Jesus Knows the Sting of Ingratitude

Tucked into Luke’s ten-chapter account of Jesus’s journey to Jerusalem is a narrative featuring ten lepers (Luke 17:11–19). Prevented by Jewish purity laws from approaching Jesus, those ten lepers call out to him from a distance, begging to be healed. Jesus agrees to their request with a Naaman-like test of faith: “Go and show yourselves to the priests” (verse 14). All ten lepers comply, discovering on their way that they have been cleansed.At this point, one lone leper chooses to defer his face