1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. 2 Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” … 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.” 8 But 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? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean. 15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.”
2 Kings 5:1–3, 7–15 (NRSV)
Are public spaces accessible to people equally? Unfortunately, Dalits do not experience their fundamental right of access to public spaces, for they are denied access to temples, to water resources, to wedding processions on the streets, and to many other public places. They face discrimination based on the dharma of ‘purity and pollution’ for being born outside of the caste system. Access and accessibility are political matters, for they are determined by the structures of power. Those with power claim access to all spaces, but when access is denied or restricted to the powerful, they feel threatened and insecure.
The script of power and the politics of access are exposed and upended in the narrative of 2 Kings 5. This is most fundamentally seen in the presence, role and action of the young girl whose access to her own country was curtailed when she was taken captive and enslaved by Naaman. Ironically, it is her intervention that opens up access to healing for her enslaver. But this is not the only way the politics of access are challenged in this narrative. The interplay of privilege and loss of access in Naaman’s experience drives the plot of this story.
Naaman was a mighty warrior who was highly favoured by his master, the king of Aram. The text says that it was because of him that the Lord had given victory to Aram (verses 1-2). Naaman accessed every space in his kingdom and abroad because of his power. Yet, when he experienced restricted access at Elisha’s place, he raged in anger and even began to abandon the site of healing. At that point of experiencing restricted access, in that situation of powerlessness, and at that position of vulnerability, Naaman begins to experience healing.
Naaman not only had access to the public spaces of Aram because of his power and position, but also forcefully claimed access to the neighbouring country of Israel, through military raids. It was in one of these raids that the young Israelite girl was taken captive to serve him and his household.
The story goes on to say that Naaman was suffering from a skin disease, leprosy. However, even in his suffering Namaan enjoyed privilege. A person with leprosy (in the literature of ancient civilizations) was considered ‘unclean’ and had to isolate from society. Like the Dalit of today’s world, such people were considered polluting by those who consider themselves pure. But nowhere in the text are we told that Naaman had ‘uncleanliness’ attached to him. Nowhere in the text is it mentioned that he had to be isolated from his society. Nowhere in the text does it say that he lived and suffered from the stigma of discrimination because of leprosy, for Namaan was shielded by the privilege of his powerful position.
In this week’s lectionary gospel reading (Luke 17:11-17), we notice that the ten people with leprosy were ‘keeping their distance’ and called out Jesus for healing. Naaman, however, neither faced discrimination nor had to ‘keep himself at a distance.’ On the contrary, he had free access everywhere—including the royal palace. For we are told that upon hearing from the young girl about the prophet in Samaria, ‘Naman went in and told his lord what the girl from the land of Israel had said’ (verse 4). While, for the rest of the community, a skin disease like leprosy was considered ‘unclean’, limitations of access did not apply for Naaman just because he was powerful, mighty, and rich. How often do people with power take over the public sphere, apply and bend rules according to their whims and fancies? The government ‘partygate’ during COVID lockdowns in the UK is a case in point.
Nevertheless, when Naaman came with his horses and chariots (a demonstration of his power and wealth) and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house, Elisha did not come and see him in person, nor invited him to come inside. This is the first time in the text that Namaan experienced a ‘de-accessed’ moment, for thus far he claimed access to all places, including kings’ palaces, both in Aram and Israel. Rather than seeing Naaman in person, Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman with a message, ‘Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean’ (verse 10). What makes this moment prophetic is that Elisha forces Naaman to experience what it is to be restricted of free access to every place. Through that restriction, Naaman learns what it means to be vulnerable and realizes how powerless people are pushed into much suffering because of restrictive laws. In the experience of powerlessness, the healing of Naaman begins.
This is also the first time in the text the word ‘clean’ appears. Elisha’s message said that Naaman must wash in the Jordan seven times so that his flesh will be restored and he shall be made clean. Having been soaked in power, privilege and wealth, Namaan did not know until then that ‘uncleanliness’ was attached to him as a result of his skin condition.
When Naaman’s access was restricted in this way, when his privilege was exposed, and when he suddenly felt powerless and vulnerable, he became angry and went away in a rage (verses 11-13). Namaan explains the reasons for his anger, saying, ‘I thought that for me Elisha would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy…’ which is all about the restriction of access. Naaman furthermore attempts to display his power by saying, ‘Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?’ In a desperate grasp at control, Naaman thinks that his access to preferred rivers can bring him cleansing. But in a final flip of the script of power, it is Naaman’s servants who persuade him to go and wash in the Jordan. When he did, his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy and he was made ‘clean’.
That moment of constrained access, that moment of powerlessness, that moment of vulnerability, that moment of anger is where I recognize a God-incidence moment in the story, which paved the way for healing. When Dalits are denied access to public spaces in the public sphere, the divine chooses to be on their side and journeys with them towards equality, liberation and justice where they are granted access to all places. One of the aims of Dalit public theology is to strive for free access for everyone, particularly to those who are denied access to the public sphere. I believe the church is called to pioneer such engagements.
A political theology of access locates the divine in de-accessed sites, exposes the privilege of the powerful who claim access because of their power, and offers hope and access to the powerless. In the liturgy of eucharist, which is celebrated in my own faith community, there is a place for a prayer of humble access, an opportunity to recognize that God in Jesus has granted access for everyone to the divine. In that context of Christian interpretation, the story of Naaman calls for repentance and confession from people who claim to be powerful because of their caste, gender, class, race, ability, sexuality, etc. In the story of 2 Kings 5, God brings down the mighty, makes the empire fall and offers hope and healing to the vulnerable. I read this story as an invitation for the church to be and become a free and equal space of access for everyone—and ‘everyone’ means ‘everyone’.
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