NOTES for Luk 17:11-19

The lepers themselves turned to Christ for help; notice how the healing takes place: He immediately sent them to show themselves to the priest as testimony to their healing, according to the law of Moses. They set out before they had been cleansed, which was risky for them, but the lepers had the faith needed for healing. Their cleansing happened on the way, but once they had fulfilled the law's requirements, they immediately forgot to Whom they owed their healing and cleansing.

Only one man, a Samaritan, returned to Christ. Some think he returned because he could not go with the Jews to the priest in Jerusalem. But he could have gone to a Samaritan priest and likewise not returned, since nothing in the account suggests that he refused to fulfill the requirements of the law, which was fundamentally the same for Jews and Samaritans. Yet he alone returns, and Jesus notes that only he, despised by observant Jews for his different faith, gave glory to God.

The other lepers, who offered the prescribed sacrifices in the Temple, would surely have been surprised if they had been reproached for failing to give glory to God. Yet there are situations in which formal observance of rules may not be accompanied by a genuine turning toward God. Only to the one who returned does Christ say: your faith has saved you. The faith of the other nine was sufficient to receive healing, but apparently incomplete when it came to receiving salvation.