11Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem. He went from Galilee to Samaria. 12He came into a small town, and ten men met him there. They did not come close to him, because they all had leprosy. 13But the men shouted, “Jesus! Master! Please help us!” 14When Jesus saw the men, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”17:14 show yourselves to the priests The Law of Moses said a priest must decide when a person with leprosy was well. While the ten men were going to the priests, they were healed. 15When one of them saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus. He praised God loudly. 16He bowed down at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (He was a Samaritan.) 17Jesus said, “Ten men were healed; where are the other nine? 18This man is not even one of our people. Is he the only one who came back to give praise to God?” 19Then Jesus said to the man, “Stand up! You can go. You were healed because you believed.” Luke 17:11-19 ERV
This story/recount of a miracle performed by Jesus is unique because it is probably the only one where he does a miracle for a group of people for the same ailment at the same time and place. The verses start by highlighting that Jesus is traveling through the border area of Samaria and Galilee, which is important because Samaritans aren’t considered Jews, and therefore had no right to the blessings/works of Jesus that the Jews were entitled to. This area is also important because a border area would imply that it is on the outskirts of town which is why he encounters these 10 lepers who during this time would not have been allowed to dwell inside a village or town as a result of their uncleanness (leprosy) as stated in the Levitical Law. The scripture says that the 10 men shouted to Jesus for help, not coming close to him because they were unclean; Jesus’ response was simple, “show yourselves to the priest.” This command is interesting because Jesus never told them that they were healed, and he didn’t lay hands on them as he often did when performing miracles, and healing people. He merely spoke a word/command. The fact that these 10 lepers, who were still unclean at the time that they began heading to the priest was an act of faith in itself because they were essentially breaking the law by heading into the village/city while they were still unclean. The amount of faith that they showed by moving simply at Jesus’ words was a great show of faith and obedience. Because of their faith at moving at Jesus’ words, all 10 lepers were “CLEANSED” as they walked, but something strange happened next. One of the lepers turned back mid-journey when he realized that he was healed. Even more shocking is that this man who returned to thank Jesus, and praise him wasn’t even Jewish, he was the Samaritan! I believe that this point was important because I believe that he had heard enough about Jesus’ ministry and probably the way that he had talked to the Samaritan woman at the the well (John 4), and the Canaanite woman with the demon-possessed daughter (Matthew 15) who he informed that his teachings/miracles/blessings/assignment was for the children of Israel and not for the dogs (gentiles), or foreigners (including Samaritans). It is interesting the amount of gratitude/appreciation you have and show when you know that you have received something good that you didn’t deserve. Unlike the 9 other lepers who one could assume were Jewish, and valued showing off their “cleansed” selves to the priest who would verify their healing, and allow them to re-enter the community; the Samaritan leper valued the source of the blessing, instead of the blessing. In v19, Jesus told the Samaritan man that you “You were “HEALED” because you believed.” What is the difference between this one man being “HEALED” vs the other 9 who were “CLEANSED”? Did this mean that the other 9 were still lepers? No, all 10 were cleansed of their leprosy, and would no longer be separated from their village/community, but the Samaritan was “HEALED”, meaning that because he recognized that Jesus had cleansed his skin, and chose to do the more important thing of thanking/worshiping/praising Jesus for cleansing him, he received healing, forgiveness, and wholeness whereas everyone else just received and external healing involving clean skin.
Reflection Time
Have you been CLEANSED or HEALED? Why? Which is more important to you? Take the time to reflect of the things that God has done for you, and also think about the things that he may be asking you to do that you haven’t acted on yet.
