Washed
“I’ve been wearing sorrows like stains…
Jesus please, I can’t do this in my own strength,
I need you to wash me again.” – “Washed” by Joshua Leventhal
Jordan River, Israel
We may be tempted to romanticize some of the scenes in the Bible. Events taking place at the Jordan river certainly may be one of them. The Jordan River is alternately a rushing swollen river during and after the rainy season, and small and often muddy during the dry months of the year. It is not a crystal clear northern Ontario river like we may be tempted to picture.
In our story today, Naaman is disappointed with the instructions to go and dip seven times in such a river. Think about it, how would you feel if someone told you to go wash in the Upper Thames or Whirl Creek in the middle of summer? How much more if you were a rich traveller looking for a miracle and special treatment because of your high status?
Naaman nearly missed out on God’s blessing because of pride, and that is something that can happen to any of us.
Anchor Passages:
2 Kings 5:1-14 NLT – The Healing of Naaman
Questions to Ponder:
Most people that had leprosy were outcasts, why do you think Naaman was still allowed to be a general?
Why do you think the captured Israelite girl “wished her master would go see the prophet in Samaria” in order to be healed? Would you expect her to hate him and want him to suffer?
What parallels in scripture to do you see to Naaman washing in the river? What stories can you think of with washing, water, in the rest of the Bible? Look at Exodus 40:32, John 13, 1 Peter 3:20-21.
Pride was Naaman’s downfall. Look at Psalm 30, do you see the same warning in verses 6-10? What have you been too proud to do in the past?
Is there something today God is asking you today that pride is preventing you from doing– even if it could lead to your healing?
The Theme in Song:
The greatest fulfillment of God’s promise for cleansing and healing through washing is the blood of Jesus that washes us from sin. We need much more than to be clean on the outside, or even clean and healthy physically – we need out lives saved and renewed from the inside out. The chorus of this some beautifully expresses that truth.
The Theme for Kids:
Here is an episode from the “Superbook” series of kids videos about stories form the Bible. Here we meet Naaman finally humbling himself to enter the Jordan River and be healed!