Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Leprosy is the dread disease of Bible times. There was no treatment and no cure. To have leprosy was basically a death sentence, even though it often took many years for the disease to run its course. But certain effects of leprosy were instantaneous. Immediately after being diagnosed, the leper was cast out of the community. To his family, he became as one already dead. The phrase “dead man walking” is used of a convicted criminal on his way to be executed. The same could have applied to a leper. Yes, he could still walk about for a while, but he was already as good as dead.

The Bible uses leprosy as a metaphor for sin. Our best minds can’t fix sin. The doctors and scientists have no treatments and no cure. To be a sinner is to live under the sentence of death. Remember what God said would happen if Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? “The day that you eat it, you will surely die.” They ate it, and what happened? Did they die that day? Yes, they did. They were immediately cast out from the community of God. They were cut off from the Source of Life. While we know that Adam lived to the age of nine-hundred and thirty, he was a dead man walking.

But on the same day that Adam and all his unborn descendants fell into sin, God promised to send a Savior to cure the human race. Again, and again, the Lord repeated his promise through the prophets, “I will sprinkle clean water up you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness” (Ezek 36:25). “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness” (Zech 13:1). When God gave his Law through Moses, he included a provision for the cleansing of lepers. This was in itself a prophecy about Jesus, the coming Savior. Human efforts could not cleanse the leper or the sinner. Only God could do these things. As the centuries passed, there were many lepers in Israel, and none of them was cured. But even so, the faithful believers lived in hope, waiting for the promised One who would pour out the living water that cleanses from sin and death.

The ten lepers in the gospel of Luke are an example of faith to us. They came to Jesus, as close as they dared to the edge of the village, and shouted out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Their first act of faith was to believe that Jesus was master over sickness and death. Second, they also believed that Jesus wanted to be gracious to them. This is the faith that the author of Hebrews speaks of in chapter 11: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb 11:6). It’s not enough to believe that God has all the power. The devil also believes this. True faith believes more: God has all the power, and he is on our side. He desires to bless and not to punish. He wants to show mercy. This is the faith that brought the lepers to Jesus crying out, “Have mercy on us.”

And in mercy, Jesus does something they didn’t expect. I’m sure they knew about the time Jesus had healed a different leper. He touched the man and said to him, “Be clean!” Perhaps these lepers expected Jesus to do the same for them. But Jesus rarely does what we expect him to do. Instead, he does more. The lepers wanted physical health, but Jesus wanted to give them an even greater treasure. And what is that? Tell me, what is the greatest treasure that you possess on this earth? What is the inheritance that you desire most of all to pass on to your children and grandchildren? Health and beauty are nice, but they don’t last. Power, prestige, and happiness come and go. Physical possessions have no eternal value. What else is there? What gift do you possess that truly matters? Your faith in Jesus. That is the treasure above all treasures. And that is what Jesus desired to give to the lepers, in addition to their cleansing.

Yes, they already had the seed of faith. That’s what brought them to Jesus in the first place. But he wanted that seed to take root and grow up to eternal life. So, how does Jesus strengthen their faith? The same way an athlete strengthens and trains his body—by testing it and pushing it to the limit. So, what did Jesus do? Not what they expected. He didn’t go to them, touch them, and say “Be healed.” Instead, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests” (Lk 17:14). This what the Law of Moses prescribed for a leper who was cleansed—not that it had ever happened in the hundreds of years between Moses and Christ. And then Jesus entered the village and left the lepers standing there. Imagine what was going on in their minds. “Go show what to the priests? Do you still have leprosy? Are you still unclean? Yep. Me too.”

Perhaps some of the lepers began to doubt Jesus. He didn’t do anything to help me, and now he’s gone. He said some words, but I still have leprosy. Nothing has changed. Why didn’t he stop? Why didn’t he cleanse me? Why doesn’t he care? And here we see the connection between leprosy and sin. Just like the lepers, you have come to Jesus crying out for mercy. And Jesus gave you words, words that say, “Your leprosy is cured. Your sins are forgiven. You are clean. Go in peace.” But there seems to be a discrepancy between what Jesus says and what your eyes tell you. “What does he mean, ‘I’m clean?’ I still have leprosy. I can see it plain as day, just as the lepers could still see the sores on their bodies.” Jesus said that you are clean, but have you noticed that you still sin, in thought, word, and deed? Jesus’ words say that you are righteous, but your sins tell you that you still have leprosy. Who then do you believe? Will you believe what you hear, or will you believe what you see?

The life of the Christian is the life of faith. As our faith grows, we learn to trust what we hear from Jesus, even when it seems to contradict the reality that we see. This is the treasure of faith that God gives to his children, and it’s the reason he doesn’t do things the way we might want. Wouldn’t it be nice if baptism instantly cured you from all sin forever? “Come to the fountain of living water and never think an evil thought ever again. Come and be made visibly clean in every measurable way. Come to Jesus and see him revealed instantly in all power and glory.” And then we would have no need of faith, and without faith no one can be saved.

Instead, Jesus gives us his Word that makes us clean, and then sends us on our way. We can’t see his promises. We can’t see the reality that exists before God in heaven, the only reality that actually matters. Instead, we still see our leprosy, but just like the ten lepers, we go on our way, trusting in Jesus and his word. Martin Luther said, “When I look at myself, I don’t see how I can be saved. But when I look at Jesus, I don’t see how I can be lost.” This is the faith that saves. My sins tell me that I am unclean, but Jesus tells me that I’m forgiven. I trust his Word. It would be nice if we could see the finished reality that God already sees, but between baptism and heaven we must be content to rely on his promises. And so, we go on our way, knowing that God is at work in our lives, creating and strengthening that most precious treasure, our faith. Let us close with the prayer found in the first chapter of St. Peter’s first letter to the church: “May the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7). Amen.