Jesus' cleansing of ten lepers is one of the miracles of Jesus reported in the Gospels (

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-vol ...

Narrative

Ten lepers, seeing Jesus, "raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Jesus healed all ten, telling them to, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." All left, but only one eventually returned, prompting Jesus to say: “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to praise God except this foreigner?”

Analysis

According to Berard Marthaler and

Herbert Lockyer Herbert Lockyer (1886–1984) was a minister and best-selling author of over 50 books, including the 21-volume "All" series.Meet Herbert Lockyer, http://www.christianbook.com/html/authors/3221.html He was educated at Glasgow Bible Institute, af ...

, this miracle emphasizes the importance of faith, for Jesus did not say: "My power has saved you" but attributed the healing to the faith of the beneficiaries.

Roger Baxter Roger Baxter (1784–1827) was an English Jesuit, a Catholic missionary in the United States, and Prefect of Studies at Georgetown College. Life Baxter was a native of Walton-le-Dale, near Preston, in Lancashire and studied at Stonyhurst Coll ...

in his ''meditations,'' notes that the lepers' prayer had three important properties, that are requisite to every good prayer: # They were humble, because "they stood afar off." # They prayed in harmony and zealously, "they lifted up their voice." This accords with Psalm 21: "when I cried to Him, He heard me." # They did not pray that he would restore them to health, but that "He would have mercy on them." Thus they left their situation to the will of God.

Cornelius a Lapide Cornelius Cornelii à Lapide (''né'' Cornelis Cornelissen van den Steen; 18 December 1567 – 12 March 1637) was a Flemish Catholic priest. He was a Jesuit and exegete of scripture. Life He was born at Bocholt, in Belgian Limburg. He studi ...

notes that the other nine lepers rejoiced at their cure, but were self-centered, and so went to the priests purely for the end that they might be "declared to be clean, and restored to the society of men," and thus they thought little of glorifying Jesus."

References

{{Authority control Miracles of Jesus Supernatural healing Faith in Christianity Gospel of Luke Leprosy

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Analysis

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References