October 9, 2022, Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
Today’s readings from 2Kings (2 Kgs. 5:14-17) and the Gospel of Luke (Lk. 17:11-19) both deal with the ancient skin disease known as leprosy. This was a very serious disease, very contagious and potentially fatal. The physical ramifications were horrendous, attacking the body, leaving sores, missing fingers, missing toes, and damaged limbs. There was no hope for a leper. Nothing short of a miracle could bring a cure. It was an experience of pain and misery just waiting to die and the disease could take thirty years to run its course.
The contagiousness and stigma of the disease caused lepers to be excluded from their communities. For the Israelites this meant exclusion from worship, from all social events, and even from their families because it rendered them “unclean.” Excluded from the community, they were forced to live in camps called “leper colonies” on the outskirts of town or in the wilderness.
And for the Jews at the time, it was not only a horrible, painful disease, it was also a sign of punishment from God. The person who contracted the disease had deserved it because of some fault or sin the person had committed and thus was stricken by God.
The laws of ritual purity, regulating what was considered clean versus unclean, particularly ordered the daily lives of the Israelites as an aspect of their continued holiness. Being “unclean” was a word which indicated that a person was impure due to an illness or other action, particularly eating unacceptable food or contact with bodily fluids or death.
In order to be cleared for worship or social participation the “unclean” had to be made “clean” to be acceptable for entrance back into society. In the case of leprosy, an Israelite had to go show him or herself to the Temple priest for an examination to ascertain if the sores covering the body had been cleared up. Then after bathing and performing certain purification rituals they would be rendered “clean” and acceptable ritually and socially.
One unusual aspect which the two passages we read today share is the fact that two of the lepers healed were non-Israelites who sought healing from a Jewish prophet. In the First Reading we are introduced to a man named Naaman who was the army commander of a nation known as Aram which was periodically at war with Israel.
Naaman had everything a person could want in those days – prestige, power, wealth, and respect. But one day he contracted leprosy, and his world began to collapse. He was on the verge of losing everything when a young servant girl in his home, who happened to be an Israelite, suggested he go and see the Jewish prophet known as Elisha. He had been known for curing many illnesses.
When Naaman went to Elisha, the prophet instructed him to go plunge himself in the Jordon River seven times. After this, Naaman was cured of his leprosy. He was so thrilled that he wanted to thank Elisha by giving him a gift to show his gratitude. But Elisha refused to take anything as a reward. However, Naaman proceeded to make an oath to Elisha. As a pagan he had come to recognize the one, true God of Israel and he vowed, “I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except to the LORD.” (2 Kgs. 5:17).
In the Gospel we see something similar occur. Jesus was continuing his journey to Jerusalem when he was met by ten lepers. They raised their voices pleading, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” (Lk. 17:13). When Jesus saw them, he told them to go and show themselves to the Temple priests so they could be examined for healing. As the lepers were traveling one of them realized that he had been healed so he returned and fell at the feet of Jesus, thanking him for what he had done. Especially notable was the fact that this man was a Samaritan, a group of people whose religious practices caused them to be involved in a bitter feud with the Jews. Yet, Jesus recognized that it was only this foreigner who had returned to thank God. For this gracious display toward the Son of God, Jesus told the man, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” (Lk. 17:19)
The message is clear in these two stories. Both men were extremely grateful for what God had done for them, but more significant was the fact that the incident caused a conversion to occur for both of them. The ramifications of a deadly disease for both of them turned out to be a path toward faith and a road to salvation.
This is a lesson for all of us as well. Obviously we should be grateful to God for all that He has done for us. But what is most critical is that in both good times and bad, we cling to our faith in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. For it is by grace that we have been saved through faith, and this is not from ourselves; rather it is the gift of God. (Eph. 2:8)
