Are You The One?

            Who were these men… these lepers who approached Jesus as he was walking along the road?  And why… of all the stories of healing that Luke could have preserved in his gospel… why did Luke select this story to preserve for us… and for future generations of Christians?  And, finally, what relevance does this story have for us today… two thousand years after the fact?  These are the three questions that I will address as we look at this text today.  And, I should warn you, we will only scratch the surface of the meaning to be found in these nine verses… unless, of course, you want to spend the rest of the day with me unpacking the possibilities.

            Who were these men?  The text does not really say much about them, but there is a lot we know from the little that is said.  They were all lepers.  We actually know very little about the disease that was called leprosy in biblical times.  What is certain from the descriptions that we have from scripture is that this was not the disease that we call leprosy or Hanson’s disease today.  Leprosy was the legal definition for a host of skin diseases that, from their description were more likely psoriasis or seborrhoeic dermatitis, patchy eczema or pityriasis rosea… diseases characterized by flaky patches of skin, usually white in color, and white or red-white spots or lesions.

Once diagnosed with one of these skin diseases, the individual was considered “unclean” for it was believed that all such diseases had their roots in sin.  As “unclean” persons, they could not associate with, or even touch, those who were clean, for doing so would render that other person unclean for a time.  So, these individuals were isolated from society, forced to live apart from their families, unable to work, and, unless their families were wealthy, unable to secure, for themselves, the basic necessities of life.  They were shunned by all of society until they could prove that they had been cured… although there was no known cure for these diseases at that time.

            Jesus came in contact with this group of lepers while he was walking through the region between Samaria and Galilee… the borderlands between two peoples who saw the world differently and, despite their common ancestry, had no use for each other.  It may have been a troubled area, for I would guess that, from time to time, this area saw some of what we today would call “hate crimes” … “hate crimes of Samaritans against Jews… or Jews against Samaritans.  And yet, at least one of these men was a Samaritan.  And we can infer from Jesus’ comment later on that several of the others, if not all of them, were Jews.

            When I read this story of the lepers in Luke, I wondered why Jewish lepers would even associate with Samaritan lepers.  After all, the Jews hated the Samaritans… and vice versa.  You see, during the time of the divided monarchy following the death of King Solomon, the Samaritans were those who lived in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, whose capitol city was Samaria.  The Jews, on the other hand, were those who lived in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, whose capitol city was Jerusalem.  There had been a rivalry between the two kingdoms for hundreds of years.  That rivalry increased when the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 BCE and did not improve even when the Kingdom of Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE.  While the people from both kingdoms worshipped the same God, over time, they developed different religious traditions and even different scripture.  They were also racially different… for the Samaritans had intermarried with the Canaanites, who originally occupied that territory, while the Jews had passed laws to retain their racial purity following the return of the Jews from exile and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Yet these lepers were a diverse group made up of both Samaritans and Jews.  I puzzled over that until I realized that they had larger issues to deal with than race or nationality …issues like day-to-day survival… and I finally understood why they would associate with each other.  Compared to the isolation, rejection, poverty, and struggle to survive that came with the diagnosis of the disease called leprosy, the enmity of another race was “small potatoes”… not important.  In fact, the stigma of leprosy was an amazing equalizer, for all who had the disease were ostracized from society. In fact, among this group of lepers, there may have been men who had once been rich and powerful, as well as those who had been poor all their lives.  They all lost the social connections they may have once had.  They all lost the ability to work and earn a living, for no one would hire them… and no one would purchase anything that they had produced, whether it was food or durable goods, for anything they touched was considered “unclean.”  So, in this group of lepers we might have found business and civic leaders, as well as janitors and slaves; not to mention the privileged and the marginal, as well as Samaritans and Jews.  And, equally shunned by all, it soon became apparent that they should work together for the common good of the group.

            So, this diverse group of lepers calls out to Jesus.  Of course, they know who he is… and they know that he has healed many people… some of whom were lepers.  But, by law, they cannot approach him and they must warn him against approaching them… for they are “unclean.”  As it turns out, Jesus doesn’t approach them at all.  He simply says to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”  So, they left.

Why?  Was their faith in Jesus and his abilities that great?  Why did they leave?  They weren’t healed yet.  Why would they go? Well, maybe they did have faith in Jesus.  But then the question comes back:  Why not go?  What did they have to lose… a little time?  After all, they did not have a job… a home… a family.  They had already lost everything else.  Go find a priest?  Sure, why not?  It was certainly more interesting that watching grass grow.  So, they went. 

            Now, here’s the problem with going to find a priest.  In first century Palestine, priests only existed in holy places.  There weren’t priests in every town.  Y’all don’t know how lucky you are to have Pastor Babb right here in Stephenville.  These lepers had to travel quite a distance to find a priest.

Part of the schism between the Samaritans and the Jews was the argument over which holy site was the holiest.  The Samaritans claimed Shechem on Mount Gerizim, which had been a holy site from the days when God first told Abraham that he would be given the land he could see from that site and Abraham built an altar there.  Obviously, Shechem’s identification as a holy site predated King David’s appointment of Jerusalem as the Holy City by many, many, many years.   But Shechem, about 40 miles north of Jerusalem, had been demolished by the Jews in 107 BCE... adding to the enmity between the Samaritans and the Jews.  So, the Samaritans had to return to Samaria in order to find a priest to declare them clean, and the Jews had to go to Jerusalem.  Either way, it was a long journey.  Our text doesn’t tell us how far they traveled before they discovered that they had been healed.  It simply says, “and as they went, they were made clean.”  The distance is unimportant, perhaps, but it might explain why nine of the lepers did not return to give thanks to God at Jesus’ feet.  Only one did.  “One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.  He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.”  Only one.  And he was a Samaritan… a foreigner… an outsider.

            At this point in the story, you can almost hear Jesus’ frustration in the words that he speaks.  Jesus, according to Luke, responded to this man’s thanks by questioning the man.  But he didn’t say some of the things that I would have said if I had been the one who had performed this miraculous healing.  My words would probably have been a little stronger… and the questions a little more pointed.  I would have said… in a tone of voice slightly louder than I would use in normal conversation… “Weren’t there ten of you?  Weren’t there ten who were healed?  So, where are the rest of them… the other nine?  Didn’t any of them come back… any at all?  None of the Jews?  Didn’t any of them give thanks to God for this miracle?  Isn’t there anyone else… anyone but… you… this guy…this foreigner?”  I can almost picture Jesus shaking his head… or, perhaps, sitting down on a nearby boulder and just putting his head in his hands… or, perhaps, turning away, sighing deeply, and looking off in the distance… as he counts slowly to ten.  One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand…  O Father, will they ever learn?  What’s the point?  What’s the point of trying to teach them?  They just… don’t… get it!

            What you should know is that the story that immediately precedes this healing story in the gospel of Luke is the story of Jesus teaching his disciples that they must work with no expectation of any reward for the work that they do.  They are to work as though they are slaves… slaves in the kingdom of God… slaves who receive no recognition or compensation for their labor.  That is why, I believe Luke selected this story of healing to put in his gospel and why Luke put this story in this particular place in his gospel.  Jesus has just worked a miracle of healing for ten poor, rejected, isolated, and destitute men… restoring them to wholeness… and giving them an opportunity to regain their former lives.  And yet, ninety percent (90%) of them went on their way without any thought of offering thanks to him…to God… for this miracle.  What better illustration of the teaching that Jesus had just done?  Jesus did God’s work… ministered to these men who cried out to him for mercy… and only one remembered to offer thanks and praise to God.  And so it will be for us, as we minister to the people of God.  Did that stop Jesus from healing more people?  No.  Neither should it stop us from continuing God’s work.

            But there is more.  Jesus turns to the who has fallen at his feet and he says to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”  Wait a minute!  Does that mean that the other nine weren’t healed?  No.  Our text today says very clearly that they were all made clean… they were all healed of their leprosy.  So, what did Jesus mean when he said, “Your faith has made you well?”

            This man… this one… and only this one… understood that Jesus was not just another healer.  You see, in first century Palestine, there were many people who did healing… many so-called “miracle workers.”  This man… this one… understood that it was God who healed him… that the miracle of his cleanliness was due to God’s actions in Jesus Christ.  Praise and glory was due to God for this miracle.  And, because he understood that, he was made well… he found true healing… healing of both his body and his soul.  He, alone, of the ten, would receive salvation… for it was his faith that made him well… that restored him to wholeness.

            So, what is the relevance of this story for us today?  Well, I believe that it is simply this:  Are you the one?  Are you the one?  Are you the one who recognizes that the gifts you have received come from God?  And are you the one who then stops… turns back… falls at the feet of Jesus… and gives thanks to God?  Are you the one?  Or are you one of the nine?  Are you one of the nine… a person who encounters God on the highway of life and does not even realize that you have encountered God?  Are you one of the nine… a person who has been blessed by God and does not even realize that your blessings flow from God?  Or are you the one?  One who knows that today you stand in the very presence of God… that all you have was given to you by God… and that God alone deserves your thanks and your praise?  Are you the one?  If so, then let us stand and praise our God!  Amen.