Wednesday, November 24

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. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”


When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.                                                                                                                        Luke 17:11-19


Think for just a minute about the last time you were really dirty. Maybe you spent a day cleaning out the attic, or digging up your garden – but whatever you were doing you ended up sweaty, smelly and just plain dirty. I remember being on a mission trip in the Dominican Republic with high school students one summer when our primary work was mixing concrete by hand in 95 degree heat. By the end of the day I thought my clothes might walk away by themselves. Since there were no shower facilities we had to bathe by walking nearly a mile to a river – where we lathered up next to curious Dominican women who were washing clothes. It didn’t matter to us that we looked funny or out of place – it just felt so good to be clean!

To be a leper meant to be “unclean.” By the requirements of ancient Jewish law, a leper had to keep a distance from “clean” folks – and whenever coming within earshot, a leper had to cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” to warn the healthy population of the danger that was approaching. To be a leper, then, meant to feel oneself to be perpetually and publicly dirty, unwelcome, and untouchable. Imagine, then, what it felt like when these men – while on their way to the priests – looked down at the skin of their arms and hands and saw no more lesions or sores! Imagine what it felt like to be clean again!

Notice that Jesus didn’t heal the men right away. He told them to go show themselves to the priests. Think about this for a second. This was a very dangerous proposition. In the Jewish way of doing things, the priests were the very ones who had made the diagnosis of leprosy in the first place. To ask for another audience with the priests – and to still be leprous – was to risk serious consequences. But they go – because Jesus told them to go – they had put their faith in Jesus – lock, stock and barrel. In other words, their faith led to obedience, and their obedience led to their healing.

There is a lesson in here for us. Have you come to Jesus in all your uncleanness, crying out for his mercy and grace? Have you trusted him completely to make you clean? Have you begun to live out your new identity in obedience and gratitude to him?

Brian Coffey