Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke.
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’s feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19)
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This is Part 1 of The Ten Lepers and Christian Xenophobia
The phrase that jumps out at me in this week’s reading is, “Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” One of Luke’s larger themes is opening up the early Jesus movement to a more diverse community than more Jewish people. From Luke chapter 4 all the way through to Pentecost in Acts are signs that, though the Jesus movement had deep Jewish roots, it would ultimately be composed of a much more multicultural community.
In fact, this story’s affirmation of the “foreigner” has a solid foundation in Jewish wisdom.
Consider the following passages from the Torah:
“Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21)
“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt . . . Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.” (Exodus 23:9, 12)
“The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:34)
“When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.” (Deuteronomy 26:12, cf. Deuteronomy 24:19-21, Deuteronomy 14:28-29)
“Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.” (Deuteronomy 24:17)
“And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:19)
“’Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.’ Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’” (Deuteronomy 27:19)
“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” (Deuteronomy 10:18)
If a fellow Israelite was plunged into poverty, how they treated foreigners was the standard by which they were to help their fellow native-born neighbors:
“If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.” (Leviticus 25:35-38, emphasis added.)
This all stands in stark contrast to the xenophobia so many in our American society today hold and act on. We’ll begin unpacking this in Part 2.
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