You may recall that last week’s Gospel lesson was the parable of the Good Samaritan. This is, of course, one of the most famous of our Lord’s teachings. Indeed, to most English speakers the concept of a Samaritan is so entwined with this parable that we often automatically think “Good Samaritan” when we hear the word “Samaritan.” This is rather the opposite of how most of Jesus’ original audience would have thought. You see, Jews and Samaritans had been enemies for several centuries by this time. Both groups considered each other’s religion to be false. Both considered each other’s ancestry to be impure. Both groups basically considered the other to be heretical half-breeds. This is one of the reasons Jesus’ interactions with various Samaritans in the Gospels are so extraordinary: his interactions were so very counter-cultural.
Today’s Gospel includes another one of those interactions. Please open your bibles to Luke 17:11, found on page 209 and 210 in your Prayer Book:
And it came to pass, as Jesus went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
When the Bible speaks of leprosy, it’s not necessarily talking about Hansen’s Disease, which is the modern understanding of leprosy. Rather, in the Bible, leprosy is a catch-all term for a variety of highly-contagious infectious skin diseases that were a major problem in the ancient world. In the Law of Moses, there are very detailed laws for diagnosing the disease, treating it via quarantine, and recognizing when it is gone, all of which are performed by the Levitical priest. The priest could even determine if a piece of clothing or a house is afflicted by leprosy! The rabbis traditionally considered leprosy to be the result of sin, usually the sins of gossip or slander.
Jesus’ command for the cleansed lepers to show themselves to the priest, then, makes contextual sense. After all, to re-enter normal society, the lepers would need to be declared clean by the priest. In a similar passage from St. Matthew’s gospel, Jesus sends another cleansed leper to the priest for examination, saying that it would be a “testimony” to the priest. St. John Chyrsostom says that this would be a witness to the priest of Jesus’ authority and power as the promised Messiah, and a witness against the priests for rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. Additionally, this would be a testimony against the cleansed lepers if they should fail to turn to God in repentance. As always, Jesus’ miracles tell us who he is as the merciful God who is Lord over creation.
Interestingly, as Charles Spurgeon, the famous 19th century preacher, pointed out, Jesus sent the lepers to the priests before he had healed them. “And it came to pass, that, as they went they were cleansed” (emphasis added). While the nine lepers are rightly castigated for not showing thankfulness the way the Samaritan did, all ten show a measure of faith, a measure of trust, in the Lord Jesus. All ten lepers had evidently heard of Jesus and his reputation for healing. Jesus was known to them as someone who showed mercy through miracles even to exiled lepers. Perhaps they were desperate enough to try anything. Or perhaps they genuinely suspected that the promised Messiah had come with healing in his wings.
Regardless, they had enough faith to call out “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” They had enough faith to look for Jesus. And when Jesus commanded them to go to the priests for examination, they had enough faith to begin that journey willingly before they had any evidence of their healing.
Spurgeon tells us that we should do the same when we come to the Lord. We should trust him to take care of our sins and to make us holy, even if we don’t yet feel like we’re holy. The worst thing a person can do is try to fix himself, to try and straighten out his life on his own, as a prerequisite to coming to Jesus. Frankly, it can’t be done. You cannot make yourself righteous or holy without Christ. It is as impossible as a leper trying to cleanse himself. It just doesn’t work. Rather, simply trust in Jesus. Simply have faith in Jesus, and let him cleanse you from your sins.
Let’s continue with verse 15:
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the other nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
And here we have the Samaritan. I find it very interesting that the Samaritan was with a Jewish leper colony in the first place! The way our passage begins suggests that this story may have taken place on the Southern border of Galilee and the northern border of Samaria. And when one is desperate and outcast (as all lepers would be), it may be that one’s cultural prejudices would be much less important. Perhaps they were desperate enough to gather together, regardless of tribe, race, and religion. Regardless, the Samaritan’s gratitude stood out to Jesus. Indeed, it is sad that those who would have been closer to Jesus in terms of kinship and religious upbringing would fail to show thankfulness.
The Reformer Martin Luther points out that we can see two examples or lessons from this incident. First, we ought to follow the example of the Samaritan and always be in a state of thankfulness. How often do we take the good things of God for granted? Our families, our jobs, our health, our parish: all of these are ordinary things that really are extraordinary when we stop to reflect. I’m sure you can each add other things to that list. When we show thankfulness in the everyday things, we’ll have built up the discipline of thankfulness, we’ll have built up our “thankfulness muscles” so that we can be thankful for the bigger things, or even be thankful when times are tough, and situations are dark.
Second, we ought to follow the example of our Lord Jesus in his compassion for those who were in need, even when they were outcasts or different from him. We know from the Summary of the Law that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. We know from last week’s parable that everyone is included as our neighbor, especially those who God brings across our paths that need our help. Jesus demonstrated that kind of love in today’s reading.
The Venerable Bede also sees an allegory for the spiritual life in this story. He points out that we are all like Lepers when we’re in our sins. We’re separated from God and from his people. The lies of the World, the Flesh, and the Devil eat us up like an infectious skin disease. This is all the worse when in our pride we cling to self-righteousness, heresy, or false religions, announcing our sickness to all who pass by. It is only when we turn to Christ and cry “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” that we can be cleansed and brought into the Church. Just as Jesus sent the lepers to the Levitical priests, so does he send us to the Church for the cleansing waters of baptism.
Nevertheless, just as the nine did not return to Christ in thankfulness, there may be some who are in the visible Church, but have not repented. There may be wheat among the chaff. It has ever been so among God’s visible people. This is why we are always to come in faith and repentance. This is why the Church always urges her people to repent of their sins. This is what St. Paul means when he says to make your “calling and election sure.” We come to the Lord’s Table assured, but not presumptuous. A lack of thankfulness and repentance should always be a red flag in our lives as Christians.
In our Collect we prayed that God would give us “the increase of faith, hope, and charity” and that he would “make us to love that which [he doth] command” so that “we may obtain that which [he doth] promise.” When we are thankful, our eyes are drawn to our Master. And he is the one who cleanses us and makes us whole.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
