Jesus Asks a Question: “Where are the other nine?”
Jesus Asks a Question: “Where are the other nine?”
The Grand Inquisitor. Messiah Jesus was a Master of asking questions: some were open-ended, others were very pointed; some were out of curiosity, others were challenging; some seemed rhetorical, others seemed painfully obvious; some were to reveal Himself, others were to guide the other into self-understanding; some were intentionally provocative, others were to kick-start a conversation; some questions were asked to explore a topic to deepen understanding and stretch toward the truth; some were leading questions that He designed to suggest a particular answer, and others were questions in response to questions asked of Him; some were hypotheticals to stimulate the imagination, other questions were used by Him as stepping stones to think logically from one point to the next. Jesus used questions to dignify the listener, letting that person know that He is taking that person seriously and listening carefully. Many of His questions were acts of friendship and used to pursue a more profound intimacy with someone. Jesus asked very few yes-no questions, and since time was usually irrelevant for Him when He was with people, He rarely asked a “when” question. Several biblical scholars have studied the gospels with Christ’s questions in mind, and they have literally counted a total of 307 questions in His various conversations and teachings. It seems that a worthy spiritual exercise when considering the many questions of Jesus is that we ask ourselves… should I take His questions personally, as if He was asking us that question right now?
The Question. “Where are the other nine?” (Luke 17:17).
Context. “Now on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As He was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met Him at a distance, and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed.” (Luke 17:11-14).
On the Way to Jerusalem. Jesus knew very well what awaited Him in Jerusalem: torture, death, and eventual resurrection. He predicted this several times (Matthew 20, Mark 10, and a little later here in Luke 18). Yet He traveled toward Jerusalem, making steady progress southward as He walked from Galilee in the north country. And all along on this fateful journey, He healed and taught and preached. He was not distracted by what lay ahead. He was constantly interrupted during this long walk, but it didn’t matter. Jesus consistently thought of others, looking after their needs. Jesus kept healing people on the way to death.
Going Through Samaria. Jews hated Samaritans. Most Jews would walk around Samaria to get to Jerusalem, going a long way around, rather than walk through Samaria. As an ethnic group, Samaritans were considered half-breeds, a mixed race with heathen people, and not pure-bred descendants of Abraham like the Jews. Samaritans were considered unclean and rejected by all observant Jews, except Jesus. He had no problem walking right through the middle of Samaria. He loved everybody, and didn’t consider anyone untouchable. Jesus, the equal opportunity savior and healer.
Backstory on the Samaritans. Jews had been at odds with the Samaritans for centuries, as far back as the 6th century BC, because they intermarried with the Gentile Assyrians at that time. The Jews thought the Samaritans had betrayed their faith and their nation to mix in with foreigners. They were seen as heretics, worse even than Gentiles, and morally inferior to the Jews. Samaritans were held in contempt, publicly cursed in the synagogues, and there were even special prayers in Judaism at that time that the Samaritans would not enter eternal life. Samaritans indeed seemed to be half-Jewish in many ways, not just with their bloodline: They only believed in the Books of Moses, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Also, they had built their worship Temple on Mt. Gerazim nearby, not Mt. Zion in Jerusalem like the Jews. The Samaritans only had a shrine at this time instead of a Temple, because the Jews had destroyed their Temple in 128 B.C. Samaritans did celebrate Passover and other Feasts of the Law, and it appeared they did worship the God of Israel. They were also expecting a messiah, a Moses-like prophet who would be the Restorer, the True Teacher, described clearly in Deuteronomy 18:15-19: “Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him… Then Yahweh said to me, ‘What they have said is right. I will raise up a prophet like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him. I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf.”
Ten Lepers. Leprosy was a general term used for any skin disease, many of which were contagious, and none at that time were curable. The lepers were under permanent quarantine, considered unclean, and were not to associate with the clean people, ever. Lepers had to announce their presence to warn others that they were in the area. Of all the untouchables, except for the corpses, lepers were the most unfortunate. The worst cases of leprosy would include the deadening of nerve endings in the extremities of the body, especially the fingers, toes, ears and nose. The lepers then would not have the ability to feel pain in those extremities, and so would be unaware of any injury, cut, or infection. This form of leprosy would result in severe disfigurement and the inability to walk or handle things properly. This more severe case would result in the leper’s flesh gradually decaying. It’s no wonder the people would call a seriously infected leper a “walking dead man.” Advanced stages of leprosy would include ulcers around his eyes and ears. His decaying skin would be falling off in shreds. His skin would have a colorless cast and be full of scaly sores. With his major disfigurements, he would have only been shunned even more severely. In order to warn other people of the leprosy, the leper was required to yell “Unclean! Unclean!” whenever people came near. They had to remain at least six feet from others at all times. People would often throw rocks at lepers if they thought they were coming too close to a leper. Lepers had to live in leper colonies with others declared unclean like them, and were considered the lowest in society. Lepers were on the outermost fringe of the outcasts. Many thought of lepers as cursed by God, being punished for some great sin they committed. Anyone who touched a leper was considered defiled and had to endure a rigorous process of purification.
Mercy! The lepers shouted “Lord, Master, have mercy on us!”, and Jesus saw a red stop light on the road. Nothing can stop Jesus in His tracks more effectively than to ask for mercy. Jesus loves to show mercy. He will look for any excuse in the world to show someone mercy. It’s in His DNA, it’s a part of His changeless character. So when the lepers shouted those momentous words, Jesus stopped and looked.
A Quiet Healing. Jesus didn’t have to touch them, He didn’t have to anoint them, He didn’t have to shout “Be healed!” He didn’t have to do anything but look at them and think those divine words of healing. He simply healed the lepers when He looked at them and considered their plight as they obeyed His instructions. Miracles don’t have to be dramatic or theatrical, and in fact are often quiet and go unnoticed. God is humble that way, and doesn’t necessarily bask in attention.
Jesus the Healer. We can’t put Him in a box with this part of His ministry. Consider this… there is no can’t-miss formula; no magic words; no consistent style; no lack of variety of people and occasion and brokenness. His mercy is deep and sometimes mysterious. Sometimes faith seems to be needed. Other times faith didn’t seem to be a part of the action at all. Sometimes he touched, sometimes He was touched, sometimes He spit, sometimes He just spoke the healing into existence. Sometimes He forgave sins during the healing, and sometimes He didn’t. Sometimes He was thanked. Often enough He was forgotten soon after the healing. Sometimes He told everyone not to say a word about the healing, and sometimes He told them to spread the word. Most of the healings were immediate, but there was a time when there seemed to be more of a gradual process (Mark 8:22-26). Jesus was an equal opportunity healer, confidently healing unexpected people in unpredictable ways. He loved to heal, to bring wholeness, whenever He had the opportunity. After all, Jesus is love.
Trust and Faith, As They went. According to Jewish law, all people who have leprosy but are in remission need to go to the priests in the Temple. They will confirm that the lepers are healed and declare them ritually clean. The lepers can then live and work in the general populace and go to worship in the Temple. All the lepers in this case had a mustard seed of faith in Christ, for they all obeyed Jesus at His word and started walking to see the priests. And, miraculously, they were all healed “as they went.” Jesus asked those ten lepers to take a step of faith before any healing took place. They had to walk in trusting obedience to begin the process of healing.
Proof of the Messiah. The healing of leprosy in particular was one of the established signs of the true Messiah. By the first century, Judaism had developed a list of what the Messiah would be able to accomplish, a list of actions that would prove the identity of the Messiah. The healing of leprosy is on this list. When John the Baptist asked from his prison cell if indeed Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus answered his question by providing some of those messianic proofs: “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see… The blind are seeing again, the lame are walking, people with leprosy are being cleansed, the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised, and the Good News is being told to the poor.” (Matthew 11:2-6).
“One of the healed lepers, when he realized on the road to the priests that he actually was healed, came back to Jesus, praising God in a loud shout. He threw Himself at His feet and lay prostrate on the ground in thanksgiving. He was a Samaritan.” (17:15-16).
Ungrateful. The nine lepers who didn’t return to Jesus were healed, but they were not thankful to Him for their healing. Their meager faith didn’t extend to gratitude. That’s unfortunate for them, for now they won’t understand anything deeper about God’s grace. They will not know the joy of pleasing God with their thankfulness. They will not know the satisfaction of having the healing lead to a relationship with Jesus. It’s interesting that God didn’t demand gratitude from the lepers. He was surely pleased with the one who did show thankfulness, though, and He certainly was saddened by the attitude of the other nine. God wants the “thank you” to come from the heart, and not from obligation.
This Good Samaritan. Remember the parable of the Good Samaritan? Well, here’s another good Samaritan. Remember, he was considered an enemy of the Jewish people and religion, and treated as doubly unclean as both a leper and a Samaritan. In other words, a leprous Samaritan was considered the least likely person to do the right thing. It was highly unusual for a Samaritan to worship a Jew in this way. And this Samaritan made quite a scene… He shouted praises in pure gratitude, and then he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet.
“Pipto” is the Greek word used to describe the reaction of the healed Samaritan. Pipto means to fall down, used over 90 times in the New Testament. It is the starter word for dozens of terms involving falling downward from a higher place to a lower place. Pipto is the biblical term for prostration, falling onto one’s face on the ground, to collapse to the ground; to fall flat down in worship, reverence, allegiance, or submission; to drop down to the earth as if dead. In the Christian tradition, to fully prostrate oneself often includes confession and gratitude, as well as to pray from a low place before God’s greatness and awesome mystery. To prostrate oneself before the Lord is to assume a humble, servile position before our Master, the almighty God.
Humble Pie. Literally volunteering to perform a face plant on the ground is unusual to say the least. It takes a lot of pride-swallowing and ego-relinquishment to stretch flat on the ground. But “pipto” was fairly commonplace in the biblical era, as well as in other parts of the world right now. The lesser form of pipto is when one would kneel with both knees on the ground and the forehead touching the ground as well. It was a position slaves would take with their master out of duty and respect. Often out of disrespect a person witnessing this would kick the rear end of the person lying on the ground. This would confirm that person’s place in life. The full prostration would be lowering oneself to the ground and assuming a position in which the entire body was flat on the ground, from the head to the toes to all the limbs. Often the phrase “throw oneself to the ground” would indicate a full prostration, with the word pipto more times than not referring to the full prostration.
Flat on the Ground. When a defeated soldier is brought to a conquering king, the captured foe lays his body out, face down, fully on the ground. That physical act acknowledges the fact that he is in subjection to the king, that he submits to his power and authority. To lie prostrate in worship is to acknowledge much the same thing, that the worshiper is humbly in full submission to God the King. To lie prostrate in prayerful worship is done out of reverence and a healthy fear of God’s might and authority over us. Prostration is a rather radical, visual way to signal one’s submission and respect to God.
“Jesus then asked the healed Samaritan leper before Him, ‘Were not all ten of you cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except you, a foreigner?” (17:17-18).
Grace. Jesus shows love to everybody, even to lepers and Samaritans. He even does miracles for the ungrateful. Certainly He was disappointed in the nine who forgot about Him, but He nonetheless didn’t withdraw His healing from them. Jesus continues to show love to the ungrateful. Evidently God’s love is blind, extravagant, and we can never get to the bottom of His reservoir of unearned favor.
Gratitude. The Greek word used for the Samaritan’s gratitude is “eucharisteo,” and that healed leper was indeed offering himself to Jesus in the sacrament of thanksgiving. Only 1 out of 10 healed lepers returned to give thanks to Jesus for the miracle that totally turned their lives around for the better. That’s just 10%, and one wonders if that is the usual percentage of people in the world who give thanks to God for His blessings. It is a hugely unfortunate fact of human life that His blessings are so easily taken for granted, overlooked, or even forgotten. Developing a thankful heart as a part of our lifestyle might be nurtured if we were able to live into and vocalize these words from Psalm 107:1, repeating them every morning and every night: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His mercy endures forever!”
“Then Jesus said to the healed Samaritan, ‘Rise and go! Your trust in Me has made you well and is in fact your salvation!” (17:19).
“Sozo” is the word used here for being made well. This is one of the great words in the gospels, because it includes not only being completely healed in body, but also being saved spiritually. This healed leper was healed through and through, body, mind and soul.