Cleansed or Healed?
In Jesus’ day, leprosy was a dread disease. Catching it, or even anything that looked like it, meant that one would be ostracized from family and community, usually forced to live in a colony of other lepers outside of town, left to beg for whatever scraps they could get. Our recent pandemic pales in comparison.
Leprosy is not a major concern today. It is very rare, not nearly as communicable as once thought and generally treatable.
In Sunday’s Gospel (click here to read it), we learn of a group of ten lepers who approached Jesus as he passed through the sparsely populated region between Samaria and Galilee (north of Jerusalem). Jesus tells them to go and “show themselves” to the priests. At that time, it was the priests who had authority to declare someone a leper or to declare them cleansed.
They started off and on their way they noticed that their leprosy disappeared! Notice that they obeyed without evidence that they were healed. But next comes the critical juncture. Only one returns to Jesus to give thanks to God for this healing.
In Luke’s telling, it is important to see that the Greek terms changed. Luke was a physician, so he is generally very precise and deliberate in his medical references. He describes that the 10 were “cleansed” – that the outward disease was gone. Yet, when the one returned to Jesus, we learn that he had been made “well,” meaning whole, saved, complete. All were cleansed of their disease, but only one was made well.
So often in life we just want to be “cleansed” of whatever problems beset us. But Jesus has so much more in store for us! We are not just offered cleansing, but wholeness and wellness in returning to the Father!
Where might you be just looking for “cleansing” in your life when God offers “wellness?” What might it mean for you to choose “wellness” in this struggle?
This column appeared in the October 9, 2022 edition of St. John’s eNews. Click here for the complete issue.
If you are reading this at a different time, you may click here for the current eNews.
