The event narrated in today’s first reading was as unlikely as one of Vladimir Putin’s generals asking a favor from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.  Naaman was a very successful general in the army of the kingdom of Aram, an enemy of Israel, located on the kingdom of Israel’s northeast border.  When Naaman came seeking a cure for his leprosy, the king of Israel thought it was a ruse devised to precipitate another war. (2 Kg 5:7) 

Naaman, however, was quite serious about his request.  He suffered from leprosy and wished to be free from the social stigma associated with the condition.  In one of his many successful battles against Israel, Naaman had taken captive an Israelite girl to serve as handmaid to his wife.  It was the little Israelite girl who suggested that Naaman go to Israel to seek a cure for his leprosy. 

The king of Aram gave Naaman expensive gifts and a large sum of money to give to the king of Israel in exchange for a divine cure for Naaman’s leprosy.  Elisha, successor to the prophet Elijah, intervened and instructed Naaman to wash in the Jordan river.  After a bit of drama, Naaman was healed of his affliction. 

When Naaman realized he had been cured, he offered the expensive gifts and loads of gold and silver to Elisha.  The prophet refused to accept the great wealth offered him.  Traditionally, this was a sign of a true prophet, that is, reluctance to use the gift of prophecy for personal gain.   

The combination of the miraculous cure and Elisha’s refusal to accept payment caused Naaman to abandon worship of pagan gods in favor of worship of the God of Israel.  The two mule-loads of earth that Naaman brought back to Aram from Israel were for the purpose of worshiping the God of Israel on Israelite soil.  Although Naaman was a gentile, he was not alone in his attraction to Israelite religion.   

Universally, gentile cultures in the ancient world consented to the widest imaginable range of immorality, superstition, dishonesty, and violence.  These values were reflected in gentile religion; the gods of gentiles were capricious, self-serving, and meddlesome.  For the most part, gentile religious worship was an attempt to placate the gods so that they would not interfere in human affairs. 

By contrast, Hebrew religion worshiped a God who was merciful, compassionate, and entirely trustworthy.  Hebrew moral teaching reflected belief in a kind and forgiving God; the Hebrew moral code taught people to behave justly, reasonably, and humanely. 

Some gentiles preferred Hebrew religion’s rationality and humanitarianism to the widespread lack of ethical behavior in pagan culture.  Naaman came to embrace faith in the God of Israel as a result of being healed by an Israelite prophet.  Apparently, Jesus found this same kind of faith in the Samaritan who came back to give thanks for his healing. 

The story of the ten lepers who were healed presumes that readers understand that the nine lepers who didn’t return to Jesus were Jews; they didn’t return to Jesus because they didn’t need to return, or so they thought.  They did as Jesus instructed and presented themselves to the Temple priests. (Lk 17:14)  This ritual act was all that was necessary to give appropriate thanks to God for the healing.  These nine weren’t ungrateful; rather, they didn’t return because they were permitted to participate in the Temple ritual of thanksgiving for a healing. 

The one Samaritan who returned to Jesus did so because he would not have been permitted to worship in the Temple or participate in the purification ritual prescribed for the other nine.  Tellingly, neither did he go to Mount Gerazim where Samaritans worshipped; instead, he returned to give thanks to a Jewish prophet. 

Programmatically, in Luke’s Gospel, this story performs the same function as the story of the gentile woman at the well in John’s Gospel.  The Gospel author is announcing a new dispensation of grace when Samaritans would no longer worship on Mount Gerazim and Jews would no longer worship in Jerusalem because “true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth.” (Jn 4:21, 23)  The “Spirit and truth” mentioned in John’s Gospel, and alluded to in Luke’s Gospel, is redemption through faith in the Resurrected Jesus. 

This healing story is an illustration of Jesus’ preaching about the coming of the kingdom of God.  Jesus said that, when the kingdom comes, both religion and morality will be transformed.  The new religion of the new dispensation of grace will admit all people, Samaritans and gentiles, as well as the Chosen People.  The new morality of the kingdom will be equally universal; it will require justice from all people and pledge justice to all people. 

The king of Israel was very skeptical that Naaman had come to his royal court for healing.  Naaman, for his part, was skeptical that the Jordan River could heal a troubling condition that had defied previous attempts at a cure.  Both were proved wrong by experience.  Practical experience is a valid measurement of the value of Jesus’ teachings, as well. 

Would your personal happiness be enhanced if you were not subjected to envy, dishonesty, theft, and murder?  If you answer “yes,” then everyone deserves not to be subjected to envy, dishonesty, theft, and murder. 

Would your personal freedom be strengthened by being granted forgiveness, mercy, and kindness?  If you answer “yes,” then everyone deserves to receive forgiveness, mercy, and kindness. 

Do Jesus’ commands make human existence easier, better, and more humane or less so?  The empirical evidence is visible in the Samaritan leper whose gratitude restored him to a healthy relationship with God and God’s People.