The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time
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Overview and Connections
In both the Old Testament and Gospel stories, we see people separated from God in ritual ways. It’s important to understand this distinction – we are never separated from God’s loving presence or God’s love for us, but we can be separated ritually. A person who has committed a grave sin is still loved by God even in the midst of the sin. But that person is separated ritually from the sacraments of the church. In both stories, an unexpected and surprising path to healing is offered, but it must be embraced and accepted.
It’s also very easy to focus on healing when it comes, but today’s stories call us, instead, to focus on the One who heals.
To understand either of these stories, we have to go back to Leviticus 13-14. Verse after verse of how a priest examines someone’s skin to determine whether or not they are unclean – it makes for some riveting reading. These chapters cover both infections of human skin and fungal infections on things like garments and leather. The right (or wrong) type of infection could render a person or object unclean, and require it to be separated from the community. Also important to keep in mind is that the Biblical term “leprosy” is not the same thing we call Hansen’s disease. “Leprosy” in the Bible is simply a skin affliction that caused ritual impurity.
In all the cultures that surrounded the Israelites, there was a general abhorrence of skin infections. Some cultures would have a distaste for associating with people with a skin problem. The other end of the spectrum was the Israelites, where they expelled people from the community for it. It was generally viewed as an outward manifestation of being rejected by the gods, or of having some sort of sin, either yours or your family’s.
2 Kings 5:14-17
The early Israelites often felt they held sole claim to YHWH. But this story challenges that notion. In this story (and many others in the Old Testament), God uses a non-Israelite to accomplish God’s plan.
Story Background
To get a better sense of today’s passage, consider reading the entire story of Naaman found in chapter 5. Naaman was an army commander in the Gentile nation of Aram, modern day Syria. He is highly respected but he has some sort of skin condition. He must have been very, very good at his job in order to rise through the ranks despite this hindrance.
On one of the army raids into Jewish territory, a young Jewish girl was captured and ended up in Naaman’s household. One day, she mentions to her mistress that there is a Jewish prophet who could cure Naaman. Think about it…. A young girl is captured in a raid and taken from her home and family and made a servant. And yet, she still clings to her God!
Naaman is interested enough that he tells the king about it, and the king promptly sends Naaman to go find this prophet. The king respects Naaman so much, he also sends a huge amount of gifts with him. Naaman went with 750 pounds of silver and enough gold to pay 600 day laborers for a year. These were gifts fit for a king because they couldn’t fathom that it would be anyone other than the king of the land who could cure leprosy!
So Naaman goes to the king of Israel with a letter from the king of Aram basically commanding the former to cure Naaman. The king of Israel tears his robe in consternation, because the king of Aram has asked him to do something that only God can do. The Israelite king assumes Aram is trying to provoke a war with this gesture.
The prophet Elisha hears about this and tells the king to send Naaman to him. So Naaman takes the gifts and goes to the house of Elisha. Notice in v10 that Elisha doesn’t even bother to come out – he sends a messenger. Elisha tells Naaman to go wash in the Jordan river seven times and he will be healed.
In v11, Naaman is angry, first off that he’s been snuffed by the prophet. People in his culture expected showy gestures and something akin to magic. Elisha hasn’t lived up to that and Naaman is angry. In v12 he then muses on how the Jordan is a river that doesn’t even begin to compare to the rivers of his country. So he goes off in a rage.
V13 indicates the kind of leader that endeared Naaman to those around him despite his physical afflication: he actually listens to those under him. It’s worth a try, isn’t it, they say. This is where the lectionary reading picks up.
Naaman’s Healing
In v14, Naaman goes and does exactly what Elisha had told him to do. And, lo and behold, he comes up after the 7th dip with flesh clean and restored, like the skin of a little child. I like to imagine Naaman’s thoughts as he’s dipping himself in the water. I wonder if he wasn’t sort of like a teenager. “Fine, you can make me sit at the table with the family, but you can’t make me enjoy it!”
We don’t really know that Naaman believed healing would happen. But whatever his expectations or level of faith, God shows up and rewards the act of faith.
Naaman’s Response
Naaman immediately went back to Elisha in gratitude, and tries to give him the huge amount of gifts from the king of Aram. But Elisha refuses the gifts. He wants the miracle attributed to God, not because someone paid a huge sum.
In v17, Naaman then makes a curious request: he asks for Israelite soil – two mules’ burden worth of it. Naaman was from a world that linked a deity with a particular territory. So if Naaman wants to worship God, he has to take some of the soil from that territory with him in order to do it. Naaman wants a good amount of Jewish soil so that, when he gets back to Aram, he can worship the Jewish God properly. He also asks forgiveness in advance, in v18, that he will still have to worship his master’s gods, but Naaman wants Elisha to know that his heart is now with YHWH.
The rest of the chapter concerns the actions of Elisha’s servant Gehazi, who has had his eye on all the wealth Naaman brought, and wants to appropriate it for himself. Let’s just say that things don’t end well for Gehazi.
Conclusion
Use this story for imaginative prayer. Try to feel what Naaman might have felt standing before his king, on the way to Elisha, hearing Elisha’s message, and standing in the river. As you pray with the story, think about the ways you have been healed.
2 Timothy 2:8-13
The letters to Timothy are like a form letter to a pastor beginning a new position of church leadership. They describe expectations and responsibilities.
This passage begins with an encouragement to remember our foundation. At the beginning of this chapter, the author is encouraging the recipient to be strong, using several different metaphors. This verse reminds us that strength is rooted in Christ’s incarnation and passion.
Vv9-10 grapple with the role of suffering. Paul views his suffering positively; He finds deeper meaning in it as something that helps “the chosen” or “the elect.”
Vv11-13 contain a “saying” that Paul assures Timothy is one he can trust in. This “saying” is most likely a sort of creed within the community, a common saying that everyone knew and would be used to express the beliefs they held in common. It has the structure of something like a hymn.
V12 always feels a bit troubling. It echoes Matthew 10:33: “whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” As troubling as it sounds – that Jesus might deny us – v13 appears to contradict it. A key to making sense of the apparent contradiction between is found in the the word used for “deny”: it is a word that denotes relationship. If a person will not accept that they have a relationship with Jesus, then there is no basis for relationship. But if a person is in a relationship with Jesus and is subsequently unfaithful to Jesus, Jesus will still be faithful to the relationship.
An analogy might be two people who are dating, but one views it as only a friendship. There can’t be a marriage at that point because one person doesn’t accept the relationship in that way. But if two people are married and one has an affair, they are still married, still in relationship.
A number of times, the letters of Paul calls on snippets of creeds or hymns that must have known to his audience. Quoting a piece of it would have brought to mind a whole backdrop of community worship and relationships. Our songs today function in much the same way. Recall a song from the liturgy that has had impact on you. Maybe hum or sing it. Or listen to in online. How does remembering such a song help strengthen your faith?
Luke 17:11-19
Last week’s reading emphasized quality over quantity. I think this story is still talking about faith, and emphasizing again the importance of quality over quantity.
The readings opens in v11 with a reminder that we are on a journey. This “journey to Jerusalem” section began in 9:52. We’re getting close, but there’s a ways to go yet.
Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, but he’s passing through Samaria and Galilee. If you plotted out Jesus’ route on a map, it would look very strange, like going from Columbus to Chicago by way of Atlanta. Either Luke wasn’t familiar with Palestinian geography or he just didn’t care! It’s a theological journey and he needed a Samaritan in this story!
We know from reading ahead that at least one of the ten lepers that meets him is a Samaritan. Presumably the rest are Jews. Samaritans only accepted the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) as inspired scripture. Since the regulations around being a leper are laid out there, this Samritan was following them, just as his Jewish brothers did.
Numbers in scripture are frequently symbolic. Ten represents a completeness (i.e. the 10 commandments).
Although they seem to be following the Levitical law, they are somewhat lose about it. They’re not supposed to be near a village, and yet they meet Jesus as he enters one. They’re also supposed to be calling out “unclean! unclean!” if anyone gets close. Instead, these guys call Jesus first by name, then by the term Master, a word used only in Luke. Luke uses this name for Jesus seven times but this is the only place where it’s used by someone not explicitly listed as a disciple. The term was one of respect.
In v14, Jesus sees them and simply says, go show yourself to the priest. According to the law, they would only do this when healing had taken place. They hear Jesus and turn around and go.
Usually when we read this story, we imagine a group of people escatitcly running in joy to find a priest, intent on showing him the full extent of the healing. I’m not so convinced that’s what’s going on here. I suspect it was more a little bit like Naaman. Perhpas they felt dismissed – after all, Jesus didn’t say any words of healing. And they might have approached Jesus a bit skeptically in the first place.
And then, in v15, this one guy decides to check and see. Lepers of the time would have been covered up, especially the parts that betrayed their condition. Maybe he’s got spots on his legs, so he decides to stop and pull up his pantleg. Can you imagine his surprise to see clean skin?! It’s not clear whether the others did the same and then took off full sprint to find the priest. Or maybe they continued in their skepticism, not even bothering to check.
But this man, who happens to be the lone Samaritan, sees he’s been healed and he runs back to Jesus, praising God and thanking him. All his actions in v15-16 are “technical” ones; Luke’s readers would have recognized them as liturgical attitudes and actions. This is a deeply sacrament moment that invokes the two core Christian sacraments:
- baptism – he is cleansed of what previously kept him separated from the community.
- Eucharist – the word “giving him thanks” is eucharisteó. He is also now in Jesus’ true, full presence and he knows it.
What happens when we receive the sacraments without gratitude? I picture God scratching her head in confusion. What?! Weren’t ten people given this gift? But only one participates fully in them?
Jesus then tells the man in v19 to rise – a word meant to evoke the resurection. Jesus says your faith has saved you. This verse is, for Luke’s community, the ending of the communal celebration: rise and go forth to love and serve the Lord.
Remember that this story is connected to last week’s reading about having just a bit of faith. I believe the faith of this man was that he came in the first place. We don’t have to imagine that he believed anything would happen. He was just curious enough to come.
What first step is Jesus asking of you in this moment?
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© 2025 Kelly Sollinger