Today in our Gospel from Luke we see Jesus as healer. We see him responding to cries for mercy and providing complete healing from disease. WE come to him for healing. (We will sing that a little later!) But the Gospel is about more than healing.
Today in our Gospel we see Jesus as the object of thanks and praise. Like the man who recognized Jesus as the giver of all good things, we come to Jesus with OUR thanks and praise. We give thanks with a grateful heart. (We’ll sing THAT later too!) But the Gospel today is about more than giving thanks.
Today’s Gospel is about where Jesus goes and about the cross and about the unlimited and boundless love of God that reaches out to all people.
This Gospel today is written by Luke who tells the story of Jesus with some unique emphases. Of all the 4 gospel writers, Luke is the one who seems MOST concerned about the lost and marginalized – the ones who were always on the outside.
In Jesus’ day, those on the fringes included women, whom Luke gives prominence in his story of Jesus. In first century Palestine, shepherds were considered unclean and untrustworthy, shady, “bottom of the barrel” types. Luke places them right at the manger with the infant Jesus. Tax collectors were ostracized from community because of their constant pilfering of the people; Luke gives us pictures of Jesus relating to and giving attention to them; Luke tells us of the criminal crucified next to Jesus who asks for a place in the kingdom and is promised paradise. Luke tells the story of the prodigal son and the lost sheep; Luke shows us a Jesus who reaches beyond the socially accepted and humanly defined limitations and boundaries to bring ALL people in. The message of today’s Gospel fits perfectly with Luke’s intended message of Jesus.
Luke also structures his story of Jesus around what we might call a “Road Trip.” A good chunk of his Gospel is part of what is called the Travel Narrative in which we are told that Jesus had set his face towards Jerusalem and was on his way there. We know what happened to Jesus in Jerusalem and it was no tragic accident that Jesus ended up there. He was intent on going there to show once and for all that God’s love is for all people. And the things Jesus said and did along the way, help us understand what Jesus was about to accomplish on the cross for the sinner, the lost, and the marginalized.
Our Gospel today opens with one of Luke’s travel notices reminding us of Jesus’ journey to the cross: “Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem . . .” Luke even tells us WHERE Jesus was at this point in the journey to Jerusalem. “Along the border of Judea and Samaria.” Kind of an odd route for them to go, but not for Jesus who desires to reach beyond the borders. His journey to Jerusalem by necessity must pass through ALL the existing human geography! Most Jews avoided this route because of their hatred of the Samaritans, but Jesus is not afraid to go there.
On this leg of his journey, Jesus reaches out to those who were on the outside of the community and cut off from God’s people. All ten lepers were marginalized. In Jesus’ day, lepers had to live outside the community – for obvious reasons. Leprosy was a horrible fatal disease that was very contagious. People would call out “Leper!” if anyone infected with it came near! And everyone would scatter. But Jesus not afraid to go where the lepers were.
But the man who was healed and gave thanks was on the outside for ANOTHER reason. He had TWO major strikes against him that put him on the margins of society. In addition to his leprosy, we are told very intentionally in the punchline to the story that the man who is found at Jesus’ feet at the end of the story is a Samaritan. Luke always has to make the protagonist in these narratives a Samaritan – the most despised group among God’s people – racially and religiously. The man Jesus healed was doubly marginalized but Jesus is not afraid to go to him.
The detail that the man who returned to Jesus was a Samaritan placed at the end of the story makes it clear that the story is not just about the healing or about the thanksgiving. It’s about who is welcome and where Jesus goes to find them. It is about who Jesus loves and how far Jesus will go to save them. This is what the Gospel of Luke is all about. This is what the GOOD NEWS of JESUS is all about!
What we get from this story is not a promise of a “cure all” for anything that ails us nor is it simply a reminder to stop say thank you.
What we get in our gospel today . . . what we get at the cross . . . what we get from Jesus today is a gift that surprises us. It is a gift of unconditional love that says no matter what you have that you think puts you on the outside . . . no matter what message you have heard that says you are too far away or too injured or too broken . . . no matter where you are, God sees you. God hears those cries for mercy. He knows those places inside of us where we are most vulnerable – most hurting. Those places we want no one else to know about. Jesus is not afraid to go there. Even there. He went through Samaria. He went to the cross. He will come to you. He touched the leper. He welcomed the outsider. So believe this: He is here for you.
His love DOES make us thankful. It creates hearts that praise him and love him.
And His love DOES heal us. It heals us from the inside out. And makes us whole again.
Leave a comment