Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and ten lepers cry out to him for mercy. When Jesus sees them he instructs that they go show themselves to the priests. As they go, they are made clean. One man, a Samaritan, realizing he is healed on the way, turns back to Jesus and falls at his feet praising God and giving thanks. Jesus says to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”*
To be a leper in Jesus’ day was to be severely ostracized and literally separated from one’s family. The pain was emotional as well as physical. A leper was considered by the community to be spiritually impure, and with no known cure, the situation was hopeless.
The lepers in our gospel story, desperate, cry out to Jesus. I imagine we have all been there… At the end of our rope, at the end of a very long day, accompanying a loved one in pain, hammered by bad news, hurting from a broken body or a broken heart, feeling loss or shame or alone, up against seemingly insurmountable problems or conflict, trying to make a way out of no way. The lepers’ prayer has been on our own lips, Have mercy. Just saying it I feel some consolation, Mercy. Perhaps seeing our need for God touches God’s ever-present desire in us for healing and wholeness. No matter the circumstance, we are never cut off from that transformative love.
A humble stance, a cry for mercy, trusting in God’s Spirit, all ten lepers are given hope by Jesus. But there is more to the story and what Jesus wants to convey. He had instructed the lepers to show themselves to the priests since they alone had the authority to declare whether someone was clean or not. The one leper is a Samaritan; he would not even be allowed to present himself to the priests and thus is forever doomed to suffer as an outcast. Jesus disrupts this notion and indicates that God’s grace is all-inclusive and available at any time.
Perhaps the Samaritan’s particular suffering becomes a doorway to see God’s very presence before him. Realizing this immense gift, the man is filled with indescribable joy and gratitude. He goes on his way, empowered in ways he could never imagine. Perhaps we too can be made well.
For reflection:
- God is in our midst. Do you see?
- How is your faith inviting you to be well?
- Where might you extend God’s mercy this week?
–Trish Stefanik, Overlook Retreat House at Dayspring
