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| Kingdom of Israel, 9th century BCE. |
-Brian Mendonca
During the period of Lent the Mass readings offer ample material for reflection. There are many takeaways from 2 Kings 5: 1-15a which offer witness to faith in God in the characters.
In 2 Kings 5, Namaan, the Syrian commander, leaves his kingdom and enters Samaria (Israel) from the North East. His mission is clear – to be cleared of the leprosy which he suffers from. He journeys across a distance of around 1600 kms. by one estimate.
But it is Namaan’s spiritual
journey which inspires.
Namaan comes in hope on the advice of a servant girl whom he had taken away from Israel on one of his earlier raids. Although she is a captive, she harbours no grudge against Namaan. She thinks of his well-being and urges him – through his wife – to meet the prophet Elisha.
She is well-acquainted with her own land Samaria and is confident
that Elisha who resides there has the power to cure him. It speaks of her generous nature and desire to use her local knowledge to do good to those who have done her ill.
Namaan does not spurn her suggestion as coming from a servant girl. He listens to
her with humility and petitions his own king of Aram (read Syria) to put in a word to the
king of Israel to cure him.
Aram was a more powerful kingdom and Israel suffered several
incursions on its Northern borders incited by the Arameans. Amid this climate of hostility, the king of
Israel misreads the intention of the king of Syria. He thinks that this is a
ruse to make him do the impossible, failing which, Aram will use it as an
excuse to attack Israel.
Despite his worldly power, the king of Israel
acknowledges that he is no healer. But Elisha has the power to do it. Elisha
calmly tells Namaan to wash seven times in the river Jordan.
The river Jordan has special significance for Elisha,
for it was there that the prophet Elijah left him his legacy. The river is
the site for a life-changing experience for Elisha (2 Kings 2: 1-13) – and so
it will be with Namaan.
At first, Namaan is affronted that he has to do this
menial task. ‘Are not the rivers of Damascus, Abana and Pharpar better than all
the waters of the land of Israel?’ (v. 12) he asks himself. However, his
servants persuade him to abide by what Elisha told him to do. He swallows his
pride and is cured. Later, Elisha rejects Namaan’s gifts which he offers in
gratitude, ‘I swear by the Lord whom I serve, I will accept nothing.’ (v. 16)
God made it a point to cure a Syrian from a
neighbouring kingdom – rather than an Israelite. When Jesus recalls this in the
synagogue at Nazareth they are filled with wrath. They attempt to throw Jesus
over the cliff. (Luke 4: 24-30). This is a vindication of his words, ‘No prophet
is accepted in his own land.’
By referencing Namaan of the Old Testament, Jesus
brings together 800 years of salvific history. Jesus is the last expression of
a line of prophets reaching back to Elijah and Elisha. He is the Messiah the
people have been waiting for. God is, was, and will be.
God’s chosen people were not found worthy to be
cleansed. It was the faith – and humility – of Namaan that saved him. It also
led him to acknowledge that the God of Israel was the true God – not his own
God Rimmon back in Syria. (v. 15-18)
2 Kings 5 is a narrative
of two nations and two gods. Namaan was the instrument by which Aram - a
heathen nation, and oppressor of Israel - came to know the works of Yahweh. It
would have taken Namaan a lot of courage to acknowledge Yahweh over Rimmon in
Aram. But he did it.
Soon after Namaan’s
conversion, the Arameans face successive defeats at the hands of Israel. (2
Kings 6 & 7) It is as though Namaan’s military prowess has been nullified.
He loses the battle but redeems his soul.
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