Friday of Trinity 11

 Humble Messengers, Healing Words

2 Kings 5:1-15a (ESV) Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.” But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 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?” So he turned and went away in a rage. But his servants came near and 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. Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.”

Elisha was successor to Elijah as Israel’s chief prophet. They both worked great wonders, but their main purpose was to exhort people to trust in and worship the Lord alone. Their miraculous signs were meant to turn people from false gods and lead people like Naaman to this conclusion: “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel” (2 Kings 5:15a).

In the Old Testament, leprosy describes various skin conditions that made a person ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 13-14). A common misunderstanding of the Old Testament ritual system is that “uncleanness” equates to sinfulness or condemnation. The Book of Leviticus shows that this was not so; states of cleanness had to do with determining which people were eligible to enter God’s holy presence in the sanctuary.

Leprosy caused discomfort and had serious social consequences. People avoided lepers and considered them cursed by God for some particular sin. Elijah’s healing of Naaman previews Christ’s healing of lepers, which fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases” (Matthew 8:17). Jesus accomplished eternal healing for all people when He died for the sins of all (2 Corinthians 5:14).

Naaman was a valiant but leprous Syrian who did not know the Lord but had nonetheless been made a great leader by the Lord (2 Kings 5:1). An Israelite girl who had been kidnapped during a Syrian raid worked for Naaman’s wife and suggested that Naaman visit Elisha in Samaria to receive healing (5:2-3). The Lord used this girl’s difficult personal situation to bless others, much as He had done in Joseph’s time in Egypt (Genesis 37-50). She confessed her faith in the Lord and set an example for us by directing Naaman to the Lord’s appointed prophet; we can point our neighbors to the Lord’s appointed place of salvation: Jesus’ Word in the Christian church.

Naaman and the king of Syria thought it was necessary to purchase healing by sending money to the King of Israel (5:4-6). But grace cannot be purchased, and the King of Israel (Joram) knew it (5:7). He should not have panicked in unbelief but instead have sent Naaman directly to the Lord’s prophet, Elisha (5:8).

Naaman’s show of pomp outside Elisha’s house failed to impress the prophet, who sent a messenger to Naaman with the promise that washing in the Jordan would heal him (5:9-10). Naaman was insulted by Elisha’s indifference to his status and angered by the demeaning task of washing in the muddy Jordan (5:11-12). Naaman’s servants wisely convinced him to take the prophet at his word (5:13-14).

Naaman’s notion that God’s prophet should work in an outwardly impressive manner—through magic, or in a crystal clear stream—is similar to the notion that God’s salvation in the church should be accompanied by great miracles or shows of pomp. Instead, the Lord works through humble Words, water, bread, and wine. Like Elisha, Jesus does not even appear to us in person, but sends messengers! When those messengers deliver Jesus’ words of promise, “I forgive you,” we receive that “forgiveness from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven” (Small Catechism).

Prayer:

Lord God, heavenly Father, through the prophet Elisha, You continued the prophetic pattern of teaching Your people the true faith and demonstrating through miracles Your presence in creation to heal it of its brokenness. Grant that Your Church may see in Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the final end-times prophet whose teaching and miracles continue in Your Church through the healing medicine of the Gospel and the Sacraments; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.