In brief
The Samaritan leper is one of ten lepers whom Jesus heals on his way to Jerusalem, between Samaria and Galilee. Jesus sends them to show themselves to the priests, and they are healed along the way. Only one returns, glorifying God with a loud voice and falling at Jesus' feet to thank him: he is a Samaritan, a foreigner. Jesus tells him: “Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you.”
What does the name The Samaritan Leper mean?
The Bible does not give his name. Luke identifies him by his origin: “he was a Samaritan.” Jesus calls him “this foreigner” (Luke 17:18). The Samaritans, people of the region of Samaria, had no dealings with the Jews (John 4:9).
The story of The Samaritan Leper
Ten lepers at a distance
Luke 17:11-13Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem and passes between Samaria and Galilee. At the entrance to a village, ten lepers come to meet him. Excluded because of their disease, they stand at a distance and lift up their voices: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Among them is a Samaritan, joined to the others by the same distress.
Healed on the way
Luke 17:14As soon as he sees them, Jesus says: “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” According to the law, it was for the priests to confirm a healing. All ten obey before seeing any change, and it is as they go that they are cleansed. Their faith shows itself first in obedience to Jesus' word.
Only one comes back
Luke 17:15-16One of them, seeing that he is healed, turns back, glorifying God with a loud voice. He falls on his face at Jesus' feet and gives him thanks. Luke adds a telling detail: “he was a Samaritan.” The man the Jews kept at a distance is the only one to return to the one who healed him.
And the other nine?
Luke 17:17-18Jesus is surprised: “Weren’t the ten cleansed? But where are the nine?” He points out that only “this foreigner” returned to give glory to God. The nine received the miracle, but did not come back to the one who performed it. Jesus' question reveals how rare gratitude is.
Your faith has healed you
Luke 17:19Jesus says to the Samaritan: “Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you.” All ten were cleansed of leprosy, but this last one receives a word the others do not hear. By coming back to Jesus, he leaves not only healed in body but with the assurance of a faith that has saved him.
Test your knowledge
What The Samaritan Leper teaches us
- Gratitude is part of faith: coming back to Jesus to thank him is recognizing that everything comes from him.
- We can receive a blessing from God without drawing near to him; the Samaritan seeks the giver, not only the gift.
- God notices the gratitude of those we did not expect, the foreigners and the outcasts.
- Obeying Jesus' word before seeing the result is already an act of faith.
Key verses
The Samaritan is not content to be healed: he glorifies God with a loud voice and bows at Jesus' feet. His gratitude is public, humble and turned toward the person of Jesus.
Jesus notices the absence of the nine. Gratitude is no small matter to him: he expected those he had healed to come back and give glory to God.
All were healed, but only the one who returns hears Jesus say that his faith has made him well. Salvation goes further than the healing of the body.
Bible verses to meditate on
Sermons about The Samaritan Leper
- Luke 17: Silent Gratitude Looks Like IngratitudeThe preacher recalls that Jews and Samaritans were not friends, but leprosy had brought them together. Jesus' question about the other nine becomes personal: how often am I one of the nine?
- Thanksgiving, the Key That Unlocks the SupernaturalThe message sees in the Samaritan someone who recognizes that his healing was not a right but a grace. By coming back to give thanks, he receives a second word from Jesus: his faith has saved him.
- Come Back to Say Thank You and Walk in the Ancient PathsThe preacher stresses that the nine received bodily healing, but the one who came back received the word of salvation as well. He asks: are you among the one or among the nine?
- Disability in the Church: The Challenge of Brotherly LoveThe message cites this account to show that healing does not guarantee conversion: of ten lepers healed, only one comes back to give glory to God, and he is a Samaritan.
Frequently asked questions
Why did only one of the ten lepers come back?
The Bible does not say why the other nine did not return. It only stresses that one, seeing he was healed, came back to glorify God, and that he was a Samaritan. Jesus' question, “But where are the nine?”, shows that he expected this gratitude from all (Luke 17:17).
What does Samaritan mean in this account?
The word refers to an inhabitant of Samaria, a region between Judea and Galilee. Jews and Samaritans had no dealings with each other (John 4:9). Jesus calls this man “this foreigner”: by holding him up as an example, he shows that true gratitude can come from the person we least expected.
Where can I find the story of the Samaritan leper?
The account appears only in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 17, verses 11 to 19. It takes place during Jesus' journey up to Jerusalem, between Samaria and Galilee, just before his teaching on the coming of the kingdom of God.