Ten Lepers
"Ten lepers (with warning clappers) approach Christ the healer," an etching from the iconographic collection of the Wellcome Images, a website operated by the Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom. (Wikimedia Commons, CC 4.0 International License).
Oct. 13, 2019 Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7, 2 Kings 5:1-3,7-15, Ps. 66:1-12, Luke 17:11-19
Luke tells us of ten lepers healed by Jesus. Only one, a Samaritan, is thankful and returns to Jesus to let him know it. Have you noticed in a world that didn’t like Samaritans, implication being that they are bad folks often rejected, Jesus is always finding some “good ones?” What is going on here? Well, first things first. It was Jewish law that one who is healed of leprosy should show himself to the priest for verification. Our Samaritan in this story probably didn’t know or follow that law. Or in his excitement, he simply wished to express his joyful thanks to the healer Jesus. After all, renewed health just feels good and is cause for rejoicing.
The Judeans and the Samaritans didn’t get along. For one thing, the Samaritans changed the Ten Commandments a bit by asking their followers to build an altar on Mount Gerizim, where they believed Noah beached the ark and Abraham nearly sacrificed his son.
At one time, the Samaritans who traced their descendants from ancient Samaria had more than a million followers. The Romans and the plague mostly destroyed them. It is estimated that only 700 Samaritans exist today, living together on the West Bank, and neither the Israelis nor Palestinians care for them.
But Jesus cares! His mission will cut through all bias and stigmas. In another place, the word “Good” is applied to another Samaritan who stops to render aid to a man who was beaten, robbed, and left to die on the side of the road.
Saints are found in strange places. As I wrote this MEMO for Sunday, Oct. 13, I discovered that this date marked the arrest of Angela Davis, who was tried in 1970 and jailed for her convictions.* As a young black woman, her persecution unleashed a movement across the country that added to the freedom story for Black Americans. She later was freed and these days enjoys retirement from the University of California. The Song Angela by John Lennon and Yoko Ono speaks to her struggles and witness.
It would seem that Luke’s Gospel redeems the name Samaritan. And the Redeemer, Jesus, would have us take a second look at all whom the world condemns, casts out, and rebukes. Anyone wish to play the role of Samaritan these days? The opportunities are plentiful!
Dear God, teach us to redeem and restore the rightful image of those who have been judged, jailed and made to suffer in your name. We pray in the name of Jesus who was rebuked, suffered, and died on our behalf. We give Him the glory. Amen.
* See W. Paul Johnson, An Eclectic Almanac for The Faithful , Upper Room, Nashville, p. 351.
The Rev. Bill Cotton of Des Moines is a retired clergy member of the Iowa Annual Conference. Together with friends and colleagues he produces MEMO for Those Who Preach, a weekly resource delivered by email.