This post is a chapter from the book, Seeking the Cure, Finding the Christ, which is the book version of multiple sermons preached from 2022 to 2025. Since this book was meant to bless the church I am also making it available on this blog.

Naaman’s Servants

How long does it take to become a prophet? Do you have to finish a four-year bachelor’s degree and a three-year seminary degree?

Consider the man born blind, he had known about Jesus for maybe six hours and already he’s declaring to the Pharisees, “Jesus is a prophet” (John 9:17), “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25), and he ends by giving an invitation, “Do you also want to become his disciples?” (John 9:27); in the end he’s cast out of their sight.

A prophet in six hours or less.

Love Confronts and Wounds

Naaman’s servants are going to do him one better. Naaman responds as you’d expect to Elisha’s messenger: with anger. The Authorized Version says he was wroth. The ESV says he was angry. We see him storm away in a rage. He was sure that some great miracle would occur and his leprosy would be gone in an instant. After all, hadn’t he done everything right? He’d come with a great treasure, he’d obeyed Elisha to come to him, he had Earned this. Think on that for a long hard moment.

Naaman had not yet relied on grace, humility, or mercy; he was still walking firmly in his own power. He wanted a grand show, some sort of magic trick, with Elisha waving his hand over him and declaring him to be clean. God does not share his glory, and a lot of glory sharing would have taken place if Elisha or Naaman could have earned his favor.

Further, Naaman was furious that he is called to wash in that nasty, old, silty, murky, slow Jordan river. Weren’t there better rivers in Syria? War torn today, it was not always so; the Abana and the Pharpar were beautiful destination spots with clear water and surging waterfalls. King David mentions the mountain range that Abana and Pharpar flow from and compares it to the beauty of Christian unity (Psalm 133:1–3). The Sons of Korah mention the roaring waterfalls of those mountains (Psalm 42:6–7).

If you could earn your salvation by visiting a river, then to stand under the cascades of the Abana would have been the surest way to do it.

William Carey, missionary to Serampore India, spent seven years before seeing his first Indian, Krishna Pal, come to Christ. When he baptized Krishna Pal in the Hooghly River an orderly mob of Hindus, Muslims, and tribalists observed the proceedings. Some in attendance believed they finally understood Christianity, “They worship the river, just like we do!”

The power is not in the river. The Abana, the Pharpar, the Hooghly, the Ganges, and the Jordan are just flowing collection points for rain and snowmelt. The power has always been in the God who is able to wash whiter than snow. We don’t ask, “Are you washed in the Jordan?” or “Are you washed in the Hoogly?” We ask, “Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?”

Enter Naaman’s servants. They are in a much more powerful position than you may realize. As advisors to Naaman they are well versed in his power and personality. They expected some grand miracle as much as he, and we would not fault them at all if they felt indignation in seeing their master slighted. They may well have asked, “What sign do you do, that we may see and believe? What work do you perform?” (compare John 6:30).

They could have responded to Naaman with something like, “You’re right! That so-called prophet doesn’t know who he’s dealing with! He couldn’t even come to the door?! Let’s go kick it in and drag him out into the street and execute him!”

The story would have ended there: Elisha dead, Naaman forever a leper and the Lord of Life still alien to him and his servants. That’s not farfetched, look at 1 Chronicles 19:1–19 (specifically verse 3) and see a set of servants who led their king into a war that cost thousands of lives. While it’s not stated, it probably cost each of those individual rebels their lives and eternities.

There are a lot of great “but” statements in the Bible, so don’t miss this one, “But his servants came near” (2 Kings 5:13). There is no indication that they were in any danger, but we have to always consider that a person driven to their wits end may lash out in unexpected ways. I appreciate these servant’s willingness to pursue their master in his anger and distress; it shows a lot of courage.

Maybe they went after him out of concern for his wellbeing, not wanting him to exacerbate his leprosy with stress as there are not many illnesses that can’t be made worse by stress or worry.

Maybe they were just on a mission for his health and happiness for their own sakes. In drug and alcohol ministry we find that many people resonate with the statement,

Outside of Christianity people only want something from you, or you’re in the way of what they want.

It could be argued that these servants only wanted Naaman healed to preserve their position and guarantee their future employment. There isn’t much job security in being a general’s assistant if the general dies. Have you ever served someone just for what you can get out of them?

The eternal state of many has been transformed when they realize the second part of the statement,

Outside of Christianity people only want something from you, or you’re in the way of what they want. Inside of Christianity people aren’t looking to be served, but to serve, and to love you because Christ loves you.

I don’t think Naaman’s servants were looking to be served either, I think they’ve been transformed by the message before Naaman; they don’t just go after him, they are about to speak further truth into his life, for, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy” (Proverbs 27:6).

They weren’t looking to flatter Naaman by encouraging him in his anger, they confront him in his sinful response. Consider that if Naaman was angry before, they could very well have been setting him up to fly into a violent rage. But love hopes and endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:7), so they knew what they had to do.

Exhort One Another

I don’t think it’s just incidental that there is more than one servant. There is great wisdom in Jesus sending out his disciples two-by-two.

There is accountability, companionship, and most importantly in this case, encouragement. I remember open-air preaching with a dear brother in Atlanta. As it was my turn I froze and couldn’t get the first word out. My beloved friend called from behind me, “Don’t you care that these people are perishing?” That was all I need to open my mouth, “I am here to speak to you about your souls!” On another occasion I had the opportunity to encourage that same brother with a Keith Green quote, “Do you see, do you see? All these people sinking down! Don’t you care, don’t you care? Are you gonna let them drown?”

A faithful friend in ministry is worth his weight in gold. Do you have anyone in your life that you can pray for like Paul prayed for Philemon, “I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you” (Philemon 7). It doesn’t tell us which servant spoke, maybe they spoke together, or maybe one was just there just to encourage the other. But spoke they did.

Put the Bible to Work

How many Bible verses do you have memorized verbatim? How many do you know the gist of? How many Bible verses do you need to know to be effective in ministry? Naaman’s servants knew one Bible verse, indeed we may say that their entire Bible at this moment was one verse long.

And they quoted it with power, “Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” (2 Kings 5:13, quoting 2 Kings 5:10)! They appealed to his pride, that if some great thing had been commanded, something that would have lifted him up and earned him his cleansing, he would have done it in a heartbeat. But I think these servants had begun to see that God opposes the proud while exalting the humble. When I shepherded Middle Schoolers (11–13 years old), I loved to explain grace this way,

When we get to heaven and someone, maybe an angel, comes up to us and asks, ‘how did you get in here?’, if your inclination is to bow-up and declare that you’re here because you’re awesome, or faithful, or any such thing, then you’ve missed the point. But the real answer to that question is to humbly answer, ‘I shouldn’t be here, but for the love of my Saviour who loved me and sought me and bought me and to him belongs all of the honor, power, and glory!’

Imagine the story Naaman could have boasted in if he had done some great thing to earn his cleansing? He would have been exceedingly proud, cleansed of leprosy, and devoid of hope.

Psalm 147:6 would not be nullified just because Naaman was no longer leprous, “The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.” Naaman would have been in more trouble had he grounds of boasting; he needed humility and his servants helped to get him there.

These faithful and loving servants confronted him and pointed him towards humility, recognizing that the greatness of the promise came from God, not from Naaman.

May we all have such friends in our lives who will stand between us and destruction.

Are you that friend? How can your words be used to save a soul?

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Thursday, June 25, 2026