Why does Jesus keep his distance from the lepers and heal them as they're walking away?
By Tony Jones
Gospel Reading: Luke 17: 11-19
For Sunday, October 10, 2010 - Year C, Ordinary 28
From a ways off, the team o' lepers shout to Jesus, asking for his help. We'd like to think that Jesus would call lepers over to him, that he'd touch them (or allow them to touch him), like he does with the Hemorrhaging Woman, the Blind Beggar, and the Poor and Lame all around him.
A 'High-Touch' Savior?
We like to think of Jesus with kids in his lap and lost sheep over his shoulders. He's a hugger, just like your pastor in the narthex on Sunday morning. Seriously, how many times have we heard that people today lack human contact, that they need more touch. And we'd like to think that Jesus -- and, by extension, followers of Jesus -- would provide that to a [insert Christian euphemism here] lost and hurting world.
Lepers! That's the perfect biblical metaphor for touching the untouchables. Mother Theresa did it all the time, shocking visitors to Calcutta by providing loving touch to lepers without any fear of contracting the horrific disease herself.
But Jesus doesn't call the 10 Lepers over to himself. He doesn't walk over to them. Instead, he keeps his distance and tells them to go see the priests. As they're walking away, they are healed of their leprosy (presumably by Jesus, though the text doesn't say that exactly).
A Dehumanizing Text?
One of the things I like most about the miracle, and the reason that I think they're so important to the Jesus narrative, is that Jesus repeatedly re-humanizes persons who have been dehumanized by the religious authorities of the day. Be they paralytics, blind men, or bleeding women, Jesus touches and heals those who are considered unclean and thus unworthy of worshiping the Lord in the Temple. By healing them, Jesus is restoring them to fullness and, most importantly, to Temple worship.
But it seems less than humanizing that Jesus doesn't approach the 10 Lepers. Then he heals them as their backs are turned to him, as they're walking away.
When only one comes back to express his gratitude, Jesus is torqued off that the other nine are ingrates. But maybe they're just pissed that Jesus didn't touch them.
The Hardest Question
Why does Jesus keep his distance from the lepers and heal them as they're walking away?
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Tony Jones is the author of many books, including The Teaching of the Twelve: Believing and Practicing the Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Community. He blogs at The Tony Jones Blog. And he's teaching a D.Min. cohort on Christian spirituality at Fuller Theological Seminary beginning in 2011.
