October 13, Ordinary 28C (Luke 17:11–19)
Maybe the lepers know that Jesus likes being in the borderland.
I think one of the most fascinating words in the English language is the word liminal. When you are in a liminal place, you are at a threshold. You’re past the first step but not yet at the next one. You are in the middle of things.
In this week’s Gospel text, Jesus is on his way to meet his fate on the cross in Jerusalem. Luke says he is “between Samaria and Galilee.” There’s a problem here, because there isn’t anything between Samaria and Galilee. It’s just a fancy way of saying that Jesus is at the border.
I grew up an hour from the US-Canadian border. Driving across a border is an interesting feeling. One moment you are here and the next there. You don’t get the same feeling when you are flying. When you cross at a land crossing, it’s like going through the looking glass into another reality—something that is familiar and yet very different.
