The Thankful Samaritan

The Thankful Samaritan  [Luke  17:11-19]

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."

Who was this Samaritan leper? How had he come to find himself living among a group of Jewish Lepers?

This Samaritan was a group of ten lepers who had formed a community of the broken and shunned.

And today when the lepers encounter Jesus and cry out: “Jesus! Master! Have pity on us.” Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priests. The Jewish priests could verify if they were worthy to reenter normal society.

And it was while they were on their way that they were healed. The Jewish members of the group continued on to the Temple to present themselves.

However, our Samaritan leper – now cleansed – does he continue on or do as Jesus said?

Did the Samaritan go to the Temple priests?

We do not know. Maybe he did.

Why is this an issue?

If this Samaritan presented himself to the Jewish priests in Jerusalem, did they welcome him as they did the Jewish lepers who had been cleansed?

Maybe not.

Why?

Perhaps the reason is simple. He was a Samaritan, considered to be foreigner by the Jewish religious leadership and the people, no longer a legitimate heir to the Covenant promises given to the People of Israel.

He would also not be welcome in the Temple, let alone welcome in the territory of Judea, owing to his mixed racial background and heterodox theological beliefs.

But Jesus welcomes him.

Jesus healed him.

The Samaritan returns to Jesus, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.

And Jesus welcomes him into his own community of faith.

Had he recognized in Jesus the true High Priest? Was the Samaritan the only one who had the insight to see in Jesus the fulfillment of the Temple and the Priesthood?

Maybe he did not go to the Temple.

He was a Samaritan. If he did not go to the Temple, then he disregarded Jesus’ words.

Or did he? Did he see in Jesus the new Temple?

Jesus asks: "Ten were cleansed, were they not?

Where are the other nine?”

“Where are the other nine?” Had Jesus expected all ten lepers once cleansed, to return to him?

He then asks: “Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”

Again Jesus praises the foreigner, the outcast, as an example of faith.

Jesus says: “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”

The Samaritan recognized the true source of all his blessings.

Where are the other nine?

May we have the eyes and faith of the Samaritan.