On the way...

Luke 17:  11-19

Soda-Pop tastes much better in a glass bottle, and I remember walking an extra mile just to get a Pepsi in a glass bottle after my paper route in town every so often, into the late eighties, but I recall in 1985 finding a machine that sold pop in glass.  It was a great find in rural Maine along with three old fire trucks, both of which were at this local mechanic’s garage.  See we were heading  to Acadia National Park for a family vacation when our sedan began to smoke and we pulled to the side of the road.  This was not unusual and often my dad would get us on the road again, however this time it was clear that the radiator hose needed to be replaced.  After waiting to see if a trooper or someone would stop my pa jumped the fence and headed to the farmhouse to call for a tow.  Well it was stressful for the parents for we had to stay overnight in this small town waiting for this important part, but I recall having a great time climbing over the old fire trucks the mechanic maintained for local parades and enjoying the treat of pop in glass bottles.  This event became part of the story of this vacation which was actually our last vacation before my parents’ divorce.  It was a great vacation as I recall, even remembering a fight during the stay as well.  Yet the event of breaking down on the way help to define the reality that even through all the stresses of life including divorce, my parents were able to stay calm and  find joy for the children. 

Luke writes about Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem often (9:51; 13:31-35; 19:28) and this scripture is quite specific about traveling to Jerusalem.  This is the city “…that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” (Luke 13:34), this is where Jesus will be crucified and we will be saved.  This is the event that is essential to us as Christians.  And in this scripture Luke tells of two events that occurred “on the way.”  As Jesus traveled between Samaria and Galilee, he was approached by ten lepers, who did keep their distance.  They were following the rules for lepers as per Leviticus, keeping away from others in a group, and begging where travelers would pass.  They asked Jesus to have mercy on them and he did, telling them to go present themselves to their priests, they were healed as they went. All ten received this miraculous healing.  Now one of them we know was a Samaritan, and we assume the other nine were Jewish, we do know the other nine did continue to the priests to share their healing as Jesus had told them to, and as the Hebrew Scriptures would have commanded them so they could be examined and allowed to be part of society again.  Now the Samaritan that was healed was overjoyed and returned to Jesus to thank him.  Jesus does ask about the other nine and then makes it clear that this one that was praising God was a foreigner, a Samaritan.  And Jesus says to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”  Was not this Samaritan already healed with the other nine?  Of course, for that is why he returned to praise Jesus.  The verb, “made well” is usually translated as “to be saved,” which makes sense since the Samaritan was already healed, and thus his faith and belief ensures salvation, “made well.” 

This event on the way helps us to realize aspects of the Cross, the event in Jerusalem.   The Cross is a miraculous healing of everyone available to everyone.  It is not the physical healing as per these recorded events but a grace that is for the entire world and if someone, even someone out of the chosen people, has faith and praising God, salvation is achieved.  Thus the event of the Cross must be understood not simply as an event that could have occurred at anytime, but an accumulation of Jesus’ ministry, as well.  The Cross is where the rubber hits the road, and humanity knows atonement, but we do need Jesus’ entire ministry to understand and respond to this event in history and our lives.  We need not only where the tire meets the road, but also the radiator hose and the whole car, to get where we are going, as the journey helps us to understand our destination.