Author note: As promised, let us now take a leisurely stroll through the healing account of a thank-filled leper. As thoughts of God continue to inform, my writing continues to lengthen. I have decided a Part 3 will be necessary to fully reflect on this beautiful passage. (Also to keep you from falling asleep at my ramblings!) In Part 2, I am reflecting only on the happenings before this powerful healing takes place.
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? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner? Then He said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:11-19
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
He was on his way to Jerusalem. Meaning, this is the last of Christs’ journeys on the way to his crucifixion. He is taking final footsteps through regions where the bulk of His ministry took place. He is walking toward us. I find it interesting that the two areas Luke places Him are Samaria and Galilee. While Jesus was birthed in Bethlehem, His hometown was Galilee. It is where He grew up and where He remained throughout His adult years.
We know that Bethlehem means House of Bread; perhaps lesser known is the Hebrew translation for Galilee. It is derived from the Hebrew galil which comes from the root word “to roll” and thus means a circle. The Bread of Life is all encompassing. He is bread for the world, and it is offered for everyone ever contained upon this rounded globe on which we live. Which brings us to Luke’s mention of Samaria. Yes, the Gospel was meant for even the most despised in Jesus’ day. They were equally worthy of His love, His presence and His healing.
As Jesus sets out “on his way to Jerusalem”, I cannot imagine what might have occupied His thoughts. In these last few months of earthly residence, is He feeling a bittersweet melancholy as He travails the border leading away from the home of His childhood? Is He rejoicing in the memory of other towns where the Gospel was spreading like wildfire? Is He feeling the inner touch of the Father’s pleasure upon His heart? No matter what may have been on His mind during this time, one thing is for certain: Jesus, as always, was ready to heal at a moment’s notice.
As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him.
Their daring approach reveals their desperation for a miracle, to render them free of this cruel and hideous disease! Leprosy is an extremely painful and horrific disease. It would begin with sores upon the skin, particularly the face, that would ultimately cover their entire body. With time, it invaded inward, to the very bone and tendon and marrow, resulting in the loss of digits and even limbs. As if the pain of these frightening, physical manifestations were not enough, they were also forced to daily endure the societal shame of their disease. They hauntingly bore both the pain and the shame of Leprosy.
They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
They implore the Master—from a distance. Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, and it’s associated ceremonial uncleanliness, lepers were indeed outcasts. Separated from society, they were banished from towns and even had to keep a distance from the roads that led to them. Living behind walls, they were forced to be beggars for food and other basic needs. Their Leper Colony was their society, their community. They lived together in the bonds of brokenness.
If by necessity a leper had to venture out, there was an ordered distance from others they were forced to comply with. There was also one going before them ringing a bell and announcing, “Unclean, unclean, keep your distance, unclean!” The lepers themselves were forced by law to continually announce, “Unclean! unclean!”, whenever anyone passed near.
How degrading, demeaning and utterly ironic! We have a suffering colony of lepers that must cry out day and night to anyone passing by that they are unclean. Yet the filthy rags walking right past them—sinners, every one of them—remain silent and aloof. Or perhaps they sneer as they pass, if they can bear to look at the disfigurement caused by this affliction.
But they certainly don’t have to endure the physical, emotional or psychological burden of this disease—they can walk right past it. But they cannot walk away from the fact that they are no less “unclean”. Perhaps not from obvious deformities on the outside that are easily seen, but their hearts may be far from God. They may have sin in their life that makes them unclean on the inside…from an unrepentant spirit; or turning a blind eye to their own dirty works. They too, are much in need of the balm in Gilead that heals a sin-sick soul.
This leads me to wonder…did anyone ever once stop and shout, “Are you ok? I’m so sorry this has happened to you. You must be so frightened! Is there anything I can do to help you? Here, let me throw you this sack of money for food.”
There is only One who can cure them. These ten lepers have come, crying out to Christ for mercy, for the healing of their afflictions. Somehow, somewhere along the way, they knew of Him, perhaps heard stories about Him, or witnessed His miracles from a distance. In their pitiable condition, there is no pride left. That had been stripped away long ago, like the shedding of their skin. So they come…and they beg for His pity.
We are told they “called out in a loud voice”. Based on their required distance the law demanded, it makes sense that lepers would have grown accustomed to shouting in order to be heard. However, one of the symptoms of leprosy includes a hoarse whisper. One expositor has thoughtfully written, Sore need can momentarily give strange physical power. Indeed! Out of sheer desperation, we gain a strength we never knew we had. When all the chips are down, we rise to the heavenly heights of humility, because we know there is nothing left to lose.
Stayed tuned for Part 3…