Blessed Assurance On the Way

“Be raised up and go on your way, for your faith has saved you.” (Luke 17:19)

The Greek word, which you heard in the Gospel reading as, “Get up,” could also be translated as, “Be resurrected.” And the Greek you heard as, “made well” literally means, “To be saved.” Isn't that what we want more than anything in the world, the blessed assurance of being saved?

But what does that assurance look like? For nine of the lepers in today's Gospel, salvation was simple: relief from physical suffering and an assurance of “cleanness” under the Jewish law. But the tenth leper understood that to be saved is to be grateful for the blessings we have already received, and to go out in search of new blessings, trusting that Resurrection is the end of the journey.

“Ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance…” They know the law. Because of their skin disease, the local priest has classified them as “unclean,” and they must live apart from the community. And whenever they see somebody coming they must announce their uncleanness so that the stranger does not risk becoming “unclean” by merely getting too close to them. So the lepers approach Jesus, keeping their distance. But instead of warning Him, they beg Him…

“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” They beg to be cured, to be rendered “clean” in the eyes of the law and restored to the Jewish community. So “He said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’” Jesus doesn’t say to them, you are healed. He tells them to fulfill the law, to begin walking toward the priests, having faith that they will be healed somewhere along the way, and certified “clean” by the priests.

To the credit of all ten, they had enough faith to at least start the journey. “And as they went, they were made clean.” They were, indeed, cleansed. Their skin disease was cured. They were eligible for membership in the community of Israel again. But had they been made well? Had they been saved?

“Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice…And he was a Samaritan.” The outsider, who might not have been accepted by the Jewish priest, turns back in gratitude. But, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?” Jesus wonders. They are too focused on keeping the letter of the law to recognize the true Giver of blessing and healing.

“Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well,” or, “Be raised up and go on your way, for your faith has saved you.” Jesus doesn't promise the Samaritan that there will be no more pain, no more challenges, no more conflicts. As a Samaritan, he may still face exclusion from the community. But Jesus of all people knows that the road of Resurrection is hardly free of obstacles.

But I think Jesus understands that this outsider will rise and go on his way, ever thankful for Jesus's blessings; and assured that he will see signs of Resurrection along his way and the risen Jesus Himself at his journey's end. The Samaritan outsider is sure of his salvation; which is more than a certification of legal cleanliness, or the cure of today's malady, or an emotion that is here today gone tomorrow. It is based on a faith that looks back in gratitude for God's blessings, and looks forward trusting in God's promises.

Wherever his journey takes him, the Samaritan outsider is assured of salvation. May we get up, go, and embrace the same assurance.