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SCRIPTURE REFLECTION

Luke 17:11-19

It seems that no one has returned to give thanks to God except this foreigner.

In this week’s Gospel, Luke tells of when Jesus travelled along the border of Samaria and Galilee. As he entered one of the villages, ten lepers came to meet him. They stood some way off and called out, “Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.” When he saw them, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” As they went, they were cleansed.

Finding himself cured, one of them turned back, praising God at the top of his voice. He threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan. This made Jesus say, “Were not all ten made clean? The other nine—where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God except this foreigner.” Then he said to the man, “Stand up and go on your way; your faith has saved you.”

When reading this passage, there are some key points to consider. For early Jewish people, there was little understanding of an afterlife, so any rewards from God were believed to be given during a person’s lifetime. For example, many of the early prophets, such as Noah, were said to have lived for hundreds of years. Later, as belief in life after death developed, there still remained a view that disabilities or life challenges were punishments from God.

So what does this mean for the lepers? Jewish society would have seen them as unclean, their disease viewed as a punishment from God for some wrongdoing.

Many of us are familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan, who is seen as the “good guy” while the Levite and High Priest ignore the injured man by the roadside. However, it’s important to remember that Samaritans, though of Jewish heritage, came from Samaria—an area with its own temple and population mixed with non-Jewish people. Because of this, they were shunned by the Judean Jews.

When we pull this together, we see that this Gospel passage is actually very provocative.

 Not only does Jesus show compassion to lepers—those believed to be cursed—but the person he praises is a Samaritan—someone considered a traitor. Through his words and actions, Jesus delivers a powerful message: it doesn’t matter who you are; you are judged by your actions and your faith. It is the Samaritan who is thankful and whose faith has saved him.

Beyond this, the passage also reminds us of the importance of being thankful for what we have. At our school, we participate in the Resilience Project, where students learn about Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness (GEM). Extensive research shows that practising these skills improves our mental health and helps us feel more positive when we focus on what we do have, rather than what we don’t.

Some research even discusses the idea of “luxury inflation” — the tendency to never feel satisfied, no matter how much we have, because we always want a little more. Interestingly, the World Happiness Index often shows that the happiest countries are those with the least. Perhaps there’s a lesson in that for all of us!

By Jonathan Rooney 

Religious Education Leader 

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