“Rise up, go your way. Your Jesus has saved you" Trinity 14 2024

01. September 2024

Trinity 14

Luke 17:11-19

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 “When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. 3 The priest shall examine the sore on the skin of the body; and if the hair on the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous sore. Then the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean. (Leviticus 13:1-3)

In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Thus begins two chapters in the book of Levitical law dedicated to rituals surrounding leprosy. The highly contagious disease is an attack on the life and well-being of God’s people. It must be contained and its spread limited, our God’s people could be decimated. And most importantly, this disease is an attack on the seed line of Jesus, the offspring of Adam, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and Judah. Thus, for a whole chapter, God gives by Moses rite, rules, and exclusions.

I’ll spare you all the gross specificity of the examination, but it’s the kind of talk you hear from the hospital nurse or the juvenile boy. Leprosy must be distinguished from burns, scrapes, sores, boils, eczema, and other non-leprosy symptoms. But finally, if found leprous, the consequences are severe.

“Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp” (Lev 13:45-46).

All his clothes are destroyed if they cannot be cleaned. “He shall therefore burn that garment in which is the plague, whether warp or woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of leather, for it is an active leprosy; the garment shall be burned in the fire… This is the law of the leprous plague in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or woof, or in anything made of leather, to pronounce it clean or to pronounce it unclean.” And not only the fabric but the home itself. God gives extensive details on how to physically and ritually exclude or cleanse the house where a plague of leprosy has spread.

But the Law also provides for restoration if healed and cleansed. In the second chapter, Leviticus 14, Moses gives “the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing.” They did not presume that leprosy was terminal and that God could not heal. Instead, very specific rites were given to cleanse and purify, both in the flesh and before God. They involved birds, running water, shaving all the hair, sacrifices of sheep, grain, and oil.

As we see throughout all Leviticus, there must be an atoning sacrifice with its blood shed to cover sin or the effects of sin in the case of leprosy. “Then the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean” (Lev 14:19-20).

“This is the law for any leprous sore and scale, for the leprosy of a garment and of a house, for a swelling and a scab and a bright spot, to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.” Two chapters of the Scriptures are dedicated to leprosy. They provide the context for today’s Gospel reading. God Himself is the giver of the laws dealing with leprosy. This law is given for our good, to preserve life and well-being. But obedience to the law doesn’t save anyone. Instead, it is the giver of atoning sacrifice who gives healing, restoration, and new life. And that atoning sacrifice is Jesus, the reality one recognizes in faith!

All ten lepers seek Jesus, who rightly stands afar off. We can hear them cry, “Unclean! Unclean!” as the law demands. But with loud cries, they add a new word, which Moses did not give in Leviticus. “They lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’” They confess that Jesus is the one who comes to give mercy, saving people from the captivity of sin and the effects of sin. Jesus hears their cries and sends them on their way with healing. “When He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.”

It all happens so fast. Jesus knows their needs and provides them well. He skips over all the Leviticus 13 medical examination. They are leprous down to what wispy hairs are left on their heads. He knows those, too. He had known them from before they were even a twinkle in their mother’s eye as he knit those lepers together in the womb. He knows all the sorry history of their catching this disease, all the trauma of suffering it, every pain and ache, all the shame and disgrace. He knows them and is there that day to heal them.

He leaves the examination and declaration of clean to the priests. He gave them that job, and they do it well. But then our story takes a turn. Nine of all those who were healed went their way, having received the good gift of healing but not recognizing the giver of the gift. They held Jesus in high esteem, calling Him the Master of Mercy. But there’s more to Jesus, and more is ultimately needed. We can live with leprosy, but we can’t live forever without resurrection.

When the ten show themselves to the priests, they trust Christ has sent them there so they may be found cleansed of their leprosy. Yet, when they are cleansed, nine of them are more attentive to themselves than to the One who gave back their life by freeing them from the death of leprosy. True thanksgiving always involves faith in the Giver. The Samaritan returns to confess that Christ is the Giver of life. His faith is not directed to his action of returning to the priests, but to Christ, who healed him. Christ's declaration that the Samaritan's faith has saved him tells us that his healing from leprosy only foreshadows the great gift of the resurrection when we will be freed from death itself. In fact, by not going to the Levitical priests, the Samaritan confesses that Jesus is the only Priest who accomplishes salvation.

One returns to Jesus in faith, praising God, that is, praising Jesus. He knows that Jesus is the only priest who can give him salvation. And this gift isn’t just for Jews under the law of Moses. The rules and rituals regarding leprosy have their place, preserving life and well-being. But the gift of new life in Christ is for Jews and Gentiles, even Samaritans, for all people, and comes apart from the law. Without faith in Christ as the only eternal Priest, we would be lost. As Jesus Himself says to the Samaritan, “Rise up, go your way. Your faith has saved you.” Or, as I remind you, faith in Jesus, thus literally, “Your Jesus has saved you.”

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guards your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School - Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin