Judas (not that one, but the other one!) reflects as Jesus begins the journey to Jerusalem:

Do you remember that story Jesus told a while back about a man who was mugged and how it was a Samaritan who came to help him?  Yes, a Samaritan!  I was as shocked as you are when I first heard it.  Still am, to be quite honest… how Jesus had a priest and a Levite just walk on by without lifting a finger, while the foreigner went out of his way to do what you’d think any good and godly person would do.   Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about that story recently.  Partly because of where we are, but mostly because I think I just saw that story lived out for real, right in front of my eyes!

Now don’t ask me where we were: It was somewhere back up the track where it runs close to the border with Samaria, that’s all I can tell you. We were wary when we saw them approaching; a column of about ten people walking our way.  The tension began to ease when we got close enough to see they were not wearing uniforms or carrying weapons.  (Not the usual kind of border patrol, then).  But it started mounting again almost immediately, when we realised that instead of spears, they held crutches and, instead of carrying arms, their arms were bound in layers of dirty bandages.  Lepers!  And a big gang of them!   Our senses became alert and panic started to rise. Whether or not this group intended us any harm, there was mortal danger here.

We were relieved to see that they stopped a way off, keeping to the rules about safe social distancing.  They haven’t always done that. (And neither, for that matter, has Jesus!)

Well, we stood and eyed each other nervously, wondering who would speak first.  It was them, of course. Across the divide, they identified Jesus and began calling out to him in one voice: “Lord Jesus, have mercy on us!”

He did, of course, but not in any way we have seen him do so before.  Previously, he has reached out and touched untouchables like these – demonstrating kindness and acceptance, as well as bringing physical healing.  Today there was no touch and no visible sign of a miracle; just the command to go and find a priest to show them selves to.  (In our society the priest who are the health inspectors.   They are the ones who have the skills to examine sufferers and the authority to declare a leper ‘clean’.  Only then are the poor souls allowed to come out of isolation and re-join their family, taking their place in society again.)

Amazingly, at his simple instruction, they left!  None of them hesitated or thought to question or complain.  None stopped to look down at themselves and see the scars still there.  They simply went to do what he said, even though there was no obvious evidence there and then to suggest a healing had taken place.

But on their way, something obviously happened, because one of them came running back, so excited and loudly praising God as he ran.  He didn’t bring his crutches with him this time.  Instead, he threw himself carelessly to the floor at Jesus’ feet, pouring out his gratitude repeatedly.

And, yes, that man was a Samaritan!

To be honest, I don’t know where the others came from, but I think it safe to assume they were a mixed group – normal boundaries falling away as they were brought together in a bond of common adversity. Jesus certainly made that assumption, because then he was angrily questioning why only this ‘foreigner’ had come back to say ‘Thank you’.

Now don’t get me wrong; by calling this man a ‘foreigner’, Jesus was not having a go at this man. Far from it!  He was having a go at us!  His target was the other nine, notable by their absence.  And through them: all of God’s people – not one of whom came back to him in gratitude.  It seems they had either got so carried away with their good fortune that they instantly ran home to their families (and who can blame them for that?) or else they had taken their healing for granted – as though it was theirs by right.

Like in the parable, God’s people did not come out of this well.  Jesus went to great lengths to point that out!  Once more we find ourselves shown up by a Samaritan– a despised foreigner – who acted as all God’s people should.  He alone gave thanks. And he alone received the full gift of Salvation.

Again, don’t get me wrong.  I don’t think any of the others had their healing reversed or anything like that.  Jesus would not be that vindictive!  Healing was his gift and he gave it freely.  But what this man received was something more.  In running back to acknowledge Christ as his healer, the man revealed a deeper healing and wholeness.  His heart was touched, as well as his body; and that’s what Jesus meant when he said that the man’s faith had made him well.

So, I find myself feeling challenged and more than a little disappointed in my own people.  I think it’s clear that Jesus must be disappointed in us too.  I have no doubt he is saddened by it.

But I’m also beginning to wonder why Jesus brought us down this path in the first place. There are other ways to get to Jerusalem, but he specifically brought us this way.  I’m thinking there is a reason for that; probably that Jesus likes walking on the borders where different races and people meet.  Yes, we are heading for the centre, but I think his heart is here at the edge.  His stories seem always to be about crossing boundaries:  The foreigner becomes his hero! The Outsider is praised and welcomed!  Now his actions prove it too.  His heart, clearly, heart is to include not to exclude. The only tension at the border, as far as he is concerned, comes from those who are afraid to follow his lead.