11 And it came to pass, as he was on his way to Jerusalem, that Jesus was passing through the region bordering on Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was about to enter a village, ten lepers came to meet him. They stood at a distance 13 and cried out, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ 14 When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they were going, they were cleansed. 15 But one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. This man was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus said, ‘Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?’ 19 And he said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has saved you.’
There are many accounts in the New Testament that describe healings: people have illnesses and are healed by Jesus. There are accounts of sick men, women and children, rich and poor. Sometimes these are mental illnesses (Luke 4:33; Luke 8:27ff.), sometimes skin diseases (e.g. Luke 5:12, the Greek word is λέπρα, meaning ‘leprosy’, which gave its name to this highly contagious skin disease), and sometimes serious ailments leading to death (John 11:1ff.). In such cases, no healing (whether from a distance or up close) can help anymore, but only the miracle of resurrection.
People often come to Jesus to ask for help for their loved ones (Matt 15:30). Sometimes, however, the sick come themselves (Mk 5:25ff.) – as in this account of the one who was healed and returned. Strictly speaking, it is a story of ten who were healed, but the perspective that is important to the evangelist Luke here is that of the one man among the ten who were healed. The scene is strongly influenced by the ancient purity laws to which those suffering from leprosy (‘lepers’) were subject. These were often skin diseases that isolated them from social life. That is why the men call out from a distance and do not approach closer, in order to protect Jesus. Such were the social rules.
One thing is clear, however: Jesus is known for performing miracles, even for these men, who come from the border region between Galilee and Samaria. Samaritans appear in several other passages in New Testament literature: sometimes as friends, sometimes as enemies, but always as ‘others’ or strangers. The relationship between the two groups is still shaped today by theological differences: Jews and Samaritans (of whom there are still a few) believe in the one God, but have developed different rituals and spiritual sites; this has not been without tension. The evangelist Luke, whose Gospel is characterised by a ‘theology of the way’, focuses on the portrayal of a particular man within this group, namely the one who repents. It is this one man who is not only healed and made clean (which encompasses a social and religious dimension), but who turns to Jesus in a special way and thanks him. This turning, described as ‘repentance’, is the decisive point for what Jesus himself says at the end of the narrative: ‘Get up and go! Your faith has saved you!’ (Luke 17:19) Healing and salvation are different things. Through healing from a distance, the men have their lives back, their social lives. Such illnesses, of which this narrative speaks, often led to social isolation. Healing through Jesus brings them back to life. Jesus turned towards them and healed them – at their call.
One man, however, recognised Jesus’ special power and thanked him for it in a special way. He understood Jesus’ call as an invitation, even though Jesus had called out that the priests should be consulted for an assessment. The religious elite thus determined the return to social life. But this one man was clearly moved by a deep sense of gratitude and reverence for Jesus as a person. He prostrates himself before Jesus – an expression of honour, as one would show a king. His gratitude is immense for this life regained. But this act of devotion is precisely the form of repentance that ultimately brings salvation. For salvation is more than healing: it is salvation from death, the hope of eternal life, of life in communion with God at the end of days.
It is a recurring theme in the Gospel of Luke to focus on the salvation of the lost or of individual things (cf. Lk 15). It is the perspective on the small, the inconspicuous, the good and the awe-inspiring, the lost or the foreign. Jesus turns towards all of this. It encompasses God’s comprehensive work of salvation.
Dr Aleksandra Brand