As he continued his journey to Jerusalem, he travelled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met (him). They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" And when he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?" Then he said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." (Lk 17:11-19)
Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. As he goes down to Jerusalem he is preaching about the kingdom of God and doing the deeds (miracles) of the kingdom of God and gathering people for the kingdom. The values that Jesus presents at this stage are also of significance.
Luke focuses on Jesus’ attitude to Samaritans. In the gospel of Luke we have a positive picture of the Samaritans in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37). Here again he presents another positive picture of them. Here the Samaritan is grateful compared to the Jews. Jesus has a positive view of a foreigner, an outsider than a Jew.
Being grateful reveals the faith of the individual. Jesus tells the Samaritan that his faith has saved him while the Samaritan had just expressed his thanks to him. So being grateful is expressing one’s faith. Being grateful is integral to the Christian life. “In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess 5:18). Thanksgiving is a foundational attitude and work of the Christian and the grateful people are saved (Read Col 3:15-17). We do pray in the Eucharistic prayer as follows: it is our duty and our salvation to give thanks. A grateful person is a saved person, is a believer, and is a Christian.
