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 there not 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 taught 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, say, '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.  It's important to note that Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem, toward the Cross, and His "exodus" from this world.  He passes through Galilee (a place of mixed populations) and Samaria, so the presence of strangers or outsiders figures strongly here, and particularly in connection to principles of faith rather than ethnicity.  My study Bible explains that leprosy was one of the most dreaded diseases of the time.  In addition to tremendous physical suffering, leprosy meant total banishment and isolation from society.  It is also a symbol of our sin.

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.   Now the priests, in Jewish practice, were the ones in charge of the oversight and treatment of lepers and leprous houses; one needed a certificate from a priest to be allowed back into community.   My study Bible cites St. Cyril of Alexandria, who comments that Jesus wants to show the priests by a tangible miracle that He is superior to Moses.  The priests hold Moses to be greater than Christ, but Christ heals a leper immediately and with His own divine authority.  When Miriam was struck with leprosy, Moses had to seek mercy from above, and yet 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 there not 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 comments that Christ came to heal all of fallen humanity, yet only a small portion receive Him in faith and thanksgiving to give glory to God.  Therefore, "many are called, but few chosen" (Matthew 20:16).  My study Bible adds that, for Orthodox Christians, the lesson is that worship is the number one priority.  

It's an interesting commentary that my study Bible suggests that the lesson from today's reading is that worship is the number one priority.  At first glance, one might consider that the message here is all about gratitude and its cultivation.  But when one stops to think about it, one might wonder how gratitude is possible without the foundation of worship, laying down the Source of all things for which we're grateful.  Additionally, we could consider -- in the context of a lesson about gratitude -- that the nine didn't return to thank Jesus for their healing.  But it's possible that they might have done so without the proper idea of who Jesus is.  Jesus does not ask about the nine in the context of their lack of gratitude to Him personally, but for their failure to give glory to God for their healing.  Actually, the word here is cleansing, not healing.  In the tradition of the Bible, leprosy was seen as a sign of sin, and so "cleansing" here is more than healing a physical disease.  It is eliminating a contagion that debilitated not just the body, but rendered one separate from community, and that community is defined especially in the context of worship.  Therefore, once again, there is a tie to the failure to give glory to God.  These ten would have been excluded from community, a community defined by worship.  Once they are cleansed, and thus able to return to community, part of their joy must be a return to worship in community.  But the nine have failed to take joy in this, as God is not part of their focus here.  So this cleansing is quite similar to an understanding about our own possibilities for repentance, and thus "cleansing" from things which ail us in many ways, and keep us far from God.  Repentance is a kind of medicine for healing our minds, giving us a way to see life more clearly, and outside of the places in which we're stuck or in exile from community.  A habitual problem such as an addiction, or a kind of narcissism or selfishness that feeds the ego in some way, or possibly taking a secret joy in cruelty such as gossip, are all examples of sin which mires us in a place of isolation and exclusion and the breaking of community.  Ultimately repentance must be seen in its true meaning, as a change of mind, and one that comes with consequences to our lives.  In the light of today's reading, repentance must mean the restoration to community, in right relation to both God and neighbor.  This , of course, has worship as a foundation.  For without this focus on God as the center of our lives, how does the rest fall into place?  Let us consider these words and teachings today, and how important they are for our lives.  That "higher power" that helps one conquer addiction, that would destroy the pretext of narcissism and self-centeredness as our be-all and end-all, that denies the cruel gossip a secret joy at the diminishing and breaking of community, all of these things falter and fail upon the wheel of worship, the rock that either breaks or crushes.  That is, the one thing upon which we stumble and might return to true self, or which eventually may crush us together with the false notions of self we nurse or cling to (Luke 20:18).  It is worship that provide the foundation for our understanding of what ails us, as well as the cure, the place where we find ourselves.  For without gratitude to God, we are missing the point, and we haven't really returned "home."  In this understanding, we must also take note that it is just the foreigner who returns glory to God, making it even more clear what true community rests upon.  This is assuredly so, as Jesus tells him, "Your faith has made you well."