"Except this foreigner": An Ethnocentric Understanding of the Ten Lepers
En route to Jerusalem, Jesus had a surprising encounter with ten lepers when he passed through a land that was bordered by two enemy cities, Samaria and Galilee. It was one interaction that revealed the fallacy and the shortsightedness of "othering" people. Othering happens when some people or groups are defined and labeled as not meeting certain standards. It entails perceiving and treating those who are seen as part of the in-group differently, especially by disfavoring those seen as part of the out-group. Othering can take the form of deeply held ethnic, national, religious, gender, and even age-based sentiments, to mention a few. An othering mindset classifies people based on the narrowly conceptualized and homogeneous attributes of the group to which they belong.
To make the trip to Jerusalem, Jesus decided to take a route much hated by the Jews because of their disdain for the Samaritans. To get to Jerusalem, Jews of Jesus’ day chose the lengthier, twistier path east of the Jordan, through Peraea, instead of passing anywhere close to Samaria, which would be shorter. The Samaritans, abhorred by the Jews, are descendants of Jews who intermarried with foreign immigrants in Israel’s northern kingdom. After Israel’s northern kingdom fell in 722 BC., and the southern kingdom was crushed and scattered into exile, a remnant of the Jews who remained in the northern kingdom intermarried with foreign immigrants and continued to live in Samaria. Due to this new racial admixture, the Samaritans were no longer regarded as authentically Jewish and were despised by the majority of Jews. Even though their mode of worship was significantly similar to that of the Jews, Samaritans only regarded the first five books of the Old Testament as spiritually authoritative.
Being a manifest of God’s love for all His creatures, Jesus, unlike the Jews of his age, proceeded to take the shorter route to Jerusalem that saw him passing through the Jewish land of Galilee and the Samaritan land of Samaria.
"Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" The nationality of the lepers was not stated at this initial period. There was no need for differentiation as they were bound together by their leprous situation. It was a congregation of rejected souls who dared not come close to non-leprous human beings. As stated in the Law of Moses, a leprous person was subjected to the same fate of banishment among the Jews and Samaritans. The lepers shouted out to Jesus from the location where social distance placed them, asking him for healing.
The reference to Jesus as Master might have led him to think that the lepers were all Jews. After all, it was among the Jews that Jesus and his work were known. Jesus gave a typical Jewish response: "Go, show yourselves to the priests. And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed."
Here it becomes necessary to consider which priests the lepers went to. Did the Jewish lepers go to show themselves to the Jewish priests while the Samaritan leper went to the Samaritan temple? This is likely the scenario that played out, being that while the Jews worshipped at Jerusalem, the Samaritans worshiped at Mount Gerizim. So the assumption here would be that nine lepers went to the Jerusalem temple, while the Samaritan went to the sacred site of the Samaritans, Mount Gerizim.
The encounter continues, as narrated by Apostle Luke, "And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan." The lone Samaritan, on his way to Gerizim, noticed that he had been healed of leprosy and ran back to Jesus to express his appreciation.
On seeing a Samaritan, whom the Jews considered inferior, ill-bred social outcasts, being the one leper to display what is most pleasing to God, which is thanksgiving, Jesus was moved. "Were there not ten cleansed?" He asked rhetorically, "But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?"
Jesus's concern about returning to give thanks to God is obviously not in the number but in the nationality of the person who returned. God has made it clear through such parables as the Lost Coin and the Lost Sheep that He is not overly concerned with numbers. If it was about the number, Jesus would have stopped at "But where are the nine?" He might have added another sentence or two about how much of humanity does not know how to give thanks to God.
The last part of Jesus’ rhetorical question, "except this foreigner?" aptly captures the heart of His thoughts regarding the encounter. Here was a Samaritan who was not expected to be so ethical, to understand the depth of humanity and the richness of God’s love, as well as how to be in a relationship with God. Yet, it was he who returned to give thanks to God with a loud voice, with the same intensity he used in asking for help.
In this encounter, Jesus shatters the stereotypes of labeling and othering people, of categorizing ethnicities, nationalities and all other man-made boxes where people are placed and judged. The wisdom of the Samaritan leper earned him wholeness, which is a restoration of all the heinous scars left behind by leprosy.
Jesus’ interaction with the ten lepers in that particular location, a road rejected by other Jews teaches us to constantly tilt towards openness, non-judgment, love, and respect for all of humanity. By taking the hated road, Jesus displayed boldness and did not care about public opinion. We must learn to be bold in standing up for love, respect, and acceptance of all human beings. To accept where others judge, criticize, condemn, and treat with contempt.We must learn to dismantle walls we have been taught to build around people because of their ethnic nationality or other such yardsticks. Friendship, humanity, love, acceptance, and respect can come to us from the unlikeliest of places. God has no regard for ethnic nationalities or other man-made divisions.He loves and respects those who fear him and seek to do what is right in his eyes.
You may follow Dr. Chika Esiobu on social media @dr.chikaesiobu.