The leprosy of the ten men in today’s story was not just a medical issue. This was taken as a sign of a spiritual defilement (an issue common to all people), which is why their healing is referred to here as a ‘cleansing’. Lepers, due to their state of ceremonial defilement, were barred from entry into the temple precincts. So, these men had to believe they were healed to go there to see the priests. Notice that it was “as they went” that they were also physically healed. This is also how we can be spiritually cleansed. We don’t have to be clean to come to Jesus, but we are made clean when we do. This story heralds the great ingathering of the ‘unclean nations’. The fact that the one returning leper was a Samaritan is a key detail in his story. They were the most despised of all ‘unclean outsiders’. Yet, though this “foreigner” was considered furthest from God, his faith brought him closer than any. This moment was a foretaste of what was coming and what is now happening. God is drawing lost sinners to himself. And to serve Jesus is to serve this mission. If Christians retreat from the world into enclaves of disapproving world-spectators, we become worse than the world. Our lives and our churches must be open and inviting to outsiders. Outsiders must feel that they can come as they are. But they should also feel that they cannot stay as they are. Let’s therefore embody a grace that welcomes and power that transforms.
Ask God how you can be more open and inviting.
Read Luke 17:11-19
