Psalm: Psalm 66:1-12 or Psalm 111
Old Testament: Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
or
2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
Gospel: Luke 17:11-19
Epistle: 2
Timothy 2:8-15
I know we have been focusing on the Gospel readings the last few weeks, but I think we have had some compelling accounts from Jesus' life so I want to draw our attention to again. The Gospels are full of strange, compelling, and challenging stories. This week we have a story we have probably all heard before, but is interesting nonetheless. Each of Jesus' healing miracles are distinct, but this one in particular was probably a one-off situation. The most likely place for this story in the narrative of Luke is after chapter 9 where Jesus is rejected by a Samaritan village and changes his travel plans to skirt the area of Samara and is thus now traveling along its border with Galilee. Remember, in Luke, Jesus is on this journey to Jerusalem (the crucifixion in particular) and this account today is one of the last moments before he heads up to Jericho and then finally arrives at Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
In this episode, as Jesus enters into a village, most likely a Samaritan one, he is approached by 10 lepers. A few brief observations of the scene: first, notice the lepers stand far off and yell at Jesus. They were considered unclean by the Jews and had to keep the prescribed distance from everyone else, lest they spread their uncleanliness. Second, notice the fact that the lepers, at least one of whom was Samaritan, still followed the Mosaic Law. Finally, all the lepers recognize that Jesus is someone who could help them.
A word about the Samaritans, they were related to the Jews and as always is in these types of disputes, there were two competing views of their origins. The Samaritans themselves claimed they were descended from the northern tribes of Israel that survived the Assyrian conquest. They believed that they preserved the true faith of Israel handed down from Moses and the Patriarchs. Their scriptures only included a modified Pentateuch. And most importantly, and we see this in the gospels, they did not believe that Jerusalem was the central location of Yahweh worship. Rather, they believed that Mt. Gerizim, near shechem, was the place for God's temple. It is easy to see why the Jews and Samaritans did not get along. For starters, Jews believed Samaritans were a mixed race of the various people groups the Assyrians imported after the conquest. This was a fundamental problem for Jews who sought to maintain purity as the People of God. Additionally, the Jews believed that the Samaratians had incorporated other religious beliefs into their own and fundamentally altered what it meant to follow Yahweh.
Ok, with that in mind, we can see how profound and unusual it was for Jesus, a Jew, to be talking to Samaritans and what is more, lepers! These were definitely 2 groups to be avoided. But despite the perceived religious differences, Jesus still told them to go see a priest. He doesn't mention where or which group of priests. A normal Jew at the time would simply dismiss a Samaritan, but even if they were forced to interact with one they wouldn't put their two groups of priests on the same level.
This whole interaction reminds me of the scene in John 4 with the Samaritan women at the well. There Jesus and the women argue about which mountain, Gerizim or Jerusalem, was the Mountain of God. Jesus moved past the sectarian bickering to get at the need of the women, just like he does here with the lepers. And thus, all 10 lepers are healed, Jew and Samaritan. Although Jesus sent healed them, he still sent them to the priests, this was to follow the religious and social customs of being welcomed back into the life of the community. The trip to the priest was just to validate that the healing had occurred and thus heal them not only physically, but also relationally and emotionally as they would once again be able to join their friends and family in daily life.
One final point in the story. Luke uses an interesting word here to say that the lepers were healed when they were on their way to the priest. He says they were cleansed (katharizo) rather than healed (therapeo), his usual word. One of the definitions of this word could be "to pronounce clean in a Levitical Sense." (greekbible.com) his is significant not only because a Samaritan is involved, but also because of the nature of leprosy and the fact that this is one of the few times Jesus actually told people to go to a priest. Generally he had harsh things to say about the religious authorities.
The overarching theme in this story, like others in Luke, is that the foreigner or outsider became the unlikely hero who recognized who Jesus was. It began at his birth, with the shepherds attending to honor the occurrence. There is of course the story of the Prodigal Son, found only in Luke, the parable of the Good Samaritan, Zaccheus the tax collector, and other countless and nameless sick, leprous, poor, and the demon possessed who Jesus validated and heald.
The message Luke is making is that Jesus' Gospel, or good news, is for everyone. Even the most unlikely individual can be welcomed! And this is definitely a message our modern ears need to hear, especially in this current political climate. So this week, may we be attentive to the Samaritans in our own lives who are ostracized or belittled. And may we be willing to extend the love of the Father as Jesus did by the power of the Spirit.
Grace and peace.
