Thursday, October 15, 2026
Luke 17:11-19
11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten men with a skin disease approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’s feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? So where are the other nine? 18 Did none of them return to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
In most miracle stories that involve Jesus, those suffering are not as reserved or courteous as these ten men with a skin disease who keep their distance. The hemorrhaging woman bull-rushed through the crowd to touch the fringe of Jesus’ robe. The friends of a crippled man lower him into the room where Jesus is through a hole they made in the roof.
But here, those in need of Jesus healing plead for mercy from a distance. And Jesus doesn’t wave his magic hands in this moment or tell them to wash in mud, but rather to do the ritualistic practice expected of all followers of God: presenting themselves to the priests at the temple. How ordinary.
Except that these weren’t ordinary Jewish men who new and practiced such a ritual. At least the one who returns to Jesus after he realizes he has been healed. He was Samaritan, meaning he was an outsider and rival to the Jewish faith. Yet all these men show faith in the healing of God, and the Samaritan in particular, the outsider returns to Christ in praise of the God of his enemy. He returns in faith. Let us always return to Christ for healing.
– Pr. Kyle
Mighty healer, tend to the needs of those diseased by so many things in this world. Also, send your Spirit to build up faith in those diseased by the injustices of this world. Free all from injustice. Amen.