Why was the Samaritan the only leper to fall on his face before Jesus, giving him thanks? This story is similar to the parable of the good Samaritan. Jesus was teaching the same lesson in a different way.

The nation of Israel had come to think of themselves as the “chosen people” of God. Eventually, they began to live as people who were entitled to God’s blessings rather than living humbly grateful to God for those blessings. Their sense of entitlement ultimately led to their judgment and discipline as God allowed the Assyrians and Babylonians to take his “chosen people” into captivity.

The Samaritans were a group of people the Israelites spurned. They were people whose ancestors had been left behind while others were taken into captivity. It is hard to know all the reasons why they were left behind. Some were weaker physically, but it’s also likely that some had compromised their faith and possibly their allegiance to their Jewish faith in order not to be enslaved. Those left behind eventually married people who weren’t Jewish and produced children who were not purely Jewish. The Jewish leaders were careful never to associate with the people of Samaria or their land, and the Jewish people followed the example of their leaders.

Jesus did go to Samaria and teach them about God’s grace. Jesus carefully pointed out the kindness of the good Samaritan and the gratitude of the Samaritan leper. The Samaritans in both stories pleased God, while the others did not. Jesus was teaching that it wasn’t the entitled who were faithful; it was the people whose faith prompted their actions.

God will bless all that he can in our lives, but he will also judge and discipline those attitudes and actions that weaken our faith and witness. 

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. The gratitude of the Samaritan leper was obvious. The Samaritan wasn’t grateful because he felt entitled to his blessing; he was humbly and profoundly grateful for his healing because he knew he wasn’t owed anything from the Lord. The Samaritans remain our clear example today.