11 Now on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was entering a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance, 13 raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went along, they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He fell with his face to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (Now he was a Samaritan.) 17 Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to the man, “Get up and go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Sarah Cameron

There are two things that stood out to me in our passage today. In this little snapshot we see who mattered to Jesus, and the right way to respond to him.

We saw back in chapter 9:51 that Jesus has now set his face for Jerusalem. He is on the way to die for his people. Along the way, he has been meeting many different people. The men he meets in this passage would have been the lowest of the low in social terms as we are told they had leprosy. That would have forced them to be completely isolated from other people. They had to stay away from the city, and were not allowed to participate in religious or social gatherings. We see this ostracization in how they stay at a distance from Jesus in verse 12. But they believe Jesus can help them as they call out to him for mercy. And he heals them! Imagine how life-changing that would have been. We see that Jesus cares for the marginalized and the outcast – his good news is for them.

The second thing that stood out to me from this passage was that we see the right way to respond to Jesus. The men who have been healed go off to see the priests, but then only one comes back to thank Jesus. He praises God for his healing. What’s even more surprising is that he’s a Samaritan – normally the Samaritans were enemies of the Judeans! Yet he has recognised who Jesus truly is. What happened to the others? Maybe they were so distracted by their new healthy bodies that they forgot the one who healed them. Jesus says to the one man who returns that his faith has made him well.

We’re given an encouragement here, from the Samaritan man, that the right way to respond to Jesus is with faith and thankfulness. How much more can we respond that way too now we know that Jesus died on the cross and rose again to give us eternal life! Let’s stop now and pray, giving thanks to God for all of his good gifts, most of all for new life in Jesus.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah is a member of our Fairfield Morning congregation.