The Ten Lepers
Luke 17:12-19
By Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos
Luke 17:12-19
By Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos
We have seen that Christ withdrew from Jerusalem after the raising of Lazarus, in order to avoid the envy of the Pharisees. He went to Ephraim, near Bethel. From there He proceeded farther north and came to the borders of Samaria and Galilee. From there He intended to return to Jerusalem by way of Perea. As Luke says: “It came to pass, as He went to Jerusalem, that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.”
Thus the Lord, intending to go up to Jerusalem to be crucified, found Himself on the borders of Samaria and Galilee.
There, “as Jesus entered a certain village, ten leprous men met Him, who stood afar off.” They remained at a distance, for such was required by the tradition. Since they were far away, “they lifted up their voices and cried out, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
As lepers, legally unclean, they lived outside the cities. Yet instead of crying out, as they were required, “Unclean, unclean,” they cried out asking to be cleansed from their leprosy and healed by Jesus.
The Lord, “when He saw them,” said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” He sent them to the priests while they were still unhealed, in order to test their faith and obedience. He sent them to several priests, since each would go to his nearest priest, and the Samaritan to the priest on Mount Gerizim. At that time the priests had the right and duty to examine healed lepers, to certify their healing, and to grant them permission to rejoin the healthy. For this reason Christ sent them to the priests. Moreover, by witnessing the miraculous healing, the priests themselves would be convinced of the Lord’s divine power.
“And it came to pass, as they went, they were cleansed.” The lepers believed, and as a reward for their faith, healing came to them along the way. “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed,” only one, “returned,” and “with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks.”
His loud voice, his prostration to the ground at Christ’s feet, and his thanksgiving were three clear signs of profound gratitude. And the climax of all this: “he was a Samaritan.” The nine Jews forgot the benefaction; only one remembered it — the Samaritan!
The Lord, reproving the ingratitude of the nine and rewarding the gratitude of the one, said: “Were not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not found any who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”
The Samaritans were racially and religiously a mixture of Judaism and idolatry. The Jews were descendants of Abraham and worshipers of the true God. And yet it was the one Samaritan who proved grateful, while the nine Jews were ungrateful.
Then the Lord said to him, “Arise, go your way; your faith has saved you.” The others also had faith, for “as they went, they were cleansed,” but they lacked gratitude. Therefore they were saved only bodily, while this Samaritan was saved also spiritually. The nine Hebrew lepers thought the Lord was obliged to heal them, and so they did not thank Him. They had grown accustomed to divine benefactions and thus appeared ungrateful.
Theme: Benefaction and Gratitude
Leprosy is the most dreadful disease. The leper’s garments are rags. Beneath them the skin is white, wrinkled, cracked, swollen, and disfigured, so that sex, race, and age become indistinguishable. The leper’s eyes are eaten away, hands swollen, lips puffed, so that speech becomes painful. A piece of bread, a tin vessel for water, and the ruins of a house are great acts of charity for such people. Delivered from such misery, the nine nevertheless proved ungrateful. The Lord foreknew their ingratitude and yet healed them. Thus we see two realities here: those who receive benefactions, and the Benefactor. Let us examine both.
1. Those Who Receive Benefactions
Those who receive benefactions ought to give thanks. Gratitude is the one virtue that begins with animals and reaches up to angels — from wild beasts to the Seraphim. Yes, even domestic animals show gratitude. The horse neighs, the ox lows, the chickens flutter their wings; before receiving their food they recognize their master, and after receiving it they show gratitude. Animals are ridden, beaten, skinned, milked, worked, even eaten — yet they remember the good done to them. The dog, with its joyful barking, playful biting, wagging tail, and rubbing against its master’s legs, expresses gratitude both before and after receiving kindness.
Even wild beasts show gratitude. Pyrrhus’ elephant, seeing its master dead, lifted him with trunk and mouth, placed him on its shoulder, trampled friends and enemies alike, and laid him at the city gate. A French nobleman, Gouffier of Lastours, once freed a lion from a serpent that had constricted it in a forest. The lion followed its benefactor to the ship on which he embarked, and when refused entry, swam after it until it drowned. Such things occur among tame and wild animals.
But gratitude exists also in Heaven. In the fourth chapter of Revelation, the Evangelist John describes the throne of God, the rainbow around it, the twenty-four elders, and the glassy sea. When voices, thunderings, and lightnings sound, the elders rise, remove their golden crowns, cast them before Christ’s feet, and say with gratitude: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor.” Is there a greater expression of gratitude than to consider oneself unworthy of honor? Such is the gratitude of the saints and angels, especially the Seraphim who unceasingly glorify God.
And yet human beings? They are ungrateful in every direction. Aristotle said that what dies first in people is gratitude. We see people behaving ungratefully toward their benefactors: a sister married off through her siblings’ sacrifices remains unmoved by their misfortune; a friend aided during wartime now denies knowing his helper; a son educated by his parents is ashamed of them because they are unlearned; children raised with patience refuse to tolerate their parents’ infirmities in old age.
Yet we have received far greater benefactions from God, and to Him we owe the greatest gratitude.
2. Those Who Bestow Benefactions
The Lord foreknew the ingratitude of the nine, and yet He did good. He did not reproach the grateful one, but rebuked the ungrateful and implicitly rewarded the thankful. Therefore you too must do good without expecting repayment here. Woe to the benefactor who seeks reward on earth. Nine out of ten beneficiaries are ungrateful; one is grateful. If you expect gratitude, you will cease doing good. The true reward of good is not money or praise, but the joy within the soul.
Do good freely. Cast it into the sea, as the proverb says. Do not seek it here; you will find it in Heaven.
The story of Androcles and the lion illustrates this truth perfectly. Androcles removed a thorn from a lion’s paw without expectation. Later, condemned to death, he was spared when the same lion recognized him. The animal remembered the kindness.
Therefore, my reader: when you receive good, be grateful. When you do good, seek no reward. Be grateful when benefited; do not demand gratitude from others. Strange words? No — new ones. Let us ourselves become new.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
