TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR C

First Reading: 2 Kings 5:14-17

Naaman returned to the man of God and acknowledged the Lord.

Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of Elisha, the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean of his leprosy.

Naaman returned with his whole retinue to the man of God. On his arrival he stood before Elisha and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel. Please accept a gift from your servant.”

Elisha replied, “As the Lord lives whom I serve, I will not take it;” and despite Naaman’s urging, he still refused. Naaman said: “If you will not accept, please let me, your servant, have two mule-loads of earth, for I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except to the Lord.”

NAAMAN AND ELISHA

--Rev. Linh N. Nguyen

Naaman was a Syrian military commander during the reign of King Ben-hadad. He was afflicted by leprosy at that time. A young Jewish girl, who had been taken captive, was his wife’s servant. She told her mistress, who in turn told her husband, that the prophet Elisha in Israel could heal his leprosy. Naaman told the King of Syria, and the King contacted the King of Israel to ask for his help. Elisha heard of the request, and told the King to have Naaman come to him.

Naaman came with horses and chariots and stood at Elisha’s doorway. Perhaps, he thought Elisha would be a member of royal and would conduct a public ritual. However, he found out that Elisha was simply a man of God. Naaman expected great respect, but Elisha did not even go to the door. He told a servant to go and tell Naaman to immerse himself in the Jordan River seven times.

Naaman was furious. He thought he could have stayed home and dipped himself in more potent rivers in Syria than the Jordan. One of his servants, however, spoke to him and pointed out that Naaman had come here with the intention to do some great religious act. Why not do the simple thing the prophet commanded?

Unbelievably, Naaman listened to his servant’s advices. Proud Naaman humbled himself greatly. In reality, no one likes to admit that an inferior is wiser and knows more than they do. But Naaman had to admit that. He submitted himself to a constant parade of servants in order to receive his healing. It started with the “little maid.” Then it was Elisha’s servant. Finally, it was his own servants. Without them, he would not have been healed. Pride would keep us from God’s blessing. It almost did that for Naaman, until he humbled himself and submitted to the servants’ advice.

Naaman went to the humble Jordan, not the prideful rivers in Syria. Of course, it was hard on his pride. Having gone down to the Jordan, analogously, Naaman was also descending from his attitude of superiority. But it healed his leprosy according to his humble submission.

Naaman “plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of the man of God.” The word of Elisha, the man of God, was here the Word of God. Before Naaman could be cleansed, he must submit to the Word of God. In reality, pride does not want to submit to anyone’s word, especially God’s Word. Here, the healing occurred not because the waters of the Jordan possessed some magical power, but because of obedience to Elisha’s words.

If Naaman had not humbled himself, he would never have been healed. In matter of salvation, we need to humble ourselves before God in order to be saved. We humbly confess our sins to God who himself can forgive. We humbly seek cleansing in Jesus’ blood for salvation.

After Naaman dipped the seventh time, “his flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” Naaman’s new skin was soft and healthy as that of a child – just the opposite of his former leprous skin. The childlike restoration of Naaman’s skin certainly reminds us of Jesus’ word of being “born again.” When we come to Christ, we are “born again.” Through baptism, we are given a new creation in God’s Kingdom.

After Naaman’s flesh was restored, he returned to stand before Elisha and confessed his faith in Yahweh as the only God. This was not only Naaman’s physical return, but also a total change of his minds. In other words, his attitude and his beliefs had changed. The arrogant general had returned as Elisha’s humble servant. In fact, the reading shows that Naaman declared his humble status as Elisha’s servant. We notice that the prophet was also a servant. While Naaman stood before him, Elisha, in turn, stood before God.

When Naaman came to Elisha he said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel… for I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except to the Lord.” Naaman got converted. His cleansing had caused him to abandon his heathen gods. In fact, they were no longer gods as far as he was concerned. Naaman declared that Yahweh was not just a superior god, but he was the only God.

Naaman not only spoke well of Yahweh, but he also confessed that he intended no longer to “offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except to the Lord.” Emphasizing this fact, he requested to take back to Syria “two mule-loads of earth.” Evidently, Naaman wanted to make an altar of earth from Israel’s soil to worship Yahweh in Syria. Why did he want to make the altar out of Israel’s dirt? Perhaps, in ancient time, worshipers believed that they could only worship a god of a land on the altar of earth from that land.

Naaman wanting the Israel’s soil really emphasized the change in his heart. Earlier, he detested Israel’s river. But now, he had changed. Not only did he immersed himself in Jordan River, but he now also wanted to take back home some of Israel’s dirt. He planned to worship Yahweh publicly in his homeland, which may cause potential danger for his position of high-rank military commander. The experience of physical healing resulted in an inner transformation in Naaman.

After his healing, Naaman wanted to give generous gifts to Elisha. It seems that his desire to give was commendable. After receiving a tremendous gift of healing, Naaman wanted to show his gratitude to Elisha. Elisha, as a prophet, certainly had material needs and would have been helped by these gifts. But Elisha’s refusal of the gift shows that the spiritual well-being of Naaman was more important than Elisha’s material well-being.

Elisha’s status as a servant of God plays a key role in his refusal to accept Naaman’s gifts. Naaman and his retinue thought they could buy the healing. But this healing reflected the grace of God. Therefore, Elisha wanted to make it emphatic to Naaman that the blessings of God are of grace. Human beings cannot buy them.

Unable to persuade Elisha, Naaman could not pay for the cure. He was indebted, but to whom? By refusing to accept the gifts, Elisha pointed beyond himself to God. The credit belonged to Yahweh, not Elisha. Elisha helped Naaman realize that it was Yahweh, to whom he was indebted. The glory belonged to God alone. The power and grace of God cannot be purchased with wealth or status. They became evident in Naaman only when he submitted humbly to God through Elisha’s words and received them with gratitude.

What can we learn about the story of humble Naaman? Perhaps, in order to obtain God’s salvation, we humble ourselves very much before him, acknowledging our own nothingness and misery. When we are left to ourselves, avoiding to immerge ourselves in the stream of redemptive blood of Christ, we remain leprous in sins and vices.

Second, as Naaman went to see Elisha, we are advised to go to those who are the guides of our soul, particularly to confessor. Through him, we confess to God our leprous sins. God is well pleased with obedience and humility. He will generously give us healing water to cleanse our leprous sins and to make our soul be born again like a child.