Healing

The Tenth Leper

by Terry Barlow
04/26/14
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Only in the gospel of Luke do we find the gripping, heart-rending account of the 10 lepers, 10 men with some form of serious skin disease, not necessarily the same exact disease , but one that would cause each of them to be banished from his home and community to live by himself outside or on the fringes of the camp. Rather than be completely alone they would sometimes chose to band together with those with similar diseases who were also considered unclean and banished from their homes because of it. Jesus came upon these afflicted men along the border between his native Galilee and the despised Samaria, the land of the "half-breeds" or those who had intermarried and interbred with the hated conquerors of Israel in times past, conquerors like the Assyrians, whom God had used as an instrument of judgement against idolatrous Israel. Jesus did not share the hatred of his countrymen for Samaritans, instead he felt an openness and a compassion toward them, and especially ones like these suffering lepers. They were instructed by law (Leviticus 13 v.45-48) to cry out a warning from a distance to anyone who might be nearby,"Unclean, unclean!" This they did with their hands covering their mouths, so as not to contaminate any other person with their uncleanness, not only from their touch but also from their very breath! But these 10 lepers must have known something about Jesus, must have heard something about his merciful miracle-working power beforehand. The word about this dynamic man of God with healing powers had gone out across the land, even into this Samaritan village he now was entering. When the lepers saw Jesus from a distance though, they didn't yell, "Unclean, unclean!" They cried, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Oh what a difference in the way they announced themselves at that moment! There was hope in their cry for mercy, there was at least the possibility in their minds that Jesus could bring some change in their condition or they would never have cried out in that way. This cry for mercy was not found in the instructions that had been given concerning them. The only hope in the cry "unclean" was for the benefit of the other persons nearby, that they would be spared the awful pain and isolation of these diseases. There was no future for the ones who cried "unclean!" but there could be a future for the ones who cried "Have mercy on us!" if their desperate request was ever granted. Jesus responded by saying that they should go and show themselves to the priests. The priests could do no more than declare them officially unclean and begin a quarantine process, which in itself wasn't much help. But they obediently and maybe a little disappointedly made their way toward a priest anyway because Jesus had instructed them to do so, and while they were going Luke tells us they were healed or cleansed! Only one of them, noticing that he himself was cleansed of his leprosy, returns to Jesus (against the instructions) glorifying God with a loud voice and falling at the feet of Jesus thanking him. Though Jesus had directed him otherwise he does not reproach the leper, who as it turned out was a Samaritan, the one in that ancient Jewish culture many would have thought would be the least likely to show gratitude. Jesus would have expected his own countrymen to be more openly thankful but not this "foreigner" Jesus is already hinting at the truth that the true Israel are those who believe from the heart, who hear him and love him, and do God's will. There are no real foreigners with God. Where were the others, Jesus wanted to know, where were the other 9? Then he tells the thankful Samaritan to get up and go on his way because his faith had made him well or made him "whole." This is a different word than 'healed" or "cleansed", a different word for a different condition of heart. Whereas the other 9 lepers were cleansed of their leprosy they were not necessarily restored to the state they enjoyed before the leprosy struck. One might be able to tell that they had once had leprosy. They were healed but the consequences remained, like missing fingers or toes or even limbs. But the 10th leper was made WHOLE. His body showed no signs of ever having had leprosy in the first place. His limbs, or fingers, ears or toes were restored! There were no lingering consequences to remind him or anyone else that he had ever been afflicted with that disease! Oh hallelujah!!  Though medical science has progressed to such an extent that we probably don't see these kinds of skin diseases so frequently,  other more contemporary conditions have taken their place, like urban crime patterns and the epidemic of divorce in western societies.  The church today often looks upon the victims of divorce and people with criminal records or prison time, or  with checkered pasts, for example,  as "lepers" who can be forgiven, even healed but never quite delivered from the lingering consequences of their old ways and past mistakes.   The church leaders that promote this kind of partial deliverance (a contemporary version of halfway covenant) are like priests in a religous system that declares uncleanness without the power or mercy to restore to the wholeness of a truly new beginning.  Yet many of God's most powerfully used instruments of these last days are coming from among such "leporous" categories of humbled humanity.   The power of Jesus the Messiah far exceeded the ability of a mere priest in the Levitical system, though he showed his recognition and respect for them by sending the lepers to them.  Jesus was even willing for the priests to get the credit for the healings, since they too were the ones who made the official declaration of cleanness, if it ever was to be made.   The power of Jesus was the power of the God-man, the Savior and the Great High Priest of all priests and high priests who did more than declare the diseased unclean and order them out of the camp, but made them clean again and even 100% whole,  if one had the faith for it to be so. And then he intergrated them into a greater family and a whole new way of life that went into and beyond the camp. There the story of this mighty restoration is still being told.