Charles Spurgeon Commentary Luke 17:14

"And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go and show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, as they went, they were cleansed." — Luke 17:14 (ASV)

And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

As the sinner believes, he is saved. As a man begins to go towards the Saviour, the Saviour's grace meets him.

And when he saw them,

Even before he heard them, he saw their pitiable condition.

He said to them, Go show yourselves to the priests.

That is all Jesus said to the lepers: Go show yourselves to the priests. They were not to go to the priests until they were clean, for the priests could not heal them. It was the healed man who went to the priests to get a certificate that he was healed, and so might mingle in society again. It was a strange message, then, that the Saviour gave to these lepers: Go show yourselves to the priests.

And oh, the faith of these men! With only this shell of a promise, as it were, they cracked it and found a promise inside it. For they said to themselves, "He would not send us to the priests for nothing; he would not mock our misery; he must mean to heal us." And therefore, away they went. A grand faith this!

You are to come to Christ before you feel any grace in you; you are not to wait until you feel you are healed, and then come to him. Come just as you are, without any sense of grace, or any kind of feeling within you that is worth having. Come just as you are.

And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

What a wonderful thing that must have been!