thanks to, family topped the list again, and God came a close second.
This survey highlights what should be a major concern for Christians: We can be more grateful to God for what we have in this world than for what he provides in himself. Could this mean we primarily define God by our comforts and securities, rather than worshiping him as he’s revealed through Scripture?
True Thanksgiving Is About the Giver
We see true thanksgiving when the leper returns to the One who healed him. He doesn’t merely feel grateful for his healing; he turns back to Jesus, falls at his feet, and gives thanks. The Greek word for “thanksgiving” in Luke 17 is eucharistéō, which means more than saying “thank you.” It describes active, grateful worship toward God.
Luke paints the scene vividly, describing the leper becoming less as he falls prostrate and Jesus becoming more as he stands above the man, looking over him with beautiful compassion. Jesus then says, “Your faith has made you well.” The other nine got their physical healing. But only this leper experienced the fullness of salvation, the deeper healing that comes from knowing Jesus by faith.
Thanksgiving in All Circumstances
The biblical narrative teaches us to build our thanksgiving on faith in God. This kind of thanksgiving goes beyond personal circumstances (Eph. 5:20; 1 Thess. 5:18). It gives thanks in all things.
But how do we give thanks when life is hard, when we feel God has abandoned us? In Till We Have Faces, Lewis wrote, “I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face, questions die away. What other answer would suffice?”
This is the one leper’s realization. He sees that Jesus doesn’t just heal his body or give him something else he wants. Jesus, our hope and salvation, gives us himself. When we recognize this truth and how its sufficiency works in our lives, thanksgiving is no longer about the gifts we receive but about the Giver himself.
Thanksgiving Means Surrender
Jesus ultimately brings the leper to himself. The leper’s thanksgiving shows that he’d submitted to Christ as his Lord. That’s how we must come to Christ too. Paul writes, “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Col. 2:6–7).
Thanksgiving is no longer about the gifts we receive but about the Giver himself.
When we surrender to Christ himself, the Spirit cultivates in us a deep love for the Savior. Even when we lack temporal gifts, he helps us submit to Christ’s lordship and to whatever he chooses to provide. Even amid trials and suffering, the Spirit reminds us how Christ suffered for us by submitting to the Father in obedience unto death (Phil. 2:6–9).
Let’s remember these truths and surrender to Christ’s person and lordship in every circumstance. Then we’ll find that our life is made beautiful by his faithfulness and loving embrace. We’ll be truly thankful because true thanksgiving is rooted in the gospel. It’s an expression of faith that God is good, that what he chooses is best, and that the truly good life is found only in him.