NOTES for Luk 17:11-19

The lepers themselves turned to Christ for help, and let us note how the healing takes place: He immediately sent them to show themselves to the priest as a testimony of the miracle, as the law of Moses required. They set out on the journey without yet having been cleansed, and this was risky for them, but these people had the faith necessary for healing. The cleansing happened on the way, but, having fulfilled the prescriptions of the law, they immediately forgot to Whom they owed this gift.

Only one, a Samaritan, returned to Christ. Some believe that his return was caused by the impossibility of going together with the Jews to the Jerusalem priest, but he could have gone to a Samaritan one and also not returned, since it does not follow at all from the story that he refused to fulfill the prescriptions of the law, which basically coincided for Jews and Samaritans. But here he alone returns, and Jesus notes that only this man, despised by orthodox Jews for his heterodoxy, gave glory to God. The other nine, offering the prescribed sacrifices in the temple, would surely have been surprised if they had been reproached for refusing to give glory to God. But there are situations when behind the formal observance of rules there might not be a genuine turning toward the Creator. And 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 for receiving salvation.