As he continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was entering a village, ten lepers met [him]. They stood at a distance from him 13 and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” 14 And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; 16 and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? 18 Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” 19 Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”
As Jesus travels toward Jerusalem, he enters a village on the border of Samaria and Galilee and meets ten men with “leprosy.” In Scripture, this term covers several visible skin diseases, not only modern Hansen’s disease. Such conditions made a person ritually unclean and required separation from the community until a priest declared the person clean (Lev. 13-14). The men keep their distance and cry out, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priests, as the Law required for restoration to worship and daily life. They obey, and on the way, they are cleansed. One, realizing he is healed, turns back, praises God loudly, and falls at Jesus’ feet in thanks. Luke notes that he is a Samaritan. Samaritans were viewed as outsiders because their ancestors intermarried with foreign peoples after the Assyrian exile, and they kept their own sanctuary and worship practices apart from Jerusalem.
Jesus asks where the other nine are and then says to the man, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” All ten are cleansed, but only one returns to acknowledge God’s work and give thanks. The act of returning—recognizing God’s action and praising Him—shows the shape of living faith. Scripture often records this pattern: Naaman is healed and confesses the God of Israel (2 Kgs 5:1-15); the woman with hemorrhages is cured and publicly acknowledges what God has done (Mk 5:25-34); the man born blind receives sight and bears witness to the work of God (Jn 9:1-38). Here, too, gratitude and faith go together.
The healing restores the body; thanksgiving opens the heart to the Savior. Jesus’ final word—“your faith has saved you”—points beyond physical cure to the deeper gift: the relationship with God that faith receives and expresses in praise. God’s mercy is universal, and in this scene, it is recognized and welcomed by one who was considered an outsider. The story teaches us to notice God’s gifts, to return to Him, and to live gratefully.
Lord Jesus, open our eyes to Your work today. Teach us to return in thanksgiving for every gift. Strengthen our faith to praise You in all things, so that, healed and made whole, we may walk in Your grace. Amen.
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Sources and References:
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
- A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, ed. Bernard Orchard et al. (1953).
- The Navarre Bible: Luke, Faculty of the University of Navarre (2008).
- The Paulist Biblical Commentary, ed. José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al. (2018).
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