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The events of the story of Naaman and Elisha recorded in 2 Kings 5:1-15 occurred in around 850 or 840 BC, over 2800 years ago. At that time, Israel was in conflict with Syria, located north and east of Israel. Just a few years before this story, the king of Israel had lost his own father to the Syrians, so there was bad blood between these two countries. Syria had raided Israel and even taken some Israelites into captivity.
One of the captives was a little girl and had become a servant in the household of Naaman, who was the five star general of the Syrian army. Even though Naaman was an unbeliever, not an Israelite, the Lord had blessed Naaman with great success in his career, but he also was cursed with leprosy. Naaman had the resources of the entire Syrian kingdom at his disposal, but they did him no good when it came to his leprosy. But his little servant girl had paid attention to what her parents taught her about the Lord while she was growing up in Israel, and the little girl knew that there was a prophet of the Lord back in Israel who could help Naaman in a way that no one in his home country could, so the girl told Naaman’s wife about Elisha and his ability to heal lepers. And to his credit, he listened to this little girl’s faithful confession and went in search of Elisha.
While the little girl who sent Naaman to Elisha demonstrated great childlike faith in the Lord, Naaman acts like a typical faithless adult once he has headed off to Israel. After the little servant girl told Naaman about Elisha, Naaman had gone to his king in Syria to get permission to travel to Israel, and the king sent Naaman on his way with an enormous amount of wealth. The king was accustomed to buying favors from men and gods alike. Pagan religion always involves humans doing things that are designed to move the gods to act; sinners assume that God is like us — we can bribe Him, or butter Him up to help us — so it was natural for the Syrian king to think his money could procure Naaman’s cure. But as we find out in this story, grace excludes works and merit, and there’s no way to buy grace!
Naaman proceeded on to Elisha with great self-importance, arriving with horses, chariots, gifts, and great pomp. As sinners we think that our show of strength will influence others and get them to act. But while most people are quite taken by fame and money, God tells us in the Bible that He “shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34), that is, He doesn’t accept bribes or look at a person’s status. Because of that, God’s prophets, such as Elisha, don’t show partiality either. Elisha didn’t care how “important” Naaman was, so the prophet simply sent a messenger to Naaman with a promise that he would be healed by the power of God’s Word, which would take effect when Naaman washed in the Jordan seven times.
This treatment by Elisha really got Naaman riled up. What a snub that the prophet would not even come out and talk to Mr. Five-Star General and at least wave his hand over him to do the healing, perhaps saying abra-cadabra or doing an elaborate ceremony. And what a demeaning task, to wash in the muddy old Jordan river, when much better waters were available in Syria. Shouldn’t the healing involve more hoopla? The sinful world clamors for God to make a big show of His saving works, but He doesn’t give us what we want; rather, He gives us what we need.
Fortunately Naaman’s servants had their heads on straight and talked sense into Naaman. They said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” Naaman was healed, and Naaman also came to believe in the Lord, as we hear in the concluding words of our text, when Naaman returned to Elisha and said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.”
This story has a happy ending, but the main point of this narrative is really the power of the Word of God, powerful even when spoken through lowly human messengers, powerful even when it is attached to water. The child’s words pointed Naaman to God’s prophet Elisha, and Elisha’s words delivered God’s promise to heal Naaman through washing in the Jordan. You could say that the Word of God was in that water to heal Naaman, much like the Word of God is in your Baptism, washing away your sins, uniting you with Christ’s death and resurrection, and making you pure children of our heavenly Father. Of course, Naaman’s bath was not Christian Baptism, but we can see similarities. There was nothing outwardly impressive about that bath in the Jordan, nor does Christian Baptism have any fireworks. But because of God’s Word, it does what it says it will do.
So we should never doubt the Word of God that He places upon the lips of His messengers today. When the message delivered by His ministers is, “I forgive you all of your sins,” then we must not doubt His words as Naaman did, but rather receive them as God’s Words and believe that our sins are forgiven by them. When we are baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” we must not doubt the great promises of Baptism but have confidence that Jesus washes our sins away. And when in the Lord’s Supper we receive “the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink,” our Lord promises to give us forgiveness of sin, eternal life, and salvation, and raise up our bodies on the Last Day. The power is all in the Word of God, so all we can say is: “Amen.”
