2 Kings 5:1 CSB – Naaman, commander of the army for the king of Aram, was a man important to his master and highly regarded because through him, the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was a valiant warrior, but he had a skin disease.

Naaman: A Good Man Who Needs Salvation

Psalm 90:12 CSB – Teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts

God Sends a Hero!

2 Kings 5:2-3 CSB – Aram had gone on raids and brought back from the land of Israel a young girl who served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his skin disease.”

Naaman & the King of Syria

2 Kings 5:4-5 CSB – So Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 Therefore, the king of Aram said, “Go, and I will send a letter with you to the king of Israel.”

So he went and took with him 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing.

Ephesians 2:4-5 CSB – But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

Naaman & the King of Israel

2 Kings 5:6-7 CSB – He brought the letter to the king of Israel, and it read:

When this letter comes to you, note that I have sent you my servant Naaman for you to cure him of his skin disease.

7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life that this man expects me to cure a man of his skin disease? Recognize that he is only picking a fight with me.”

Proverbs 26:13 CSB – The slacker says, “There’s a lion in the road–a lion in the public square!”

It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” – C.S. Lewis

Naaman – Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

2 Kings 5:8 CSB – When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Have him come to me, and he will know there is a prophet in Israel.”

Ezekiel 34:11-12 CSB – ‘For this is what the Lord God says: See, I myself will search for my flock and look for them. 12 As a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will look for my flock. I will rescue them….

2 Kings 5:9 CSB – So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house.

2 Kings 5:10 CSB – Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your skin will be restored and you will be clean.”

2 Kings 5:11 CSB – But Naaman got angry and left, saying, “I was telling myself: He will surely come out, stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the skin disease.

2 Kings 5:12 CSB – Aren’t Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and left in a rage.

Proverbs 16:18 CSB – Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

1 Peter 5:5-6 CSB – God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time…. 

2 Kings 5:11 begins Naaman got angry and left…

2 Kings 5:12 ends, So he turned and left in a rage.

1 Corinthians 1:25 CSB – God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

1 John 5:3 CSB – For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,

God Sends More Heroes/Servants!

2 Kings 5:13 CSB – But his servants approached and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more should you do it when he only tells you, ‘Wash and be clean’?”

Proverbs 25:11 CSB – A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples in silver settings.

2 Kings 5:14 CSB – So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the command of the man of God. Then his skin was restored and became like the skin of a small boy, and he was clean.

Naaman & Elisha (finally)

2 Kings 5:15 CSB – Then Naaman and his whole company went back to the man of God, stood before him, and declared, “I know there’s no God in the whole world except in Israel.

Recovery for Good People

1. Do Good People Need Jesus? Yes. But, admitting, “I need God,” is hard!

God uses surface needs to help us see our deeper needs

Proverbs 22:2 CSB – Rich and poor have this in common: the LORD makes them all.

Isaiah 6:6b-8 CSB –

“All humanity is grass,
and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flowers fade
when the breath of the Lord blows on them;
indeed, the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flowers fade,
but the word of our God remains forever.”

John 17:3 CSB – This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent —Jesus Christ.

2. Do Good People Need Jesus? Yes. But, Accepting Grace is Hard!

Ephesians 2:8-9 CSB – For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

Acts 2:38, 41 CSB – The people cried out, ““Brothers, what should we do?”

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.

Will you accept the message of Jesus & His cross?

2 Corinthians 5:14, 15 CSB – For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: If one died for all, then all died. 15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.

3. Do Good People Need Jesus? Yes. Good people need the peace that only Jesus gives.

Romans 3:23 CSB – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Romans 6:23 CSB – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:1b CSB – we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Galatians 5:24-25 CSB – Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.