Ten were healed, one came back: the ten lepers in Luke 17

Ten men were healed on the same road on the same day. Only one came back to say thank you. The story of the ten lepers in Luke 17 is short, but its question still stings: “Where are the nine?”

Afar off

Luke says Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, passing “through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.” It was a border area where Jews and Samaritans lived close to each other, often with little friendship. As he entered a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They “stood afar off.” Under the law of Moses, people with leprosy had to live apart from others and warn people away.

Leprosy and mercy

The word translated “leprosy” in the Bible covered several skin diseases. Those who had it were considered unclean and were cut off from worship, work and family life. The men lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” They did not come close. They shouted from a distance. Jesus did not touch them or pray aloud over them. He simply said, “Go shew yourselves unto the priests.” Under the law, a priest had to declare a healed person clean before they could return to society.

One turned back

Luke writes, “And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.” They were not healed before they started walking. Their healing came as they obeyed. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back and “with a loud voice glorified God.” He fell on his face at Jesus’s feet and gave him thanks.

Luke adds one short sentence: “and he was a Samaritan.” The man who came back was the outsider, the one many Jews of the time looked down on.

Where are the nine

Jesus asked, “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.” Then Jesus said to the man, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” All ten were cleansed, but the one who returned received a personal word of blessing.

The story is one of the most used passages on thanksgiving. Preachers point out how easy it is to pray hard in trouble and forget to give thanks when the answer comes.

Be the one

Ghanaian and Nigerian churches hold thanksgiving services where families come forward, often dancing, to thank God for a birth, a recovery, a new job or a safe journey. The Samaritan’s loud praise fits right in. The nine were not wicked. They did what they were told and went to the priests. But the one who came back found more than healing. He found a relationship with the healer, and that is the invitation the story still offers.