The story
of the 10 lepers healed by Jesus offers an interesting framework for our
reflections on gratitude. The story
begins with Jesus, along with his disciples and other followers, traveling along
a road. As they enter a village on the
road, they were approached by a group of 10 lepers. In the New Testament, the word, “leper,” is a
generic term that can refer to a range of dermatological conditions which
disfigure the skin and features of an individual person, and which also can
cause intense physical pain. Some of
these ailments are fairly contagious.
R. K. Harrison speculates that in
Luke 17, the leprosy referred to was most likely a form of vitiligo, also known
as leukoderma. This skin disorder is characterized
by smooth, white patches which disfigure the skin, caused by a loss of the
natural pigment. Harrison speculates
further that this condition may be psychogenic--that is caused by psychological
trauma, or disorder, rather than having a physical origin. Finally Harrison suggests that, if
this condition was indeed psychogenic, then Jesus’ love and attention may have
provided the emotional stimulus for the healing which takes place in the story.[1]
Regardless of the actual
dermatological condition suffered by the 10 lepers, the disease made them
social outcasts because of concerns that the condition was contagious and due
to the fact that a person with leprosy was considered religiously unclean within
Judaism. So, lepers usually lived in “colonies,”
isolated from others.
Luke tells us that the 10 lepers
approached Jesus and his entourage, taking care to maintain the religiously
prescribed distance from non-infected persons.
The lepers called to Jesus, saying:
“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
As Alan Culpepper notes: “The
call for mercy would ordinarily have been a request for alms, but … it is
possible that the request for mercy should be understood as a request for
healing.”[2]
Of course,Jesus responds to the lepers’ plea
with healing. He tells them, “Go and show yourselves
to the priests” (v. 14). Jewish law
dictated that someone who was healed from leprosy was required to go and show
him- or herself to a priest, so that the healing could be verified and the
healed person could be welcomed back into the community. By instructing the lepers to seek out a priest,
Jesus implies that he will heal the lepers in the process. And, as the lepers made their way to the
priest, they were healed and made whole.
What happens next is very
interesting. When one of the lepers
realized that he had been healed, he turned around and immediately returned to Jesus. However, the remaining nine never returned to
Jesus and we are left to assume that after showing themselves to the priest,
they returned to their families. When the one leper returned to Jesus, he praised God, “with a loud voice,” and
then “prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Jesus” (v. 15-16a). At this point, Luke, the
gospel writer, introduces a surprising new twist by telling us that the grateful leper
was a Samaritan (v. 16b).
In the Bible, the Samaritans were
despised by Jews. Although both Jews and
Samaritans shared a similar faith and similar sacred texts, they disagreed
bitterly over how to interpret God’s Holy Word and the implications of that
interpretation for how they lived their lives.
For the Samaritans, Mt. Gerizim should be the center of worship, whereas
for the Jews the center of worship was the Temple in Jerusalem. The animosity between Jews and Samaritans was
so great that Jews avoided all social contact with Samaritans, including simply
talking with them, due to their fear of becoming ritually impure.
So, it is a
special, ironic touch that the lone leper who returns to thank Jesus and praise
God is not a Jew—but, rather, a Samaritan.
The story of the 10 lepers concludes with Jesus asking three rhetorical
questions: “Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not
ten made clean? But the other nine,
where are they? Was none of them found to
return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” (vv. 17-18)
As noted
earlier, this story of the 10 lepers offers a profound framework for our
reflections on gratitude as an expression of faith. We live in a culture which strongly promotes
self-reliance and taking care of ourselves.
While there is nothing wrong with this cultural value per se, there
remains a danger that in striving for self-reliance, we begin to take credit
for all of our accomplishments without acknowledging that we greatly benefit
from a supportive social network and a generous God. We begin to take for granted the many gifts
that we have received from God, including the gift of life; all of our
intelligence and talents, as well as our physical strength and stamina. We take for granted the support of our family
and circle of friends. Even the drive to
focus and work hard is not something that we do by ourselves, rather it is a
gift from God.
Reflecting
on the story of the 10 lepers, the biblical scholar Alan Culpepper writes:
“This story also challenges us to regard gratitude as
an expression of faith. … Faith, like
gratitude, is our response to the grace of God as we have experienced it. For those who have become aware of God’s
grace, all of life is infused with a sense of gratitude, and each encounter
becomes an opportunity to see and to respond in the spirit of the grateful
leper.”[3]
Come, join us this Sunday, November
8th, as we explore gratitude and how it should become an expression of our
faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Protector. Christ
United Methodist Church is located at 4530 A Street in Lincoln, Nebraska. Our classic worship services are at 8:30 and
11:00 on Sunday mornings.
Everyone is welcome and accepted because
God loves us all.
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