2 Kings 5:10-12 (NRSV)
Read 2 Kings 5:10-12 on biblegateway.com
Verse 10Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean." Verse 11But 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 leprosy! Verse 12Are 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.
Devotion
Water is sometimes the instrument of healing. Naaman was the commander of the Syrian army, one of Israel's enemies. He was a mighty and successful warrior. He also had leprosy. He assumed, like so many people with riches and power, that he could use money and prestige to buy a cure. So he was angry, not grateful, when Elisha offered him healing for free. Only after surrendering his need for honor and control could he be healed. Naaman's cleansing is like a baptism of sorts. The promise of healing and new life awaits our entry into the waters.
In Luke 4:27-29, Jesus used the example of Naaman's healing to point to another reality: God's gift of healing is available to all—from the greatest to the least, from the insider to the foreign
commander. This teaching was the one that scandalized those in Jesus' hometown. They thought the promise was only for them and not for the Romans outside their gates, just like Naaman. In Naaman's story, water marks two frequently repeated prophetic words from Scripture: the promise is free and not ours to hoard.
Prayer
O Lord of Life, we pray for healing for the world. Heal our own hearts as well.
Amen.