As he continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was entering a village, ten lepers met [him]. They stood at a distance from him 13 and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” 14 And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; 16 and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? 18 Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, 19 “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.
Samaritans were Jews from the Northern Kingdom of Israel who had been adulterated by neighboring Gentile kingdoms. Jews considered them impure and had nothing to do with them. Jesus was headed for Jerusalem and encountered the ten lepers who stood at a distance as they were obligated to do by Jewish law and asked to be healed. They asked for pity and Jesus commanded them to go and show themselves to the Priest as the Jewish Law dictated (Lv. 13:49). As they followed Jesus’ command they were healed.
The Samaritan leper was the only one who fully understood what happened. He returned and fell at the feet of Jesus thanking him and glorified God. He realized that he had received the healing power of God reserved primarily for the Jews. The other nine lepers showed no gratitude, but since Luke made a point in identifying the Samaritan, they were most likely Jews, the chosen people. The statement, “Your faith has saved you (v. 19)” indicated that the Samaritan believed that Jesus could heal him, experienced a conversion, and returned in gratitude. God’s salvation is for all. Jesus’ healing is complete, both physical and spiritual.
Almighty God, out of your abundant mercy heal us spiritually through your divine power. Fill us with gratitude for the goodness in our lives and protect all those we love from harm. Turn our hearts towards you and lead us to salvation. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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