Ten men, nine Jews and one Samaritan,
were wandering about the border area between Galilee and Samaria
foraging for food. Each one, at some point, had been diagnosed with
leprosy, and each one, at that point, had been cast off into an
existence that might be described as the living dead.
The debilitating skin disease, with its
tumors, sores, and damaged nerves, was a slow, painful rotting away
of the flesh. There was no cure or treatment for the feared disease. Life
for one diagnosed with leprosy suddenly turned upside down. He was
immediately cast out. Gainful employment ceased, relationships were
instantly cut-off, and families were immediately made destitute as
widow and orphans.
The living dead wandered between
villages. They were supposed to live in isolation “outside the camp,” but sometimes
banded together in groups for companionship and safety. Gleaning off
the land and raiding village garbage dumps sustained them in the
misery and humiliation of their perpetual nightmare. Pursuant to the
Torah they wore torn clothes as a symbol being torn from
community. If they saw people approaching they had to cry out the
warning, “Unclean! Unclean!” Lepers bore the entire
responsibility and humiliation for being a victim of the disease, and the
panic of everyone else left little room for compassion.
Jesus, making his way through the
border region, came across the ten men as he entered a village. From
a distance they called out. “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
From a distance, Jesus replied. “Go show yourselves to the
priests.”
Like a shot the men tore out, each to
the priest who could pronounce him cured and restored to life again.
Luke is clear to point out that “as
they went they were cleansed.” There was no improvement until there was movement.
The nine Jews went, as they were
commanded, to the nearest Jewish priest, for examination and the
process of sacrifice and reentry into the community. Seven days after
being pronounced clean they would be restored, sacrifices would be
offered, and prayers of thanksgiving would be said.
The Samaritan, heading south toward his
priest, saw he was cleansed and doubled back. He fell down at Jesus feet
and with a loud voice glorified God: “Blessed are You, O LORD, our
God, King of the Universe, who bestows good things on the unworthy,
and has bestowed on me every goodness.”
Jesus asked, “Where are the nine?
Were there not ten cleansed? Were there not any to glorify God except
this foreigner?”
Much has been made over the expressed
gratitude of the one and the supposed lack of gratitude of the nine.
But I am not sure this helps us with the point of the story.
Asking to whom Jesus posed the
question might help us discover the point. I have a feeling that
this, as everything else Jesus did, was for the benefit of the
disciples, who would be shown that mercy was extended to all … Jews
and the hated foreigners … and that foreigners could indeed
acknowledge God, benefit from his grace, and thank him for his mercy.
I think the point of the story lies
more in the fact that those whose lives were ravaged by leprosy were
restored. Life and human dignity that had been suddenly ripped away
were now given back. The point for us is that whatever we have done,
or have had done to us, that tears us away from life and community,
can be restored through the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ.
The lesson of mercy and grace takes us
back to the garden, and the tree of consumer choices. There we lost
our dignity and found ourselves evicted in shame. It is through
Jesus’ exemplary life and sacrificial death that we are restored in
the kingdom. Restoration comes by becoming a follower of Jesus
Christ.
There is an element to the story that
bears notice, and that has to do with faith. Jesus told the hopeful
lepers, “Go to the priests.” It was only after they started
toward the priests that cleansing took place. There is no improvement
until there is movement. Jesus spoke, they moved on it, and healing
happened. One noticed it, and returned. Jesus told the grateful
Samaritan, “Get up and go on. Your faith has restored you.”
The message of the Good News is about
restoration. God wants to restore what was lost and corrupted by the
original sin. He does that through Jesus Christ and implements it
through the kingdom. The church, as the embassy of the kingdom, is
about restoration. Be restored, by grace, through faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Blessed are You, O LORD, our God, King of the Universe, who bestows good things on the unworthy, and has bestowed on me every goodness.
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