LUKE 17:11-19

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As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" And when he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?" Then he said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."


Exposition (Commentary)

This miraculous event, recorded only in the Gospel of St. Luke, carries profound theological weight. The lepers, forced by the Law of Moses to live as outcasts, represent the state of humanity afflicted by sin: unclean and separated from the community of God. Their cry, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" is the cry of all who recognize their need for divine mercy.


Our Lord's command, "Go show yourselves to the priests," is a test of their faith. The priests were the ones who, under the Law, had to certify a leper as "clean" after they were healed. Jesus commands them to go before they are healed, demanding an act of pure trust. It is while they are on their way, in this act of obedience, that their healing occurs.


The most profound lesson, however, is in the "foreigner," the Samaritan. Samaritans were despised by the Jews, yet he is the only one who, upon seeing his healing, immediately returns. He does not just feel gratitude; he acts on it. He returns "glorifying God," falls at the feet of Christ in an act of worship, and "thanked him."


Jesus' sorrowful question, "Where are the other nine?" highlights the sin of ingratitude. All ten received the physical miracle, but only the one who returned to give thanks to Jesus—the very source of the healing—received the greater blessing: "Your faith has saved you." This man's faith not only healed his body but, by recognizing God in Christ, also saved his soul.


Church Father Exegesis (Patristic Commentary)

The Church Fathers saw a deep typology in this event. Blessed Theophylact of Ohrid, summarizing the wisdom of the earlier Fathers, explains the spiritual meaning of the lepers' state:


"The ten lepers represent all of human nature, and that nature was leprous with wickedness, carrying with it the ugliness of sin, passing its life outside the heavenly city on account of its uncleanness, and standing afar off from God."


Regarding their plea for mercy, Theophylact further explains the nature of their faith, which bridged the chasm of their uncleanness:


"They stood afar off, as if ashamed of their supposed uncleanness, and did not dare to draw near, thinking that Jesus abhorred them as did the others. By physical location they were standing afar off, but in their supplication they were near. For 'The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon Him in truth' (Psalm 145:18)."

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