Ten Lepers Healed

Healing of the Ten Lepers by James Tissot (1836-1902), Brooklyn Museum

Among Jesus’ miracles, the healing of the ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19) stands out for its apparent minimalism: the ten lepers are not healed in a demonstrative way. No one witnesses it: they are healed on the way to show themselves to the priests. The Apostles only know this because the one Samaritan who "glorifies God with a loud voice" returns and prostrates himself before Jesus. This raises questions for exegesis.

Yet, in Maria Valtorta, this episode takes on a prophetic meaning enlightened by the Samaritan’s discourse and Jesus’ words: the "foreigners," the pagans, have received the Word. After the Redemption, now near, which will remove the spiritual "leprosy," the era of their evangelization will begin.

Questions Raised by Exegesis

An Unusual Mode of Healing

The Gospel reports three healings of lepers: that of Mark 1:40-45 | Luke 5:12-16, that of the leper healed at the foot of the mountain (Matthew 8:1-4), and this one (Luke 17:11-19). Jesus asks the ten lepers to go see the priest, fulfilling the legal obligation, even though they are not healed and nothing (words or deeds) suggests they are healed. They are healed on the way.

A "Foreigner"

This is not a parable where roles might be assigned for the edification of listeners (e.g., the Good Samaritan). It is a real episode in which the only grateful one who returns to thank and praise God is a "foreigner" (verse 18). Why this uniqueness?

"Your faith has saved you"

The ten lepers are healed (verse 19), but Jesus specifies to the Samaritan: "Rise and go; your faith has saved you." Yet they all left on the authority of a simple word and were all rewarded. What, in this context, is the specificity of the "foreigner’s" confession?

The Comparative Approach of Luke and Maria Valtorta

In Maria Valtorta’s work, the episode takes place during one of the last apostolic journeys. In eight months it will be the Passion. Only Jesus knows this.

The Context

Meeting place of the ten lepers (EMV 483.7 - Luke 17:11-19)

As reported by Maria Valtorta with reference to John 7:1-10, Jesus, threatened with death, does not go publicly to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), but takes a detour. The usual route of pilgrims from Galilee crosses Samaria. The other route bypasses it via the Jordan Valley and Perea. Jesus is expected on both routes. Judas suggests a "ruse": taking the usual direct route by turning off at the entrance to Judea. This is done. The episode of the ten lepers is understood in this context of discretion.

The day before this meeting, a Samaritan shepherd saw his dying son healed from a distance. Jesus had remained incognito. The shepherd had confessed his faith in Rabbi Jesus, about whom he had heard. This conviction strikes the Apostles, who begin to look at the Samaritans differently.

While walking, the Apostles meditate on the journey they have taken since their meeting with Jesus, their transformation, their future mission as continuators, and especially the sufferings Jesus will have to endure as he has announced to them without fully understanding the meaning. They take stock of all this and doubt their ability to be up to the task: evangelizing Judea is not as easy as they thought.

The Plea

In Luke 17:13, Jesus is addressed with the title, rare in healing narratives, of "Master." The lepers recognize him as a Rabbi accessible to compassion and able to heal them. In Maria Valtorta, the address is stronger: "Jesus! Rabbi Jesus! Son of David and our Lord, have mercy on us." The ten lepers do not address just any Rabbi, but Jesus specifically. They recognize him as Messiah and "their" Lord. The Apostles themselves recognized him as "Master and Lord". The faith of the lepers is therefore strong, which justifies their setting out on the authority of mere words, without any act. It is a personal conviction that comes through in their second plea: "Jesus, have mercy on us!"

The ten lepers therefore leave, to the great relief of the Apostles: "You were right not to heal them. The villagers would never have let us go..." – "Yes, and we must reach Ephraim before nightfall."

The Return of the Samaritan

Suddenly the voice of "one of the lepers" is heard, and he begins to prophesy the advent of the messianic times to the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. The proclamation is full of references to Scripture:

"Praise to the Most High God and to His true Messiah. In Him is all power, wisdom, and mercy! Praise the Most High God, who, in Him, has granted us Peace. Praise Him, all of you, people of Judea and Samaria, Galilee and beyond the Jordan, to the snows of the very high Hermon, to the scorched stones of Edom, to the sands bathed by the Waters of the Great Sea; let praise resound to the Most High and His Christ. Here is fulfilled the prophecy of Balaam. The Star of Jacob shines on the restored sky of the homeland reunited by the true Shepherd. Thus are also fulfilled the promises made to the patriarchs! Here, here is the word of Elijah who loved us. Hear it, o peoples of Palestine, and understand it. One must no longer limp on both sides, but must choose the light of The Spirit, and if The Spirit is true, he will make a good choice. He is the Lord, follow him! Ah! Until now we have been punished because we have not tried to understand! The man of God cursed the false altar in prophesying: ‘Behold, from the house of David will be born a Son called Josiah who will offer sacrifice upon the altar and burn the bones of Adam. Then the altar will be rent to the bowels of the earth and the ashes of the offering will spread to north and south, east and west, wherever the sun sets.’ Do not be like that fool Ahaziah, who sent to consult the God of Ekron (Acharon) while the Most High was in Israel. Do not be less than Balaam’s donkey who by her respect for The Spirit of light deserved life, while the prophet who did not see would have been struck down. Here is the Light passing among us. Open your eyes, o Confessors of The Spirit, and see"

The Apostles who wanted discretion try in vain to silence him. The crowd gathers:

"And what do you want? That I do not glorify the great things God has done for me? Do you want me not to bless Him?" - "Bless Him in your heart and be silent," they reply, angry.     "No, I cannot be silent. God puts the words on my lips," and he loudly resumes: "People from the two borderlands, people passing by, stop to worship the One who will reign by the Lord’s name. I mocked so many words, but now I repeat them because I see them fulfilled. Behold, all nations move and come joyfully to the Lord by sea and desert paths, by hills and mountains. And we also, a people who have walked in Darkness, will walk towards the great Light that has arisen, towards Life, coming out of the region of death. Wolves, leopards, and lions we were; we will be reborn in the Lord’s Spirit and love one another in Him, in the shade of the Branch of Jesse made a cedar under which the nations camp gathered by Him in the four corners of the Earth. Here comes the day when Ephraim’s jealousy will end because there is no longer Israel and Judah, but one Kingdom: that of the Christ the Lord. Here, I sing the praises of the Lord who saved and comforted me. Here, I say: Praise Him and come drink salvation at the source of the Savior. Hosanna! Hosanna for the great things He does! Hosanna to the Most High who placed His Spirit among men in clothing of flesh, so as to become the Redeemer!"   

The Announcement of the Messianic Times

The displeased Apostles turn to Jesus: "But silence him, Lord. He is a Samaritan: people say so. He must not speak of You if You do not allow us even to go before You announcing You!" Jesus refers them to Moses rejoicing that Eldad and Medad prophesied in the camp. But He grants their request. The Samaritan throws himself at Jesus’ feet, who reveals to the crowd the meaning of the event: the advent of the messianic times that his own people have not received:

"Rise. And where are the others? Were there not ten of you? The nine others did not feel the need to thank the Lord. And what? Of ten lepers, only one was a Samaritan, and only this stranger felt the need to come back to glorify God before going to life and his family? And they call him 'Samaritan.' Aren’t the Samaritans no longer drunk since they see clearly and run unshakably on the way of Salvation? Does the Word then speak a foreign language if it is understood by foreigners but not by those of its own people?"  

The Samaritan, who asks for a new name, receives that of Ephrem: "Rise and go. Your faith has saved in you something more than your flesh. Advance in the Light of God. Go." [...] "And from now on you will be called Ephrem, because life has twice given you life. Go."     

It is in this context that the healing of the ten lepers takes on its prophetic meaning by introducing the prophecy of Ephrem, the grateful Samaritan leper. This "foreigner" is the only one to return, not simply to thank for his healing, but to publicly proclaim the advent of the Messiah whom he recognized. The prophetic meaning of this episode will truly emerge only after the Passion, which will remove the spiritual "leprosy" and open the era of evangelization to the "foreigners."

Notes and references

Note: Quotations from the work of Maria Valtorta on this page currently use machine-translated text and will gradually be replaced by the official English translation. Until then, the official translation may be consulted through the reference link provided with each quotation.

Analysis of the historical, cultural, and literary context of Biblical texts to better understand what they meant at the time they were written and how they can be interpreted today.

Name given to characters of the Old Testament who had a long life and numerous descendants: Ex: Abraham. By extension: Elderly man having great authority over his people and inspiring deep respect.