“Jesus! Master! Have mercy on us!” That’s what a group of ten lepers called to Jesus, as he was passing along the border region between Galilee and Samaria (Luke 17:11-13). He did have mercy on them, and instructed them to go show themselves to the priests. This was necessary so that they could be examined in accordance with the levitical code regarding leprosy, and officially pronounced healed: that would then mean they would no longer be banished from society, and therefore could be restored to their families. As they went on their way, Luke tells us, they were made clean (17:14).

One of the ten was actually from the Samaritan side of the border, and when he saw that the disease had suddenly left him, he turned around and went back to Jesus, praising God and giving thanks as he fell at Jesus’ feet (17:15-16). Jesus remarked on this: “The other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” (17:17). As in a number of other incidents in the gospels, we see here an outsider grasping an insight that the insiders were missing.

It is interesting to ponder on what those other nine might have been thinking. We might notice about ourselves how quick we can be to complain when God doesn’t give us good health, sufficient money, and the happy relationships that we want. When those situations aren’t going so well, we moan that God is being unfair. There’s a certain kind of attitude behind that complaint: namely, that somehow God owes us these blessings, and really should be doing a better job of taking care of these things for us.

And so when the Lord actually does work a miracle on our behalf, when Jesus makes things a lot better than they could be, it’s very easy to shrug and take that as no more than what we deserve. Jesus has had mercy on us, and something good – even, miraculously good – has come to pass for us: but why would we need to give any special thanks for that … Thus the other nine lepers form kind of a metaphor for ourselves: an admonition not to take for granted the gifts – indeed, the astonishing gifts – that we have received.

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Jesus, Master, we do indeed pray that you would have mercy on us, for we presume so much on your grace and patience. Teach us to have grateful hearts for all the ordinary blessings we receive day by day; and teach us to be especially thankful for the extraordinary blessings you provide as well.

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