Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men with a skin disease approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ (Luke 17:11-13 NRSVue)

These men were not simply ill. They were excluded. In the law of Moses, a “serious skin disease” meant more than discomfort. It meant exile, since the book of Leviticus commanded that such a person must wear torn clothes, let their hair hang loose, cover their mouth, and cry out, “Unclean, unclean!” They were to live alone, outside the camp (Lev 13:45-46). Their condition was not only physical but social and spiritual. They were cut off from family, community, and corporate worship.

And yet, here ten men with such a skin disease lift up their voices together and rather than crying, “Unclean! Unclean!” they shout, “Jesus, Master!” Ten voices with one desperate plea. And Jesus sees them. While others saw only their shame, Jesus saw their humanity. He tells them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”

Show yourselves to the priests

Why the priests? Because under the Jewish law, only a priest could examine and declare a person clean. Only then could they offer sacrifices and be offered life once again as members of the community. Jesus honors this law while also revealing something greater. He doesn’t heal at first. He sends them on their way, and as they go, they are cleansed. Healing comes on the heels of faith.

But this isn’t just another miracle story; there’s a twist: one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back. Once “unclean” he now praises God with a loud voice. He falls at Jesus’ feet, and gave thanks. And Luke adds, almost casually, “Oh, and by the way, that guy was a Samaritan.”

And he was a Samaritan

Why does Luke emphasize this? Because it is meant to shock. It would have been as unlikely for a Samaritan to go see a Jewish priest as it was for a Samaritan to be the hero of the story. Luke deliberately uses the figure of the Samaritan to provoke his audience, to make us jealous, to force us to ask, “If even one of those Samaritans recognizes God’s work, why don’t we?” The despised “foreigner” is the only one who recognizes Jesus’ power and praises God. The one people looked down on got it right.

This is Luke’s pattern: he highlights scandalous or marginal figures—widows, tax collectors, Samaritans—not to focus on them, but to show God’s surprising acts of grace and wake up comfortable “insiders” who think they’re already good. The healed Samaritan thus becomes a mirror. He shows us that the ones we least expect may be the ones who truly see God. And he shows us that giving glory to God is not about respectability or belonging to the right group or where you were born or where you currently live, but about falling at Jesus’ feet in worship and gratitude. It’s about being with him.

Yes, all ten men received healing, but this man received something more. Jesus says, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Ten were cleansed, but one was made whole. Ten reached out in need, but one reached out again in worship.

Jesus, the priest

Notice what he does: the healed Samaritan doesn’t go to a priest. Instead, he shows himself to Jesus, falling at his feet in worship. In doing so, he shows us the deeper truth: Jesus himself is the true priest who declares us clean, the true temple where God’s presence dwells, and the true sacrifice whose blood makes us clean again. His healing is more than eliminating disease; it’s restoration of the whole person so that those once cast out may now draw near and give glory to God.

Corrie ten Boom

One person who shows us what it means to be changed, embody gratitude, and give glory to God is Corrie ten Boom. During the Second World War, she and her family hid Jews in their home in the Netherlands, saving hundreds of lives. For this, she was arrested and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where her sister Betsie would later die. Corrie survived, and after the war she traveled the world speaking about God’s forgiveness.

In 1947, while speaking in a church in Munich, she saw a man approach her. To the crowd he was just another listener, but to Corrie he was one of the cruelest guards from Ravensbrück. Memories of the shower room, the mocking, and Betsie’s suffering flooded back. The man told her he had become a Christian, that God had forgiven him, and then he stretched out his hand: “Fraulein, will you forgive me?”

Corrie froze. Forgiveness seemed impossible. But she prayed, “Jesus, help me. I can lift my hand. You supply the feeling.” She reached out, and as she did, she reports feeling God’s love surge through her. With tears she said, “I forgive you, brother, with all my heart.” Later she wrote, “I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.”

That is giving glory to God; not just receiving mercy, but returning it in thanksgiving, in worship, in forgiveness. It’s recognizing God at work in the most unexpected if not despised places and despised foreign faces.

Where are you?

And so Jesus asks, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?” This is not a request for information. It’s not that he didn’t know where they were, but he longed for them to be made whole in his presence.

You see, nobody ever asked where these ten unclean, diseased men were. And if they did, it was only to keep their distance. But Jesus asks to draw them near. Where are they? They should be here… with me. It reminds us of Eden: Adam and Eve hid, and God called, “Where are you?” Nobody asked or cared where the lepers were, as long as they were far away. But Jesus recognized them. He saw them. He beckoned them near.

Corrie ten Boom discovered the same God who draws near when she faced the guard from Ravensbrück. Everything in her wanted to recoil, to keep her distance, and shout out “Unclean, unclean!” But when she prayed, “Jesus, help me,” and reached out her hand, she found herself drawn into God’s presence in a way she had never known before. In that moment of forgiveness, she gave glory to God; not by staying far off, but by drawing near.

Closing

And he asks the same of you today, Where are you? Not because he needs information, but because he sees your brokenness and wants to make you whole, so he can be with all of you, fully alive. He knows you better than you know yourself. He doesn’t need your praise or your faith; but he wants to be with you, since you were created for him. God is relationship, as witnessed by the Trinity we confess: God in three persons, eternal communion.

In Jesus, God’s kingdom is breaking into our broken world—not only making things well, but making us whole with him.

We who were far off from God are brought near.

We whom others considered unclean are made clean.

We who were separated from God by sin are brought near through faith.

We who were unwell are made whole.

We who had to cover our faces in shame now fall at his feet in worship.

We who once cried out in warning now cry out in praise, giving glory to God in his presence.

We who were clothed in rags of exclusion are clothed in robes of righteousness.

We who were lost to society are found in God’s kingdom community.

We who were foreigners are welcomed as friends.

We who were made to live on the outskirts are told to rise, to get up, and to go on our way.

And we who once approached God only in our need now fall on our knees in thanksgiving and praise.

Amen.

Works consulted

Arterbury, Andrew E. Reading Luke: A Literary and Theological Commentary, Reading the New Testament, 2nd Series (Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Incorporated, 2019), 133.

Boom, Corrie ten. 2014. “Guideposts Classics: Corrie Ten Boom on Forgiveness.” Guideposts, July 24. https://guideposts.org/positive-living/guideposts-classics-corrie-ten-boom-forgiveness/.

Faith, Kimberly. 2023. “Supernatural Forgiveness: Corrie Ten Boom; A Nazi Guard; And Freedom | Kimberly Faith.” GoFaithStrong, August 23. https://gofaithstrong.com/supernatural-forgiveness-corrie-ten-boom-a-nazi-guard-and-freedom/.

feelingalive. 2025. “The Story of Corrie Ten Boom and The Hiding Place.” Feeling Alive, February 19. https://www.feelingalive.in/the-corrie-ten-boom-story/.

Kawashima, Robert S. 2022. “Leprosy (Word Study).” Bible Odyssey, September 7. https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/leprosy-word-study/.

Palmer, Christine. “Leviticus,” in Genesis–Numbers, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. 1 of ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2025), 946.

Zangenberg, Jürgen K. 2022. “Samaritans in Luke.” Bible Odyssey, December 14. https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/samaritans-in-luke/.