Three Points To Ponder

If you have Luke 17 handy, take a moment and read the story of the 10 lepers who approached Jesus and asked for help. Go ahead; I’ll wait.

Now, with that story in mind, here are some observations. We know from history that any person diagnosed with Leprosy was isolated from community. They were cast out of the village and left to roam on their own. To be sure that a “clean” citizen knew of a leper’s proximity, the afflicted person was forced to wear or carry a bell to signal their presence and to call out: Unclean! Unclean! as they moved around the outskirts of the village. So, in the story, the 10 lepers call out from a distance. They beg for healing and for mercy.

Here are three things to note about this story:
1. Jesus tells them “Go and show yourselves to the priest.” And as they went they were healed. Not before they went…as they went. They left Jesus still leprous and found their healing as they followed his instructions. Trust comes to mind. How often do I want to have the assurance in hand, the answer given before I take my first step. “We can’t go to the priest, Jesus. Look at us. We have leprosy. Heal us and then we will go.” A pastor friend used to call it “stepping out in faith.”

2. Ten went and one came back. All got the healing but only one was grateful enough to say Thank You. The others were probably celebrating, walking the streets for the first time, shaking hands with their neighbors. But one came back. Gratitude is an essential element in our faith. I wonder if this grateful man even got to the priest? “Then one of them, when he saw he had been healed, turned back.”

3. The one who came back was not a Jew. “He was a Samaritan.” He was a foreigner, a menace, a threat to Jewish welfare. Do you think Jesus is making a point by telling us that the man was a Samaritan? I do, too. That even our enemies need mercy and healing, not rejection and hate. In fact, why “enemy” anyway?

So, three points to ponder. Take a few minutes and let this wonderful story marinate in your mind. Ponder it. I’ll wait.