Luke 17:11-19.

Jesus sent off ten lepers to be declared clean by the priest. But one of them did not follow his instructions. Once that leper realized he was healed, he did not do what he had been told. Instead, he turned back and knelt at the feet of the one who healed him. He wanted to be thankful for his healing, even when he was not following Jesus’ instructions.

It’s logical to condemn the other nine for not returning to give thanks. Jesus seems to do that. “Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

The implication, of course, is that the others were not thankful, did not praise God by returning to thank Jesus.

***

Samuel sat near the front of the cave. Micah sat just outside, letting the sun warm his body.

“Micah, do you ever wonder how you became a leper?”

Micah looked up at the sky, shading his eyes with his hands. “When I asked the priest, he told me I was being punished by God for having done something sinful. He suggested I had not offered my best lamb for a sacrifice.”

He looked over at Samuel. “But I did. The lamb had no blemish. He was from my best ewe and my best ram. My wife and I took very good care of him.”

Samuel pointed a fingerless hand at his toeless foot. “The priest told me I must have walked too many steps on the Sabbath. But I know I didn’t. I counted them carefully. I even made my strides longer so I would be within the law.”

Micah looked back up at the sky. “Whatever, we did something that angered God. Our punishment was to be cut off from our families, our synagogues, our communities.”

They both looked back into the cave where other lepers sat or slept, their bodies slowly being destroyed. They were all now worse than beggars. They couldn’t even sit with other beggars.They had to shout “Unclean” if they moved too close to anyone. They had no future. They had no hope of any normal life, only the gradual disintegration of their bodies.

Samuel sighed. The worst part of his life now was not being able to worship God.

The two men heard the sound of uneven footsteps, uneven because Jacob limped.

“Where’s Jacob been?” Samuel asked.

“In town, I think,” answered Micah.

As the young man approached, Samuel stood. “What did you find?”

Jacob raised his empty hands, but his eyes shone with hope. He stepped into the cave and spoke to then all. “The man called Jesus of Nazareth is coming. He’s a healer! He has given sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. Even young Eli, who has not walked since his accident, now moves about on his own two feet.”

Samuel, like the others, scoffed. “So what does that have to do with us? You think he can heal lepers?”

“Is that any different than restoring sight or hearing? Or strong legs?”

Samuel shook his head. “You saw this? Or is this just idle talk?”

“I didn’t see him doing any of those things, but I saw Eli. We know him. He begged outside the Temple. Someone had to carry him out in the morning and back home in the evening. And I talked to him, from a distance, of course. He was walking like anyone else.”

Micah asked, “And what did he tell you?”

Jacob managed a toothless smile. “He said that this Jesus told him to get up, to stand up. The man was in someone’s house, teaching. The house was full of people, but Eli’s friends carried him up onto the roof, broke open a hole, and lowered him down. Jesus smiled at him and told him his sins were forgiven.”

Nine gasps followed that statement.

“His sins were forgiven?”

“Who could do that?”

“How would the man know what his sins were?”

Jacob shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s what he told me.”

“And then?” asked Samuel, now interested.

“And then Jesus told him to pick up his mat, the one he was lying on, and go home. And Eli did.”

“Just like that?”

The voices echoed within the cave.

“Noooo.”

“That couldn’t happen.”

“But it did.” Jacob’s voice was firm. “And now he walks like everyone else.”

“So where is this Jesus?” Samuel wanted to know.

“He was headed for the village.”

Without a word, each of the ten managed to stand and walk out of the cave. Two of them could barely walk, but others helped them. Samuel, missing his toes on one foot, hobbled after them.

They arrived at the village at the same time as a small group of men. Jacob pointed to the leader. They kept their distance, but instead of shouting, “Unclean,” they called out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

Surely he would recognize their condition.

The man in the lead turned and looked at them. He studied them a minute, smiled, and raised his hand in a gesture to send them away. “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” He waited until Jacob moved away, and then he walked on into the village.

“That’s it?” Samuel turned to Micah. “That’s it? He didn’t do anything.”

But Jacob was already headed to where the priest lived. “He said to go to the priests. That’s what I’m doing.”

One by one, two by two, the others followed Jacob. Samuel stood, shaking his head, but finally he limped in the same direction.

After a minute or so, his toes tingled. He looked down. Toes! He had toes! He walked faster. Maybe he could catch up with the others. No, they were moving faster too. He broke into a run and caught up.

He reached out a hand to touch Micah on the shoulder. A hand! It had five long fingers, just like it used to.

Micah turned and smiled at him. “I’m whole again. Healthy. All of me.”

They looked at the others ahead of them. Jacob shouted back to them. “We all are! We’re clean!”

When they reached the priest’s house, he stared at their clothing, then at their faces. “I know you. You’re lepers. Don’t come any closer.”

“But we’re not lepers any more,” shouted Jacob. “We’re healed! Look at us!”

The priest wrinkled his nose, but he examined each one them. No signs of leprosy. All had clean, clear, healthy skin.

“I declare you all to be clean, all nine of you. Now go home.”

Samuel stepped back in surprise. “Nine? There are ten of us.” He counted. No, eight plus himself.

“Where’s the Samaritan,” asked Micah.

They looked at each other in confusion. “He’s not here.”

“Where did he go?”

They didn’t know.

“A Samaritan?” asked the priest.

“Yes, he was one of us.”

“Well, I’d have declared him clean too, if he had come with you.”

The priest had barely finished his sentence when the others surrounded him, thanking him and praising God.

He raised his hand and moved it toward them, shoving them away. “Now go home, however many of you there are.” He ducked back into his house.

The former lepers walked away, shouting praises to God. Their walk turned into a jog, and then they were running, still sending their thanksgivings heavenward. Soon they separated, each to his own home.

Samuel started to the house he had lived in, but then stopped. His wife and their two sons wouldn’t be there. They would have gone back to her family. He turned to the home of his father-in-law. He no longer shouted, but his lips continued to form the words of praise and thanksgiving to God.

He knocked at the gate. His older son came out. How much he has grown!

“What do you want?” Aden asked, not recognizing his father.

“It’s me, Samuel, your father.”

The boy’s eyes widened. “Father? But you can’t …”

“Yes, I can. I’m clean. I’m whole. I can come home.”

Aden shouted back into the house, “Mother! It’s Father! He’s home!”

Elizabeth raced out of the house, with her parents right behind her. Her father stepped between Samuel and Elizabeth. “Wait,” he said, and he carefully looked Samuel up and down. After what seemed a long time to Samuel, he spoke. “The clothes are filthy, but the man inside is clean.”

The next day, wearing their very best clothing, they headed to Jerusalem to offer the sacrifice of thanks for healing. As they reached the edge of the village, they discovered they were not alone. Eight other families had made the same decision. They all wanted to thank God for their healings.

For consideration:

1. How does this story follow its Scripture?
2. How does this story expand its Scripture for you?
3. What is the message of this story?
4. How does the message apply to us today?
5. When Jesus told the parable, why did he tell it so that only the Samaritan returned?
6. Why did Samuel not believe Jacob at first?
7. If Samuel had not followed the others to go to the priest, would he have been healed?
8. Which showed more thankfulness, returning to Jesus to thank him or going to Jerusalem to make a thank offering to God?

I have taken some liberty with the priest in the village. Leviticus 14 details the process by which lepers would be declared clean. It is not as quick as in my story.