Luke 17:1-19
Dear RTB’ers,
And [Jesus] said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:19) Jesus spoke these words to the Samaritan leper who had been cleansed. It had been faith in Jesus’ ability to heal him that had made him well: And as they were going, they were cleansed. (v. 14c) But notice – Jesus did not heal the ten “on the spot”. He only instructed them to Go and show yourselves to the priests. (v. 14b) All ten of them did as Jesus asked and were healed on the way. Presumably the nine continued on their journey to the priests, as instructed, to show themselves cleansed. Only the Samaritan returned. But were the nine wrong in not returning to Jesus? After their cleansing, unlike the Samaritan they continued to follow His instructions.
So, were the nine wrong in not returning to Jesus? They did what Jesus asked them to do. We don’t know if they continued on their journey to the priests, or if later they found Jesus and thanked Him, or they just rejoiced when they were found clean and continued on their merry way. I’d suggest that if they had continued on their way to the priests, then they had done what Jesus asked. But if they had gone that far, then the afterthought in their minds surely had to be thanking God for their healing. But clearly, as in the “Martha and Mary” story, the Samaritan had “chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from him.” (John 10:42b, slightly edited)
Blessings!