Do not chain the power of God through a lack of faith

Today’s Gospel contains a story that is unique to Luke (17:11-19), that of the 10 lepers who beg ­Jesus for healing. After they are cleansed, only one of them returns to Jesus to thank him for this great gift and express his faith in Jesus. That one is a Samaritan, which is nothing extraordinary to us, but for the ­people of Jesus’ day, those from Galilee and Judea, to cure a Samaritan and then to praise him publicly would have been shocking.

A Samaritan was considered a person of lesser status because the ancestors of the Samaritans were Israelites who had intermarried with foreign nations and introduced idolatrous cults throughout their territory. There was long-standing animosity between Jews and Samaritans. In fact, earlier in the Gospel of Luke (chapter 9), one of the Samaritan villages refused to allow Jesus to enter there, and the disciples, irate at the Samaritans’ inhospitality, ask Jesus if they should call down fire from heaven to destroy the city. Therefore, it is all the more surprising that several times in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus highlights the virtues of Samaritans, and here, for example, individually praises this man’s faith.

Jesus’ treatment of the Samaritan, however, is not without a foundation in the Old Testament, and his followers would have recalled the story of Naaman recounted in today’s first reading from the second book of Kings (2 Kings 5:14-17). Naaman was an official in the Syrian king’s army and, despite being a man of valor, was a leper. When he went to Elisha the prophet, he expected a mighty work, and instead Elisha simply told him to wash in the Jordan River. Naaman almost walked away, but his servants convinced him to take the prophet’s advice. He was healed, and out of that, became devoted to the God of Israel.

Naaman’s healing testified to God’s power and to his being glorified by foreigners. As the onlookers witnessed the Samaritan leper returning and glorifying God, they would have remembered the story of Naaman. Jesus’ power, like God’s power in the Old Testament, is not confined to Israel. He is God of all and has authority and power to cure whomever He wills whenever He wills. We are the ones who place boundaries and limits to God’s power through our lack of faith.

Saint Paul tells us in today’s second reading (2 Tim 2:8-13) that “…the word of God is not chained.” Paul is writing from prison to his fellow worker and disciple Timothy. Paul knows that he is nearing the end of his course; he wants to make it clear to Timothy that his suffering and chains are not a sign that invalidate the Gospel. Yet, there are times when the word of God and the power of God are chained. How? If we deny Jesus or are unfaithful to Him, we constrain and choke God’s power. Our human tendency to focus on our limitations and the limitations of other people; our expectations of how God should treat us and others — this is how we chain the word of God.

Jesus, on the other hand, never chains the word of God. He heals the 10 lepers with one word, “Go.” Only one returns, the Samaritan, and Jesus asks where the others are, showing this “return” to be the appropriate response to being healed. The Samaritan returns, glorifying God loudly, and throws himself at Jesus’ feet. ­Jesus then commends him not only for being grateful, but for his faith, for this is what prompted the right response in him.

Ingratitude perpetuates and increases ignorance of the Giver. It also denies God the glory due to Him.  Ingratitude chains the word of God and keeps us from bearing our share of suffering for Christ. Glorify God with all your heart, and do not chain the power of God through a lack of faith.