“TEN DEAD, TEN ALIVE, BY THE ONE CHRIST”
Saint Luke 15: 11-35
14th Sunday after Trinity: 2 September Anno Domini 2018
Father Jay Watson SSP
Unless you have leprosy, this morning’s Gospel does not apply to you. Oh, really? It happened. The Church teaches that The Christ by His will, by His Word, His words spoken and His Nature—The Word/Logos/2nd Person of The Godhead—made Flesh, simply healed the flesh of ten men who had been cursed with leprosy. Does it have a greater meaning? Is it wrong or sinful to look for a deeper resonance or a direct “how does this apply to me” kind of relevance?
You been told before, and you know, that Jesus did not heal every single leper that lived in Israel. So, all of the “why nots” can apply “back then” as well. And as for direct application, reaching through the centuries from Judea to Kansas, you also note well, very well, that Jesus does not heal all of the diseases and sicknesses here either.
So, the easy and logical way to unpack the text is to entirely spiritualize it. Leprosy is like sin. And just like following the 10 (there’s that pesky number again, 10, either random and coincidental…or not), but just like obeying The Commandments can’t cure leprosy, following the 10 Commandments can’t forgive sins. But few people feel the weight, burden, shame, and horror of their sins. Luther did. You’re probably not Luther. So, if Saint Luke’s blessed and most Holy words are merely spiritual and mental philosophical gymnastics: “think real hard about How The Lord forgives you” then pffftt…. yeah, that’s okay. I can ask for forgiveness when I FEEL I need to; when I’m scared…maybe when I’m driving my car, fishing, out mowing the lawn, or during a commercial break while watching the game. Or, I can “remember” my Baptism, which I’ve done several time in my life, or I can come to church once in a while. No. There’s more going on here.
Jesus is life. Not the force of life but life. Jesus as God the 2nd Person, the Word, existed before you, before Luke, before the 10 lepers, before the world, before anything. Jesus the Word made all things that were made. He breathed life into the mud (which He made) and made Adam perfect and leprosy free. There was no leprosy or cancer or arthritis or Lyme. They were told, Adam was told as Pastor, that in the day “you eat from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall die.” Adam chose to rebel against God. Adam sought to kill the Father. He did not die in the 24 hour “day” of the trespass. He died some 900 years later. He did not return to the dust of the ground from whence he was created for 9 centuries; but he did. Even greater than God’s Law is God’s Gospel. Justice is swallowed up in mercy. Vengeance and Righteousness is covered over in Blood—not of Adam, The Lepers, or you, but of Jesus. Jesus, long suffering and patient, desiring to gather all the chicks under His wings.
Why ten? Did it have to be ten lepers? I dunno. Tell me why that matters to you. Why didn’t Jesus heal every single Leper ever; why doesn’t He heal all of you, all of us; why did He permit Adam to sin; why are some saved but not others? Why do we have to wait?
Look to the Holy Crucifix, look to the wounds of Christ The God/Man and what He suffered and paid for you, and then see if your questions should be pursued.
We wait. We wait in Faith given by The Spirit. We wait surrounded by The Word of Jesus. All “10” of us here this morning called by The Holy Ghost even as we were first called to the cool waters of the font years ago, WAIT. Waiting is a manifestation, a fruit of Faith. Clutching The Word and waiting is a first-fruit gift of Peace from Christ’s Blood and Word.
You, as pagan, did not live forever. You died in Baptism. You, as struggling and diseased disciple, don’t live forever. You will die when it is God’s time, not yours, not ours. But again, Jesus doesn’t just live forever more, Jesus IS LIFE. Jesus doesn’t just bring back from the dead Jesus destroys death itself. You’re just thankful that one day He gave a glimpse of what His future Cross would do for all futures, when He cleansed 9 Jews and 1 Samaritan. Things are in flux. The signs are all around. Evil and contagion and rot and the grave think they still have a chance…but that’s only because their master, the “old ancient foe,” is an idiot and a coward. The Prince of Peace is here. Leprosy loses, congestive heart disease loses, appendiceal Cancer loses, ALS, strokes, Alzheimer’s, and all the rest lose because Jesus wins. Look to Him. Listen to Him. Feast upon Him both really, and in Faith, believing His words: “give and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” For where there is forgiveness of sin there is life and salvation.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of The Holy Ghost
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