Biblical Comments on the Ten Lepers

In Luke 17, Jesus gives ten people with leprosy new lives by curing them of their illnesses.  He then tells them to show themselves to the Jewish priests, so that they can re-enter society.  On their way to the priests they realize they are healed.  How amazing it must have been to suddenly be able to feel with their hands again.

Nine of them continue on their way, and one of them "turned back, praising God with a loud void, and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks.  Now he was a Samaritan.  Then said Jesus, 'Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?' And he said to him, 'Rise and go your way, your faith has made you well.'"

One can hardly blame these nine for not going back, since they were on their way to the priests who would allow them to re-enter Jewish society: their spiritual, social and ethnic homeland.  They were going to their old home without realizing that "something greater than the temple is here." (Mt 12:6)

These poor nine were spiritually blind.  But it's easy for us, who stand on the outside, to think that when you're healed, you should go to the person who healed you instead of the people who were ostracizing you.  But they were caught up in the moment.  "Finally," they must have thought, "They will accept me!"

According to Leviticus, lepers had to live alone outside "the camp," and when they walked around they would have to say "unclean, unclean." (Lev 13: 45-46)  It's not surprising that members of God's society were outcasts, since God himself became an outcast of our sake.  This is a deep mystery.

The lepers were doubtlessly given graces, though, to handle their unfortunate status; but one can only imagine the abuse they must have taken from "clean" people.  They must have had deep emotional wounds, and perhaps they went back to the Jews instead of to Jesus in order to heal these wounds.  The nine didn't realize that the one who healed their bodies could also heal their emotions and spirits.

When we are wounded emotionally, do we go to the person who wounded us, or do we go to Jesus?  When someone has hurt us, and we feel unaffirmed, we sometimes feel that if that person were just to accept me as I am, I could finally accept myself.  We tend to go back and go back to the person who is wounding us because we just want to prove that we're worth something.  We have to let go of this!  It is in Jesus' eyes that we are really worth something.  We are his brothers and sisters and children.  His little ones!

So how do we allow Jesus to heal us?  By speaking with Him.  We can whisper our deepest hurts to Him, and He will listen to them and begin His healing motions in our hearts.  We can also visit the sacraments, especially confession, which will give us the strength to finally let go of the lies that are like dams, clogging up the flow of grace in our lives.  We just need to bring Jesus into our lives, and not forget to thank Him when we're healed!