Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?

 

 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.  Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.  And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"  So when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests."  And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks.  And he was a Samaritan.  So Jesus answered and said, "Were not there ten cleansed?  But where are the nine?  Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?"  And He said to him, "Arise, go your way.  Your faith has made you well."

 

- Luke 17:11–19 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus said to the disciples, "It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!  It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.  Take heed to yourselves.  If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.  And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."  And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."  So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.  And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'?  But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'?  Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him?  I think not.  So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, saying, 'We are unprofitable servants.  We have done what was our duty to do.'"

 

Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.  Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.  And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"  So when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests."  And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.   The specter of leprosy looms large over the Scriptures.  It was one of the most dread diseases in Christ's time and earlier.  My study bible says that it brought great physical suffering, as well as total banishment and isolation from society.  In the Scriptures, it became a symbol of our sin.  Here, we note that Jesus gives the command to "show yourselves to the priests" as required by the Mosaic Law.  It was the priests who regulated the way the community dealt with lepers and leprous houses; they would have to have a certificate of cleanliness from the disease.  My study bible says that, according to St. Cyril of Alexandria, Christ gives the command in order to convince the priests by a tangible miracle that He is superior to Moses.  The priests hold Moses to be greater than Christ, but Christ heals the lepers immediately and with His own divine authority.  When Miriam, sister of Moses, was struck with leprosy, Moses had to seek mercy from above, and still she was only healed after seven days (Numbers 12:10-15).  

 

 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks.  And he was a Samaritan.  So Jesus answered and said, "Were not there ten cleansed?  But where are the nine?  Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?"  And He said to him, "Arise, go your way.  Your faith has made you well."  Jesus asks, "But where are the nine?"   My study bible notes that Christ came to heal all of fallen humanity, but only a small portion receive Him in faith and thanksgiving to give glory to God.  Therefore Christ's saying, "many are called, but few chosen" (Matthew 20:16).  My study bible says that the lesson for Christians is that worship is the number one priority.  

In yesterday's reading and commentary, we noted Jesus' words and teachings to the disciples, which addressed their future role as leaders and caretakers of Christ's Church.  Today's reading actually touches on similar themes, in the sense that we are taught about the importance of giving glory to God -- that is, the deep need that we have for thanksgiving, in order to realize where we are in the cosmos and our relationship to God.  We need to be cognizant of what we have, how we are blessed, the things that are good in our lives, and good about life itself.  Without this recognition, we easily slide into a state of self-centeredness, in which we fail to recognize the good, and focus solely on what we think we lack, and our unfulfilled demands.  These nine lepers seem to take for granted what has been done for them.  And therein is a good symbol for our lives in the world.  Possibly we take for granted the good things in life that our faith does for us, even for the world.  It seems to be somewhat rare that in the popular imagination the world is anything except meant to be solely for the good, in the sense of dreams fulfilled and expectations met.  This might be a mindset provided by our present-day capacity to create so much material good, and for modern societies to generate wealth; perhaps it is the natural outcome of life so permeated with social media reflecting back to us the lives of Hollywood or other elites and their materially magnificent lives.  When we read of those who crash and burn, such as "stars" who succumb to addiction or alcoholism, or success stories of going to rehab and turning life around, we seem to rarely think about the spiritual side of these stories.   Although popular crime stories -- both true and fiction -- seem to be more in demand than ever as entertainment, it seems to be rare that we even question the influence of evil in our world.  Do we wonder about the pervasiveness of lies and half-truths in media in order to persuade us to support one political party or position over another?  Does it bother us that in modern democracies a free flow of information seems to be a threat to some very influential people?  When we fail to recognize that evil -- in spiritual terms -- is part of the influence in our world, then we also fail to give gratitude for and recognize the importance and power of the holy in our lives.  The power that is on display through Jesus in the Gospels isn't merely metaphorical or symbolic.  He's not just a "good person" who teaches us to have good morals and do good things.  The spiritual reality of God who comes into our world to heal it is meant to be understood as powerful and palpable, accessible through worship and prayer, and an absolute necessity in our lives in order to truly be blessed (as in the Beatitudes, not "Keeping Up With the Kardashians").   See Matthew 5:1-10, and also the "woes" listed in Luke in reference to the "rich and famous" of His time (Luke 6:20-26).  These lists of blessings (and also woes) are spiritual in nature, things which go completely unrecognized in media that focuses solely on the material perspective of life, and is so often wielded by those working for a great deal of money offered by institutions pushing agendas for a client.  The same warnings go for "news" of the world that purports to be unclouded by prejudice or personal interests of the powerful, be they individuals, parties, corporations, or governments.  Our failure to give thanks to God is a failure to see the world as it truly is.  It becomes a blindness to the real dangers of the influence of "the evil one," to whom Jesus refers as the father of lies in John 8:44.  Our orientation to the work of God in our world, and our deep spiritual need for Christ's healing, becomes an essential touchstone for understanding ourselves and our own condition, our where-with-all in a world that is full of confusing, disorienting, and deliberately misleading manipulation for all kinds of purposes and goals.  These are too numerous for us to count.  But let us rest on Christ's word regarding what is of importance and what God wants from us.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught the disciples about being good servants, who carry a responsibility into the world.  Our prayer, praise, and righteous conduct keeps us in a particular place as we recognize the important role of faith and God's active presence in our lives and in our world.  Let us not be like the nine lepers who neglect to place their attention where it is due, and fail to give thanks in what looks suspiciously like "entitlement" to modern eyes!  Let us recognize and remember who we are and where we are, in a world that isn't perfect, and in which we need roots in our faith for truly blessed lives.