Open The Gospel – 12 October: Trinity 17, Luke 17.11-19

12 October: Trinity 17, Luke 17.11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, ¹³they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ ¹⁴When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. ¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? ¹⁸Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ ¹⁹Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

Things to think about with the child at the centre:

Activities

Play the Mummy game, where one person is wrapped up in toilet paper to look like a mummy – you could do this in teams and make it a race!
There is a suitable colouring page here
Three good craft activities here

Response

Leprosy was a really nasty skin disease which spread really quickly, so anyone with it had to live apart from everyone else. The rules were you couldn’t go back into society until you were healed, and the priest was the person who decided whether or not you were free from the disease.

Jesus sends these 10 people to the priests before they are healed, but when they got there they were healed. A Miracle!

But 9 of them were so excited and pleased that they went off to live their new lives without remembering what had happened. Only one comes back to thank Jesus – and look at what he says “You have been made well.” We might think that is the same as being healed – but Jesus means that the person has not just been physically healed, but has been made right with God – body, mind and spirit.

Recognising who Jesus is, and being “well” in our relationship with God, is much more important than just being physically healthy.

Prayer

Set up some prayer stations around the church

Plasters – write the name of someone who needs prayer for healing onto a fabric plaster (with a felt pen) and stick the plaster onto a board to make a collage of healing prayer
Thank you cards – write or draw onto a blank card about something you are thankful to God for doing in your life. Display the cards in church (perhaps hang them on a washing line)
Clean Stones – drop a stone into a bowl of water, to remind yourself that Jesus washes us clean from our sins, just like the lepers were cleaned of their skin disease.