Gospel in Art: Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.

Christ and the Lepers, by Gebhard Fugel, 1920. © Wikimedia, Diözesanmuseum Freising

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 13 November 2024
Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered one of the villages, ten lepers came to meet him. They stood some way off and called to him, 'Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.' When he saw them he said, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.'

Now as they were going away they were cleansed. Finding himself cured, one of them turned back praising God at the top of his voice and threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan. This made Jesus say, 'Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.' And he said to the man, 'Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.'

Reflection on the painting

In today's Gospel, ten lepers approach Jesus, crying out, 'Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.' Moved by their plight, Jesus heals them all. However, only one of the ten, a Samaritan, returns to thank Jesus and glorify God. The other nine, distracted by the joy of their newfound health, neglect to express their gratitude. This story illustrates how easy it can be to forget God's role in our blessings when life improves. Sometimes God's greatest gifts to us can separate us from God when we fail to recognise who gave us these gifts in the first place.

While all ten lepers received physical healing, only the Samaritan, who turned back to give thanks, was told by Jesus, "Your faith has saved you." This highlights that while God may bless us with physical gifts, the deeper gift of salvation comes through faith and a sustained relationship with God, in both sickness and health. It is the outsider, the Samaritan, who reminds us to keep God at the centre of our lives, not just in times of need but through every blessing we receive.

In our painting by Gebhard Fugel, the lepers take centre stage. they are the closest to us, the viewer. It makes us identify with them. They are reaching out to Jesus, literally. Their hands and arms are wrapped in bandages, hiding their leprosy. We can't see their faces, they are us. Fugel was a German painted, very much influenced by the works of the Nazarene movement, an early 19th-century movement of German Romantic painters who aimed to revive spirituality in art. The principal motivation of the Nazarenes was a reaction against academic, secular art. They hoped to return to art that embodied spiritual values, and sought inspiration in artists of the Late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, rejecting what they saw as the superficial virtuosity of later art.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-17-11-19-2024/