An “Enemy” Healed, God Is Glorified—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 4C/Proper 9 (2 Kings 5)

 

2 Kings 5:1-17 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

5 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from a skin disease. ² Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his skin disease.” ⁴ So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. ⁵ And the king of Aram said, “Go, then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”

He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. ⁶ He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his skin disease.” ⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his skin disease? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”

⁸ But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and would wave his hand over the spot and cure the skin disease! ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. ¹³ But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

¹⁵ Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.” ¹⁶ But he said, “As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing!” He urged him to accept, but he refused. ¹⁷ Then Naaman said, “If not, please let two mule loads of earth be given to your servant, for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god except the Lord.

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                We live at a time when across the United States masked men are taking captive people. They don’t bring with them warrants or identify themselves. They may have vests with the word “police” on them, but are they police? They are entering businesses, homes, and even churches, taking away people, sometimes citizens. The government says they are seeking out dangerous criminals, but sometimes they take the wives of pastors and nursing mothers who are married to US servicemen. You might be wondering why I’m leading this lectionary reflection with this reminder of what is happening in the United States. It is a good question. The reason I’ve chosen to do this is that the passage hints at a key biblical theme, which is welcoming the stranger, and even loving not only one’s neighbor but one’s enemy. Shouldn’t that message embed itself in our Christian lives?

                During this season after Pentecost, the first several readings from the Old Testament come from the books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings. The central figures in these stories are not the monarchs, who are at best inept, but two prophets—Elijah and Elisha. In our previous reading from 2 Kings 2, we witnessed the departure of Elijah into the heavens, while his assistant took up his master’s mantle. Like his mentor, Elisha is a miracle worker. He is also known to spend time in foreign lands, blessing the people there, including the son of the Shunamite woman, whom Elisha raised from the dead (2 Kings 4:8-37). In this reading, the central figure is the leading general of one of Israel’s enemies, the kingdom of Aram in Damascus.  This general’s name was Naaman, and he had a skin disease.  

                The chosen reading ends in verse 14, but the story ends in verse 17, so I am including the full text. What is interesting here is that not only is Naaman a great military commander who stood in high regard with his master, the King of Aram, but his victories resulted from the influence of the LORD, that is Adonai (Yahweh). Yes, Adonai benefited an enemy king. It’s a common story in which the LORD uses foreign enemies to discipline God’s people. Despite this blessing and the general’s prowess as a commander, he suffered from a skin disease, often designated as leprosy. In the modern world, leprosy is a name given to a specific skin disease (Hansen’s disease), while in the ancient world, leprosy covered a variety of afflictions. Although Naaman was afflicted with a skin disease that didn’t prevent him from leading the army of the king of Aram.  

                The narrator next introduces a new character, a young Israelite girl who had been taken captive by Naaman during one of his raids on Israel. This girl served Naaman’s wife, which itself raises important questions about war, captivity, and even slavery, all of which were commonplace in the ancient world. As they say, “to the victors go the spoils.” This girl was one of the spoils. It does appear that this girl had made her peace with her situation and had some kind of affection for the family that held her captive. This girl intervened in the general’s situation. Recognizing that he was afflicted with a skin disease, the girl offered a solution to his problem. That solution involved a Jewish prophet named Elisha. The girl suggested to Naaman’s wife that he would benefit from a visit to this prophet living in Israel. If only he could visit the prophet Elisha, then he would be healed. Of course, that meant a visit to enemy territory.

                Despite the challenges facing him, Naaman decided to go for it. He appealed to the king of Aram, who sent a letter to the Israelite King asking for assistance. As for Naaman, he understood that gaining healing would be expensive. Medical care was expensive then, just as it is expensive today. Fortunately for Naaman, he had the money to pay for the cure. So, with the permission of the King of Aram, Naaman set out on a journey to Israel, hoping to gain an audience with this Jewish prophet that the slave girl believed had the power to heal. Believing that money bought healing, he took with him large amounts of money and clothing, hoping that these goods might buy him a cure. That is the way the world works.

Now, if you were a foreign general who had led numerous raids on the land of Israel, you would want to do more than bring money to pay the doctor’s bill. You would probably want to check in with the king of Israel. If you’re the king of Israel, you’re probably unsure about the prospect of meeting a successful enemy general. That this general was coming to your land to gain healing made this an even more challenging situation. Naaman brought a letter to the King of Israel from his king. It declared: “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his skin disease.” As you can imagine, the king was not happy with this situation. How was he going to cure the general’s leprosy? This was not part of his job description. So, he tore his clothes as a sign of grief and concern for his own safety. He told whoever was willing to listen, even God:  After all, how would Naaman respond if the king couldn’t heal his body?   

When Elisha heard about the king’s predicament, he sent word to the king of Israel, asking him to send Naaman to him. I’m sure that the king breathed a sigh of relief, since by sending Naaman to Elisha, he was freeing himself from responsibility for having to provide healing to his enemy. That would be Elisha’s responsibility. As for Elisha, he wanted his neighbor to know that there was a prophet of God living in Israel. So, the king sent Naaman to Elisha with his chariots and horses. He stopped at the front door of Elisha’s house. As for Elisha, he simply sent word to the general, giving instructions about the healing process. But he didn’t go out to greet the great man. He stayed inside his home. This response didn’t make Naaman happy. After all, he was a great man and deserved better treatment. Surely, Elisha could take the time to greet the general. As for the process of healing, well, that didn’t make sense either.

Elisha instructed Naaman to go down to the Jordan River, the same river Elijah and Elisha had crossed earlier, and that John the Baptist would use for his baptismal ministry, and wash himself seven times. When Naaman heard this, he got very upset. Didn’t Elisha know who he was dealing with? The general felt insulted since Elisha didn’t have the courtesy to come out of his house and perform a healing ritual. Surely Elisha would stand before Naaman, call on the name of the LORD God, ask for healing, and wave his hands over Naaman’s body. But no, he told Naaman to go take seven baths in the Jordan. If taking seven dips in a river is what was needed to make him clean, the kingdom of Aram had better rivers than the Jordan. You can understand his feelings. Here he was, a great man who led armies. He deserved some respect, but Elisha didn’t seem interested in interacting with him.

Fortunately for Naaman, his advisors thought better of the situation. They reasoned with him. They told him that if Elisha had asked him to do some great feat, would he have done that? Surely, taking seven dips in the Jordan isn’t that big a deal. If it works, great. If not, it didn’t require much of him. He was still a great leader, even if afflicted with this skin disease. So, after he calmed down, Naaman did as Elisha asked. He didn’t have much to lose other than perhaps his dignity. But Elisha had already taken him down a notch by refusing to come out and deal with him man to man. Lo and behold, after dipping himself seven times in the waters of the Jordan, Naaman was cured. The narrator tells us that his flesh was that of a young boy. All it took was a few dips in a river. Of course, the message is that Adonai acted on his behalf. There ends the reading. However, there is more to the story.

In verse 15, Naaman returns to the home of Elisha. He made a confession of faith in the God whom Elisha represented. Naaman declared before Elisha: “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.” As for the payment, Elisha turned it down. It was quite a gift—ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing. Elisha wasn’t interested in payment because he represented God, and that was enough. For his part, Naaman asked simply for a load of dirt so he could pray and offer a sacrifice only to Elisha’s God. Whether having dirt was necessary, this confession emphasized God’s power over more than simply Israel. But there is more. As Trevor Eppehimer points out, the text offers a “clear witness, by way of Naaman, an Aramean, that the providence and healing reach of Israel’s God is not limited to the people of the covenant. Israel is elected, this suggests, not to the exclusion of the rest of creation, but in order to provide a concrete witness to God for its benefit and on its behalf, a principle magnanimously exemplified by the Israelite slave girl” [Feasting on the Word, p. 196]. So, perhaps we should take from this story a reminder of Israel’s original covenant promise, that through Abraham’s descendants the nations would be blessed (Gen. 12:1-4).  God may use certain nations and people to bless others, but there is no room, it would seem, for the ethnocentrism or nationalism that so easily takes root in our lives. God is not bound by national boundaries!  For that reason, we give God glory!!