Thoughts on the Story of Naaman

This Lent we read the story of Naaman. I think it is worth recalling it. First, the story brings up a group of people who are very important in other Biblical narratives. Second, the story has a lot to tell us about the spiritual life. For these reasons, I think it is worth sharing some reflections on the story.

The Arameans

First of all, it’s a story about a group of people, the Arameans, who aren’t exactly Jewish. In fact, in the Gospel reading for the same day, Jesus refers to Namaan as a gentile. These people lived in Aram which is a region in present-day Syria. According to Got Questions, a site dedicated to questions about the Bible, Aram crops up in the Bible numerous times. The father of Isaac’s wife Rebecca is Aramean. During David’s kingship, the Israelites often fought against the Arameans. In fact, the Arameans defeated the infamous king of Israel, Ahab, in the First Book of Kings (20:12-13). Finally, the capital of Aram, Damascus, features in the conversion of St. Paul. There are surely other reasons why this area is interesting.

Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary

As I remember, I think the priest at Mass nailed the significance of the reading. He said that it is about the importance of doing ordinary things with faith to get extraordinary results. Namaan spurns the idea of washing seven times in the Jordan River because he wants a more spectacular healing. However, his servants make a case for the ordinary that convinces him. “‘My father,’ they said, ‘if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it? All the more now, since he said to you, ‘Wash and be clean,’ should you do as he said’’” (2 Kings 5:13). They argue that it makes just as much sense to do something as something extraordinary. 

Interestingly, Namaan’s pride is similar to what Jesus refers to when he says “no prophet is accepted in his own native place” (Luke 4:24). A hometown prophet is just too ordinary. Likewise, it is hard to accept a God who tells us to take up our daily cross of ordinary life. 

God Asks Naaman to Have Faith

However, reading this passage from Second Kings again, I had to wonder whether Naaman’s response was the most natural one. We read that “Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house (2 Kings 5:9). However, rather than come out of his house to greet this well-respected warrior with such an impressive entourage sent from a powerful king, the prophet chooses to send a message.

Arguably, Naaman dislikes the prophet staying in his house as much as the ordinary task he must perform–

I thought that he would surely come out and stand there to invoke the Lord his God, and would move his hand over the spot, and thus cure the leprosy. Are not the rivers of the Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than all the waters of Israel? (5:11-12)  

Elisha mirrors the nature of God who seems to relish hiddenness. And why? Because he wants to force Naaman and whoever else into an act of faith and humility.

The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth

There’s one other aspect of the reading that I’d like to discuss. It’s fascinating that Naaman just has a touch of the victim status about him. He’s an army commander “[b]ut valiant as he was, the man was a leper” (2 Kings 5:1). Nowadays, we seem to have a lot of compassion for people like Naaman who just can’t quite fit into society. Looking closely at the story, it is actually the servants who are the heroes–first a slave girl from Israel who starts the whole thing by telling Naaman’s wife that her master could be cured by the prophet in Samaria and then Naaman’s own servants who cajole him to follow the prophet’s advice. Those at the bottom of society have to convince a man struggling to be a part of society to do what is best.

Over and over again, the Bible shows that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the true outcasts. These are the people who humbly do the will of God and don’t have the pride the rest of society seems to have. This is a reminder that the truly meek shall inherit the earth.