The Ten Lepers (Luke 17:11-19)

On His way to Jerusalem,
Jesus came by Samaria and Galilee.
He was about to enter a village,
When a group of lepers a distance away stopped Him with their cries.
Lepers are outcast and lepers are unclean.
No one cares to go near to a leper,
No one dares.
Hence the “untouchables” gather together for comfort.
They must have heard about Jesus’ miracles;
They must have recognized Jesus.
They immediately asked for mercy as they are so accustomed to.
Please show me some pity!

“Go, show yourselves to the priests”?
Oh, surely they knew what that is for!
For they have dreamed and they have hoped
for the day when the priest would declare,
“Go, you are healed -
Clean, and fit to re-enter society.”
But why do I go, if I am not first cleansed?

But the miracle came only in the doing.
“As they went, they were cleansed.”
If they had not believed and obeyed Jesus,
they would not be healed.
Faith without deeds is dead.
They had faith,
they obeyed the instruction of Jesus,
they went forth,
and they were healed!

Happily, excitedly, off they went to the priests’ village,
Eager to be the first to be declared clean.
Anticipating the moment when they can be reunited with their loved ones.
They are cleansed!
What to do first other then celebrating this joyous event?
However, one turned back.
Even before he went to the priests,
this Samaritan turned back,
Praising God with the same loud voice he used when he was pleading for mercy.
He fell at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him with gratitude.
He knew God has made Him clean,
and he knew he ought to give all thanks and glory to God,
for only God had made this possible,
he couldn’t have done this on his own.

All ten lepers received physical healing
But there’s only one who received a soul healing that goes deeper within - something whole.
His healing drew him closer to God.
His gratitude had brought him home.

 
Questions for reflection:
1. Faith is shown in the doing. How have we been acting on God’s words?
2. A life of thanksgiving is a life of prayer - prayer first before anything else. Do we remember to stop and give thanks (with the same loud voice we used to make our requests) to the Lord who has blessed us?