Trinity 16
Dear friends in Christ. Our text shows us the great grace of God as He brought Naaman, a Gentile, a non-Jew—in fact, an enemy of the Israelites— to true saving faith in Him and by this rescued him out of the devil’s kingdom of sin and death.
Our text, though, doesn’t begin until the middle of the account. What happens first, too, is a great working of God where we learn that nothing happens by chance or fluke but that God has all things under His gracious control and guidance—even what we would consider the evil things.
At that time, the enemy of the northern kingdom, Israel, was the Syrians. The Syrians had sent out raiding parties and in one of those raiding parties a young girl was brought back captive to Syria. She ended up being the servant of Naaman’s wife. Even though this servant girl’s name is not even recorded in Scripture, she is a great hero of faith as she spoke of the Lord, the true God, and His prophet, Elisha. What did she speak about? Although Naaman was the commander of the Syrian king’s army and the Lord had given him great victories, Naaman had the dread disease of leprosy. This servant girl spoke of the Lord and His prophet, Elisha, and said he could cure the leprosy. News like this couldn’t be contained; the Syrian king found out about it, he send Naaman with a letter asking the king for healing—since he figured he would know of the true God and his prophet and could arrange it—and offering him great treasures as a reward.
The Israelite king was godless and became shocked and horrified—thinking the Syrian king was trying to find a reason to declare war on him. In despair at this impossible feat he thought he was called on to do, the Israelite king tore his garments. Word of that spread and came to the prophet, Elisha and that’s where our text picks it up: So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel".
As the rest of the text unfolds we not only have a great miracle of healing that the Lord worked through Elisha but we also have a wonderful picture of the truth brought out and expressed in today’s catechism review section: how can water do such great things? As Naaman finds out: it is not just the water but it is the word of God that does such great things.
1. Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha's house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean." But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, "Indeed, I said to myself, 'He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.' Are not the Abanah and the 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. By his actions, Naaman makes it crystal clear that the water is not what does the healing. There was nothing special about the Jordan. It was just ordinary, in fact, dirty water that ended up going into the Dead Sea. The rivers of Damascus, in contrast, were mountain streams with fresh clear water. If it depended on the quality of the water, then certainly, the streams of Damascus would be better.
But isn’t this the way God always works? Doesn’t God take the ordinary and the despised things? Here He uses the dirty water of the Jordan. That’s the way of God, the foolishness of God—He does so to drive home the point to us again and again that everything is by His grace to us. God does not do things the way we expect. Naaman brings this out in our text: Indeed, I said to myself, 'He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy. Naaman, the true heathen that he was, thought Elisha would perform some sort of big dramatic spectacle to bring about this great healing.
Precisely here, as we see the connection with Naaman’s physical healing from leprosy in the waters of the Jordan and in it see a picture of what happens spiritually in baptism, so many people fall into the same trap Naaman did and think that the baptismal waters are just too plain, common and ordinary and that therefore baptism can’t really be anything—it can’t forgive sin; it certainly can’t be the way into God’s family, the Church; it certainly cannot be anything more than a mere symbol; it might be an initiation right, but that’s it.
Just like Naaman was wrong, so are those people wrong. After all, looking at it from the outside, baptism is plain and simple: a few drops of water and a few words and that’s supposed to do something? Absolutely! The very same way Elisha’s words to Naaman were true: "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean". Naaman’s healing was physical—after washing in the common, ordinary water of the Jordan; the new, true spiritual life is created in us in the simple water of Holy Baptism. Like Naaman regarded his washing in the Jordan as too common, too ordinary, too easy and thus as nothing—but was physically healed—baptism is a true healing, in fact, the creation and giving of full, heavenly spiritual life, even though so many reject it because of its lowliness/simplicity. How can water do such great things? It’s God’s way, not our way/ the way we’d expect.
The glorious thing about baptism’s simplicity and lowliness is that it teaches us that its benefits and blessings come to us solely as a free gift of God’s grace; it does not depend on us and who we are. In our text we read of the proud general: Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha's house. With the huge and impressive entourage standing before his door Elisha is not impressed. So that Naaman—and all of us hearing this account—might learn that the healing was not a matter of magic—like Elisha waving his hand over the infected area—and that the healing did not depend on the person of Elisha, but that it was the Lord and His work alone, Elisha did not even go out to Naaman but sent a messenger: "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean".
In the same way, in Baptism, we recognize that there is nothing in us that makes us worthy of the graces and blessings of baptism. How beautifully we see this in the baptism of babies! They can bring absolutely nothing. They can claim no status before God. All they can do is to be brought to holy baptism as sinners, conceived and born in sin, enemies of God; and God, in grace, washes away their sin, gives them new, spiritual life—a new self, and brings them into His holy family. "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean". How can water do such great things?
2. Like Naaman did at Elisha’s word, people look at baptism as merely something outward: Are not the Abanah and the 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. He thought the cure consisted in the removal of filth in the flesh by applying water outwardly. People, today, look at baptism as an outward thing they do to obey God’s command, to show their faithfulness, to show they have come to a certain point in their Christian life. But if baptism is looked at as merely an outward thing that I do, then the true gifts, blessings and promises of God are being rejected. Like Naaman’s washing in the Jordan was really God’s gift of healing to him, so too is baptism God’s gift of spiritual healing and life to us. Baptism is not merely an outward thing—it is an inward working and gift of God to us. Its true comfort to us is ripped away if we think it’s something we do.
The water of baptism is not just plain, ordinary water. It is water with which God has joined His word and promise. The reason that Naaman was cured of leprosy after washing 7 times in the Jordan was not because there was something magical or curative about the water but simply because God had given the command/ promise. If some other leper would wash 7 times in the Jordan at the exact same spot Naaman did, he wouldn’t be cured. Why not? Because there is no word/ promise of God to heal. In the same way, it is Christ’s own word and promise that make baptism baptism: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
This water of Holy Baptism saves us [1 Pt 3.21; Ga 3.27], as the apostles write: Baptism now saves us; and For as many of you as were baptized in Christ have put on Christ; it offers and imparts the forgiveness of sins gained by Christ [Ac 2.38] as the apostle preaches: Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; it gives new life, creating and strengthening faith that receives forgiveness [Ti 3.5], as we will confess later: He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Like it was with Naaman, so it is in holy baptism. God had combined His promise to heal Naaman with the water of the Jordan; God has promised us spiritual life and healing in the waters of Holy Baptism. Naaman, in unbelief, rejected God’s promise at first—and guess what? He wasn’t healed! He turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" By this simple “preaching” to trust His word and promise, the Lord turned Naaman’s heart so that he believed His promise. Naaman, believing God’s promise spoken by Elisha, received the blessing/ gift of healing. Faith is the receiving hand; it believes God’s word and so has the promise it offers: So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Trusting in God’s promise, using the simple ordinary despised means of the Jordan River, Naaman was healed. God had worked true faith in Naaman as his servants pointed him to God’s promise; by that faith Naaman then received the gift God wanted to give him.
The same thing applies to us in baptism: In baptism, the Lord promises us forgiveness of sin and every heavenly blessing Christ won for us. It is there—the word and promise of God—in the water of baptism. By the hand of faith that God created in us in baptism, even as infants, we took these blessings from the water of baptism and made them our own. Although we are only baptized once, we continue to do the same thing now as already baptized Christians: We daily live out our baptismal lives; that means that we daily confess our sins and as it were daily go back to our baptismal font and reclaim once again the blessings God gave in our baptism—forgiveness of sin, life and salvation. That’s part and parcel of that new spiritual, heavenly life we have.
Like Naaman asked, so too do we ask about baptism: How can water do such great things? And by God’s grace—and as we see so gloriously pictured in our text—Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water. INJ