Baptism and the Old Testament

In out Bible Study this morning we touched on the story of Naaman and its relationship to Baptism. I was so moved again by this connection I wanted to share a bit here.

If you don't know who Naaman is, you're probably not alone. He's a little known Old Testament person and his story is found in 2 Kings 5. Naaman, commander of the Syrian army, was a leper. He went to the prophet Elisha in Israel to seek healing. The prophet told him to go and bath in the Jordan River 7 times and he would be healed. But Naaman was disappointed with Elisha's solution- whether the simplicity of it or perhaps Naaman was too, proud to bath in Israel's waters. Regardless, he turns away angry and wishing that the prophet would have called on the Lord to heal him then and there. Naaman's servant reminds Naaman that if the prophet would have asked him to do something great would he not have obeyed? And so Naaman goes down to the Jordan and follows the prophet's command and is healed.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church does not mention this episode of Scripture in the Old Testament's prefiguring of Baptism (paragraphs 1217-1222). However, the thought that was spoken of today at our study was how many of us, like Naaman, doubt the work of God in the simplicity of the Sacraments. The Sacraments themselves require humility of us to realize that they are the way in which Christ deemed give us grace. The way in which Christ comes to us today! Under the humble guise of bread and wine we receive the body and blood of Jesus. In our spouse, we awake to encounter Christ, dwelling among us. In the simple, yet humbling, admission of our sins we are forgiven in the sacrament of Confession. Yet, there is part of us, like Naaman that thinks God ought to do something grandiose. Rather, it is going to the Jordan, a meager stream in Israel, that Naaman is healed. And we, too, in following the example of Our Lord, seek the waters of Baptism to heal us of original sin.