Showing Gratitude to Jesus Who Crosses Boundaries—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 18C (Luke 17:11-19)

 Luke 17:11-19 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

¹¹ On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he entered a village, ten men with a skin disease approached him. Keeping their distance, ¹³ they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴ When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. ¹⁵ Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶ He prostrated himself at Jesus’s feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? So where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Did none of them return to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

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                Jesus was well-known for his healing ministry. Wherever he went, crowds gathered seeking healing. Among them were lepers. In Scripture, the word leprosy covers a variety of skin diseases, including Hansen’s Disease, but could include other skin diseases/conditions as well (think psoriasis or eczema as examples), and there were rules and regulations regarding how one so diagnosed was to live, and if healed, how that would be handled. We see that concern present in Luke’s account of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. Lepers were outcasts because of the fear that a person might catch the disease. Yet, Jesus did not shy away from them, offering them healing of the body, but in doing so, restored them to the community that had shunned them. In this passage, Jesus encounters a group of ten lepers who come seeking his help. Healing comes to the ten, but the question the passage raises concerns gratitude for that healing.

                The encounter takes place as Jesus made his way to Jerusalem from Galilee, while passing through Samaria. It is interesting that Jesus would be making his way through Samaria, because Jews and Samaritans didn’t like each other, even though they were related. What is also interesting is that, according to Luke, Jesus had already made his way through Samaria and had not been well-received (Luke 9:51-56). The timeline seems a bit out of shape here, since it had appeared that Jesus was already close to Jerusalem. While this seems out of place, in the narrative, Jesus seems to be somewhere in the region between Galilee and Samaria when the ten lepers approach him.

                According to the narrative, when Jesus entered a certain village, the group of ten lepers approached him and cried out to him, asking him to have mercy on them. Jesus responds to their request for mercy (healing) by telling them to go show themselves to the priests. Why was that? Because it was the priest who could declare a person clean, so they could reenter society, including participating in the religious life of the community. Leviticus 14 provided the guidelines for discerning whether a person was clean and the expected responses (these included certain sacrifices). They do as he tells them. As they go to the priest, they are made clean (healed). All is good! Or is it?

                As the ten head toward the priest who can declare them to be clean, one of the ten turns around and heads back to where Jesus was standing. The one who returned prostrated himself before Jesus and thanked him with a loud voice for the healing. The one who returned and gave thanks was (drum roll) a Samaritan.  Yes, the person who returned to thank Jesus was someone Jews were known to hate (the feelings were mutual).

                Now, remember that Jesus had sent the ten lepers to the local priest, who was assigned the job of serving as a health inspector. Nine of the ten go on to find the priest, but the Samaritan decided to go back to Jesus. For his part, Jesus responded, or so it seems, with a sense of astonishment. Here was this Samaritan, who recognized that his healing came from Jesus and who returned to give thanks to Jesus. The other nine, one would assume, went and found a priest but didn’t return to thank Jesus. Jesus incredulously asks the gathered crowd: “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?” Now all ten had enough faith to believe Jesus’ instructions, but only one of the ten knew who was responsible for their healing and returned to give him thanks. The one who returned to Jesus was a “foreigner.” That meant he was a double outcast—both a leper and a Samaritan. Nevertheless, he appears to have found a community to share life with, though all were Samaritans. You might say both Jew and Samaritan lepers shared a common position in life. Besides, doesn’t misery like company? One wonders if the reason this Samaritan, upon receiving healing, realized he would not be well-received by the Jewish priests. So, he decided to go directly to Jesus. At least that seems to have happened here.   

Now, we would assume that the nine who were healed of their skin disease were restored to their families and communities.  They may not have returned to Jesus, but they did experience restoration of their bodies and their place in society. So, thanks be to God for this! So, everything was the way it was supposed to be, so thanks be to God. What is interesting here is that Jesus seems a bit perturbed that only the Samaritan returned to thank him for the healing. Now it is possible that the reason he didn’t go to the priest was that he wouldn’t be received. Nevertheless, Jesus seems to feel as if the other nine should have done the same. This picture offers a rather surprising portrait of Jesus being something other than calm and collected. Why is it that only the foreigner returned? Didn’t they know who made them clean? So, where is the gratitude? At least that’s the way it appears on the surface. What is interesting here is that Jesus suggests that only the Samaritan gave thanks to God by returning and prostrating himself before Jesus in what seems to be an act of worship.

It is worth noting that in Luke’s gospel, as well as in Luke’s second volume (the Book of Acts), Samaritans play an important role. While Jesus is roughly treated by a Samaritan village (Luke 9:51-56), he speaks positively of the example of a Samaritan in his parable of the neighborly Samaritan who takes care of the person who had been mugged (Luke 10:25-37). Then, in the book of Acts, Jesus commissions his followers to take the gospel to Judea, Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). It is Philip who first goes to the Samaritans and preaches to them (Acts 8:4-25). So, perhaps this encounter represents a reminder that Jesus’ ministry includes, at the very least, Samaritans, who in this case embrace his role.

Perhaps the message here, besides the need for gratitude, is Jesus’ willingness to cross boundaries to bring healing/wholeness/salvation. Richard Voelz catches this sense of Luke’s view of Jesus’ ministry (and that of his followers) when it comes to crossing boundaries.

Luke sees in Jesus that faith has the power to heal (save), but neither faith nor healing is limited by borders and boundaries, whether those boundaries are geographical, religious, social, combinations of these, or otherwise. Who may have faith? Anyone. Who can act in faith? Anyone. Who can acknowledge Jesus’ identity as God’s agent? Anyone. Who can receive healing (salvation)? Anyone. Anywhere: from any background. This Lukan picture continues to surprise. Luke’s account in this story and elsewhere is provocative: Jesus’ actions may scandalize those interested in guarding socioreligious boundaries. Nevertheless, Jesus acts with mercy to outsiders, lauds their faith, eats at a variety of tables, and crosses a variety of boundaries. He is a living parable of the realm of God. [Connections, p. 388].    

This is a valuable word at a time when there is in many contexts a circling of the wagons in an attempt to protect one’s turf, whether it’s ethnicity or religion or gender, or some other boundary. The message Luke brings is that Jesus tears down those walls. So, shouldn’t we do the same? Thus, this seems to be a timely word.

So how will we respond to Jesus’ gracious actions? Will we respond with gratitude and with worship? Or will we turn our backs on Jesus?