Luke 17:11-19 (NRSV)
Read Luke 17:11-19 on biblegateway.com
Verse 11On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. Verse 12As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, Verse 13they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Verse 14When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. Verse 15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. Verse 16He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Verse 17Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Verse 18Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Verse 19Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."
Devotion
What hurts? I think of a parent soothing a crying child, asking them to point to what it is that needs attention. Sometimes it's not just the scrape of a knee or a bump on the head which needs a healing touch. Sometimes the crying child needs compassion, or encouragement, or counsel. Not all the things which hurt us in this life are merely physical. They can have physical symptoms, but the deeper aches of our hearts need attentive healing as well.
All of our hurts can find a healer in a compassionate God. Just like the lepers in our story, Jesus healed not just their physical ailments, he also made them whole in restoring them to communities, and easing the ache which remained to make them well. Take a breath today, in your prayer point to what it is that aches as you hear a compassionate God asking, "What hurts?"
Prayer
God our parent, heal our wounds, those we see and those we cannot. May we turn to you knowing your compassion and your might to save. Amen.