Scripture Daily

Context No. 2953 of 4322 · Luke

Context · Reflection

Luke 17:17-21: in context

17Jesus answered, “Weren’t the ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18Were there none found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you.” 20Being asked by the Pharisees when God’s Kingdom would come, he answered them, “God’s Kingdom doesn’t come with observation; 21neither will they say, ‘Look, here!’ or, ‘Look, there!’ for behold, God’s Kingdom is within you.”

Ten lepers were healed, but only one came back to thank Jesus, and he was a Samaritan. Were not ten cleansed? Jesus asks. Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner? Then, to the man, rise and go; your faith has made you well. Later, asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus says it does not come with signs to observe; the kingdom of God is in your midst.

Two things stand together. All ten were healed, but only one returned to give thanks, and he was the outsider. Gratitude, it turns out, is rarer than blessing; nine received the same gift and simply went on with their lives. And the one who returned received something deeper, your faith has saved you, more than skin made clean. Then Jesus turns the kingdom question inward: it is not a spectacle to watch for out there, but a reality already present among them in his own person.

Am I among the nine who take the gift and move on, or the one who returns to give thanks, and do I look for God's kingdom in spectacles when it is already near in Christ?

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