3rdweek in Lent, Monday – 13th March 2023 – 2 Kings 5,1-15; Luke 4,24-30
Gratitudinal Attitude
The readings are tied together by the story of Naaman the Aramean leper. The first reading is the account of the healing of Naaman. In the Gospel, Jesus visits His “hometown” of Nazareth and mentions Naaman as an example of how foreigners are more open to the healing power of God than the local people. The healing story of Naaman presents how God works in both mysterious and ordinary ways and how Naaman, the gentile, submits to the command of Yahweh through his prophet. As a conclusion, after being cured, Naaman goes back in gratitude to Elisha and says, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.” It is clear, therefore, that the true healer is not Elisha, nor the muddy waters of the Jordan river but God himself. And the healing is the result not of the washing in the river, but in Naaman’s eventual submission and obedience to God’s spokesman. At the same time, God’s blessings are only to be found in total submission to his will and his commands, may be through a great prophet or an ordinary slave girl or a servant. Here, Naaman is put forward as a contrast to a disobedient Israel, which wavered in its divided allegiance to Yahweh and to Baal. It was exactly the lack of Naaman’s attitude and gratitude on the part of the people of Nazareth that prevented Jesus from healing the people of his own town.
