From the time we are children, we are taught to say please and thank you. These are both important phrases, each serving a unique purpose in society. At Christmastime, you are almost guaranteed that somewhere a parent is asking their momentarily forgetful child, “Did you say thank you to Grandma and Grandpa?” after which the child dutifully runs over to give each of them a hug accompanied by a generous application of thankfulness. I think it is because of this most important societal norm that we read the story found in Luke 17:11-19 the way we do.
While Jesus is traveling, he enters a village, and the text tells us he “is met by ten lepers” who are crying out in desperation for healing. Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priests, which seems to go unquestioned by the bunch, who according to the text, scurry off to do as told. However, mid-scurry somebody feels dirt beneath their previously numb feet. Joy instantly crashes into the life of each leper as they experience feeling slowly creeping into limbs that have long been without sensation. Shrieks of astonishment pepper the air with happiness like balloons being let off their strings as the group of ex-lepers turn and morph into a hugging, squawking pile of excitement. It is at this point in the story that we, as readers, do a quick “Yay, Jesus heals!” in our minds and then move on to the real point.
As the mayhem ensues, it suddenly occurs to one of the lepers, like a child on Christmas morning, that behind him is the man who is responsible for the best day of his life; and just like that, we have our hero. He somehow manages to disentangle himself from the hubbub then alters his course 180 degrees to run back to Jesus on his now-strong legs. Our Kodak moment has arrived. The man, who is apparently a Samaritan, collapses in a joyful heap in front of the Jewish Jesus, breaking all social barriers, and showers him with a generous application of thankfulness.
Our perspective on this story is of course aided by Jesus’ observation that only one out of the ten lepers remembered to say thank you. We are quick to jump to the glaringly obvious moral of the story and use it without limit to remind our kids that saying thank you is a good thing and that they should do it because it’s important to Jesus, and I agree! I firmly believe that the Samaritan leper left Jesus more blessed than the other nine lepers combined because he had the opportunity to experience wonder through gratitude.
However, I think that it is easy for us to become so focused on the obvious moral that we miss something just as incredible that occurs way back at the beginning of the story:
Jesus enters a town and heals ten lepers!
This alone says something absolutely incredible about the character of God. The lepers’ healing was dependent on nothing. The story doesn’t end with one leper healed and nine ungrateful lepers cast back into disease; the story ends with ten healed lepers! People asked Jesus for healing, and without hesitation, Jesus healed the same way that Jesus loves: without exception. We serve a God who loves, regardless of everything. We serve a God who cares every time. We serve a God who, “while we were still sinners” (Rom 5:8), while we were still ungrateful, while we didn’t even know to say thank you, died for us.
Why did God do this? The answer is because that is who God is (Psalm 106). And in my opinion, that is indeed something to be incredibly thankful for.
Zach Parks is a pastor who is currently pursuing his Master of Divinity degree at La Sierra University. In his free time he loves making music and reading.