Then [Jesus] said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

Luke 17:19

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day … If you live in Canada. They celebrate Thanksgiving every year on the second Monday in October. They enjoy a lot of the same traditions that we do – delicious food, football (Canadian-style), family gatherings. The festivities usually take place today, Sunday, so I suppose their Monday holiday is a day to recover from all the “giving thanks” that they do today. 

Why am I telling you all of this? Because today’s gospel reading (Luke 17:11-19) is the traditional gospel for our Thanksgiving worship services. The story of the healing of the ten lepers, and the one who went back to thank Jesus. We are hearing it today because our lectionary readings are taking us through this section of the Gospel of Luke. 

We can see why this story would be used at Thanksgiving. It is an easy story to use to remind us of the importance of simply giving thanks. But I think that there is more going on in this story than that. Yes, it is a story about giving thanks. But it is also a story about healing and wholeness, and what that looks like in our life. So, let’s take a closer look at this story to see what I mean. 

Today’s Gospel Reading

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. He is going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. There he encounters a group of lepers. They are Jews and Samaritans bound together by this dreaded disease. They had heard of Jesus, and approaching him, they called from a distance: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” And Jesus does. He cures them and sends them to the priests to be declared clean. This is the only way that they could return to their families and communities. When one of them realizes that he has been cured, he turns back, praising God with a loud voice. He falls to Jesus’ feet and thanks him. And he was a Samaritan. 

Jesus wonders what happened to the other nine. Were not all ten made clean? He points out that only this foreigner returned to give praise to God. And then he says to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

And what fascinates me about this last statement is that it is the first time in the passage that the Greek word, “sozo,” is used. 

Sozo is a great word, rich with meaning. It means to be made well, or to be healed. But it means more than that. It can also mean to be saved. When someone’s sins are forgiven in the New Testament, they are “sozo-ed.” When someone enters the kingdom of God, they are “sozo-ed.” When someone is healed, they are often “sozo-ed.” 

But here’s the thing: Only one of the ten lepers in this reading is “sozo-ed.” The one who returned to give thanks. All ten were cured. But only one was healed. And there is a difference, a vast difference, between being cured and being healed. 

Of course, we are not lepers who have been made clean, so think of it this way. Think of the ten lepers as being on their way to Heaven. Just as we are. And think about the one who returns to Jesus as receiving something more. Think of him as entering into a life-giving, healing, loving, wonderful relationship with Jesus, that doesn’t wait for Heaven, but that takes place here, in this lifetime.  

Jesus wants for all of us what that one leper received, when he returned to give thanks. Because he received a healing that is much more valuable than a cure for his skin disease. He received the pearl of great price that only Jesus can give.

So, what did this leper do to receive this gift? As I have considered this story, it seems to me that there are four things that this leper did, to be healed and to be made whole by Jesus.

He Saw That He Was Healed

The first can be found in verse 15 of this story, where we read that this particular leper “saw that he was healed.” It was only when he “saw that he was healed” that he returned to Jesus. All ten of the lepers were cured, made clean. But, apparently only this particular person saw that he was healed.

Christianity has sometimes been described as a particular way of looking at the world, a particular way of seeing, and I think that is true. Christians see the world differently. The Samaritan saw that he was healed, and he turned around to go back to Jesus and praise God for this gift. He saw what the other lepers did not.

A Christian writer by the name of Robert Barron says that:

“Christianity is, above all, a way of seeing. Everything else in Christian life flows from and circles around the transformation of vision. Christians see differently, and that is why their prayer, their worship, their action, their whole way of being in the world, has a distinctive accent and flavor.”

We as Christians see the world differently. We see God at work in our world. And we see God at work in our lives. It’s not that God isn’t at work in the lives of others, but we are blessed to see it, through the eyes of faith. And when we look at the world through our eyes of faith, we cannot help but see God’s presence, love and mercy everywhere.

He Turned Back

This one leper saw clearly that God was at work in Jesus Christ. So what did he do? He turned back to Jesus, praising God with a loud voice. Think about that. Think about how hard it must have been for this leper to turn back.

Turning back is never easy to do. We want, most of the time, to move forward. And you can imagine how hard it must have been for this man. Because of his leprosy, he has been separated from his family, his home, and his community. That was the law at the time. No exceptions. And now he is healed of this leprosy. All he has to do is show himself to the priest, and then he can be reunited with his friends and family. Who would want to delay that? Who would want to turn back at that moment? But he does, because he sees that he is healed, and because he knows who healed him. And because he wants to praise God and thank Jesus for his miracle. So he sees, and turns back.

He Thanked Jesus

And of course, after he finds Jesus again, he falls at his feet and thanks him. That’s the next thing that this leper does that is different: He thanks Jesus.

This is obviously why this story is so often used at Thanksgiving worship services. This leper models for us all that attitude of gratitude that is so much a part of our Christian faith. We are a grateful people. We give thanks to God for our lives, and we give thanks to Jesus for our salvation.

But let’s not let this story lead us to think that we should only give thanks when something good happens in our life. Because Scripture reminds us again and again that there is always something in our life worth being thankful for. Always. 

The easiest time of all to be thankful might be when things are going our way. But we are taught to give thanks in all circumstances. And one of the most powerful examples of this takes in the upper room, at the last supper. Think of this beautiful prayer of thanks that we hear whenever we gather to share holy communion.

In the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus “took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And after supper, he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’”

You all know this prayer; we hear it every Sunday when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. But think about when Jesus prays this prayer: The night in which he was betrayed. The night before he will be crucified. That is when he gives thanks. We might expect a prayer of thanks after Jesus is raised from the dead, but we won’t find one there.

Jesus gives thanks when things are at their darkest. Which is part of what makes it such a powerful prayer. Because it reminds us in a powerful way that you and I can be thankful in all circumstances, at all times and in all places. Because regardless of what is going in our life, we are blessed to have a God who loves us, who is present with us in our suffering, and who has given his son to us to free us from all fear.

His Faith Made Him Well

But back to our thankful Samaritan leper. This particular leper sees that he is healed, and he wants to give thanks. So he turns back, and falls at Jesus’ feet, and thanks him. But he’s not simply thankful. He is giving thanks to the One who healed him. He now has a relationship with Jesus that the other nine lepers do not. And it is that relationship with Jesus that makes him well, and makes him whole

These days, there are lots of ways that we can be cured. We have made all sorts of technological progress in 2,000 years. All sorts of medical advancements. Doctors, hospitals, surgeons, and medicine can do amazing things these days. But it seems to me that this leper reminds us that there will always be one thing that doctors, hospitals, surgeons, and medicine cannot do.

There will always be one thing that only Jesus can do. And that is to be healed, to be made whole. There will never be a medical advancement that will offer that. It comes from Jesus. And we receive it through faith.

And that is the last thing that this leper does that is different, isn’t it? He places his faith in Jesus, and by doing so receives the pearl of great price – healing, wholeness, salvation. 

Medicine can cure us of many things these days. But it cannot make us whole. Physical healing is nice, especially when we are sick. But in the grand scheme of things, our physical healing is just a blip on eternity’s timeline. Our relationship with God is eternal. And that is what God cares about, much more than physical healing. 

Jesus physically healed people to show us that God does care about that, and to assure us that in the end we will all be healed. But, really, God cares much more about our relationship with Jesus. That is what will make us whole and bring us salvation.

Closing

All ten lepers were made clean that day. But only one was made whole. The foreigner, as Jesus points out, who saw that he was healed, turned back, gave thanks, and entered into a new and lifegiving relationship with Jesus. 

Let us learn from this humble foreigner. Let us learn from his vision, his humility, his gratitude, and his faith. Let us learn from him how to not only be made clean, but how to be made whole. Again and again. Thanks to Jesus. It is why he came. Not just to cure us, but to save us. And to make us whole. 

Thanks be to God. Amen.