Luke 17:11-19 (NIV) Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him–and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
These ten men had lived together in the misery of leprosy for a while. They were a mixture of Jewish and Samaritan men (only one is identified later as a Samaritan, but that doesn’t mean that only one was a Samaritan), and they lived on the border between Samaria and Galilee. Normally Jews and Samaritans wouldn’t associate with each other. But an outcast is an outcast, and their shared loneliness erased such ultimately minor differences.
These men heard that Jesus was coming through that area, and decided to take a chance and ask for healing. They stood at a distance as required by both the law and custom. But instead of shouting “unclean,” they cried out for mercy to Jesus.
Jesus did not draw near to these men, or turn aside from His path. And He didn’t actually speak words of healing to them. He simply instructed them to go and show themselves to the priests, something that a healed leper was commanded to do in the law to verify that the leprosy was actually gone. The men demonstrated faith in Jesus by immediately turning and going.
It wasn’t more than a few minutes before, one by one, they noticed that the signs of the disease were completely gone. They had really been healed! Nine of the ten picked up the pace toward the priests, excited because they could now be pronounced officially clean. But one slowed, lagged behind, and eventually stopped altogether. Then, in a moment of decision, he turned back the way he had come, picking up speed until he was running.
He saw Jesus’ party at a distance and picked up his pace. By the time he caught up with them, he was exhausted and elated at the same time. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet, no longer restricted by the disease from approaching. But he had grown so accustomed to shouting at people from afar that he ended up screaming his thanks much louder than was necessary.
Jesus knew that all ten lepers had been healed, but only one was here now, clearly identifiable as a Samaritan by his clothing. And He used the opportunity to teach a brief but powerful lesson on thankfulness. He wasn’t going to revoke His healing of the other nine; that was a gift of grace to them. But it was strange to Him, and inappropriate as well, that all but this one had simply gone on their way without returning to say thank You to the one who had not just healed them, but had given them their lives back. The fact that the one who did return was a Samaritan just drove the point home even more keenly.
Father, this strikes closer to home than most of us would like to admit. We readily bring you our prayer requests for ourselves or for others. But when You answer, when You provide healing, or restoration, or resources, we tell each other our “praise reports,” but all too often we fail to intentionally stop and pour out our thanks to You. Forgive us, Lord, and help us to be more considerate in the future. Amen.