Rotation.org Writing Team

JESUS HEALS TEN LEPERS

BIBLE BACKGROUND ADDENDUM

This story raises many curious questions. It is not one dimensional and cannot be reduced to a one-line meaning. It’s important for students to gain this appreciation of scripture.

Here are a few choice observations you might include in your study:

1. All are healed. This isn’t a story about one person being healed. It isn’t a story about “what you must do to be healed.” This is a story about OUR RESPONSE to the undeserved and unearned gift of healing which Jesus gives us.

2. Once again, it is a Samaritan who does the right thing. Samaritans were despised by the religious leaders in Jerusalem who believed the Samaritans worshipped God falsely and were outcasts from the Jewish faith. Quite similar to the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus is singling out “those who do the right thing” as worthy of his praise.

3. Having a “skin disease” or leprosy mentioned in the passage meant you could not live with others or worship in the Temple. You were set outside the community. To some, the skin disease was a sign of some sin that you or your family had committed. Thus, Jesus is lifting the sign of sin from them, and restoring these 10 Lepers to their communities and families.

4. In those days, priests examined skin diseases and prescribed treatments. They decided who should be sent out of the community and who’s diseases were cured. It is very interesting that Jesus performed the miracle AFTER they had left his presence. Like many of us, Jesus is not in front of us when we receive his blessing or healing. Thus we have a choice to decide “where this healing came from” and … “to whom do we owe our praise.” The 9 lepers apparently kept going on their way to the priest. The one leper figured it out.

5. Jesus ends the story by telling the ALREADY healed man that “your faith has healed you.” This is a perplexing statement, especially for children. How can someone who has ALREADY been healed - be healed again?

One answer is that there are TWO healings going on here. One is a physical healing. The other is a spiritual healing. The one leper realized he needed MORE than physical healing, he needed to return to and praise the one who gave him his life back.

In Ecclesiastes, we read that God’s blessings fall on both the good and the bad. Everyone is blessed by God in someway and at various times. This story strongly suggests that God gives an EXTRA blessing (faith) to those who RECOGNIZE their need to praise God.

CONTRIBUTOR: Neil MacQueen