Freedom from the Law

Homily for Wednesday of the Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

The story that we hear in today’s Gospel text is so familiar that we may possibly miss some of the nuance that Saint Luke includes in his version of this episode. The other synoptic Gospels include stories of Jesus healing lepers. However, Saint Luke tells us that it was a group of ten lepers that sought Jesus’ pity. He also tells us that one of the ten was a Samaritan. This is a significant detail. The Jewish men were unable to pray in groups of less than ten. Such groups were called a minion. The nine Jewish lepers would ordinarily have excluded the Samaritan leper from their group; however, he is included because they needed his presence in order to form a minion.

Another detail to which we must pay attention is the fact that Saint Luke tells us that after Jesus had told them to go show themselves to the priests, they had been healed as they were going to fulfill this requirement. It was while they were in transit that they realized that they had been healed.

Only one of the healed lepers returns to give thanks. Many commentaries point out the fact that the other nine have failed to give thanks for their healing. However, there is another factor at work here. Showing themselves to the priests was a necessary step in order for them to return to society. A declaration of their ritual purity was necessary before they were able to return to their families, engage in commerce, or enter the temple or synagogue. However, the Samaritan would not be bound by the same requirements. He was free to return to Jesus because, as a Samaritan, he would not have been accepted by the priests in any event.

We are all fairly aware of the fact that St. Paul refers to the Law as something that enslaves the Jews. He maintains that through the death and resurrection of Jesus they have been saved by their faith. The nine who failed to return were bound by the Law. They really had no choice to return to Jesus. There healing would not be complete until they had been examined by priests and declared clean. They lacked the freedom that the Samaritan enjoyed.

Consequently, this particular telling of the story by Saint Luke, a Gentile evangelist, points out the difference between the Jewish and the Samaritan lepers. He knew what it meant to be excluded, to live on the peripheries. While the Samaritan had been included because the other lepers needed him, now that they had been healed, the Samaritan was no longer needed to complete their group. Jews never mingled with Gentiles, never entered their homes nor entertain them in their own homes. As someone who had been excluded by the Law, Saint Luke makes sure that we understand exactly what has gone on through this healing miracle. This is not to gainsay the thanksgiving that the Samaritan displays; however, it does explain why the other nine have not returned.

Yesterday’s reading from St. Paul’s Letter to Titus suggested the need to learn the power and effects of the life lived in constant thanksgiving. Today’s excerpt from that same text reminds us that not only should we give thanks for our lives but also for our salvation through faith.