{"id":3510,"date":"2024-03-25T07:41:01","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T11:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3510"},"modified":"2024-03-25T07:41:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T11:41:01","slug":"the-man-who-came-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/25\/the-man-who-came-back\/","title":{"rendered":"The Man Who Came Back"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>
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Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at the miracles of Jesus \u2013 his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>
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What are the 10 scariest words in the English language?
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Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down<\/em>
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Just like that, you\u2019ve been reminded of the 1987 hit song by English pop singer Rick Astley.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of those tunes that gets stuck in your head \u2013 and that some theologians believe will be playing on a continuous loop in hell.\u00a0
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The official music video of Astley singing and dancing (and not dancing particularly well) has become a notorious Internet meme.\u00a0 Almost 20 years ago, people began circulating links to the video, usually disguised as something else.\u00a0 If you innocently click on the link, only to encounter Astley in all his glory, you\u2019ve been \u201cRickrolled.\u201d\u00a0
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YouTube estimates that the video has now been viewed more than 1.5 billion times.\u00a0 Astley admits that he himself has been Rickrolled on multiple occasions.
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Long before MTV invaded our collective consciousness, Jewish rabbis were utilizing a teaching technique called \u201cremez.\u201d\u00a0
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A remez is a hint \u2013 a suggestion, allusion, or reminder.\u00a0 Just as hearing the chorus of a pop song can prompt you to start singing the verses, the citation of a single verse of Scripture can lead you to remember that verse\u2019s original context.
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Diane Shirlaw-Ferreira, a Messianic Jewish blogger, points out that Jesus routinely used this method of teaching.\u00a0 As Good Friday approaches, we need think no further than his anguished cry on the cross: \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?\u201d That\u2019s the first verse of Psalm 22. \u00a0For someone dying slowly of asphyxiation, speaking each of those words would have required supreme effort.\u00a0
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Most commentators believe Jesus\u2019 citation of that verse is a remez.\u00a0
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Those gathered at Calvary (with the exception of the Roman execution squad) would almost certainly have been immersed all their lives in scriptural study and memorization.\u00a0 Just as we hear the words, \u201cNow I lay me down to sleep\u201d and tend to think of the whole child\u2019s prayer, they would have been reminded of everything else in Psalm 22.
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It is a psalm of suffering and despair that leads to great victory.\u00a0 By reciting aloud the first verse, Jesus is not only embracing the horror of that day but claiming the triumph of better days to come.\u00a0
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At least one of Jesus\u2019 miracles is a powerful geographical and spiritual remez.\u00a0 We find it in Luke 17:11-19:
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It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, \u201cJesus, Master, have mercy on us!\u201d\u00a0 Taking a good look at them, he said, \u201cGo, show yourselves to the priests.\u201d They went, and while still on their way, became clean.<\/em>
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One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus\u2019 feet, so grateful. He couldn\u2019t thank him enough\u2014and he was a Samaritan.\u00a0 Jesus said, \u201cWere not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?\u201d Then he said to him, \u201cGet up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 (\u201cThe Message\u201d)\u00a0
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Listeners familiar with the Old Testament would have said, \u201cWe\u2019ve heard this story before.\u201d
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In 2 Kings 5 we encounter another foreigner (like the Samaritan), who also has leprosy, who is also told to go somewhere else to receive healing, and who also comes back overwhelmed with thankfulness. \u00a0And his healing also takes place in this general vicinity, near the Israelite town of Dothan.\u00a0
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The story of Naaman, a Syrian outsider, is stirring.\u00a0
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We are told that he is the commander of the army of the kingdom of Aram, one of the sworn enemies of Israel.
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In the ancient world you can be great, you can be beautiful, and you can be powerful.\u00a0 But if you are a leper, then socially and spiritually you are dead.
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Naaman\u2019s flesh, to one degree or another, is scaly and degenerating.\u00a0 At some point his fingers and toes and the tip of his nose will fall off.\u00a0 Here is a man who has the power to call out battalions to fight.\u00a0 But nobody wants to be around him.\u00a0 His own family members shrink from touching him.\u00a0 His whole existence has been sabotaged by this condition that he cannot fix or control.\u00a0
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Suddenly there comes an unexpected opportunity.\u00a0 A young, captive Israelite girl says to him, \u201cIf only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria!\u00a0 He would cure him of his leprosy.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 She\u2019s referring to the prophet Elisha.
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Propelled by a mixture of curiosity and desperate hope, Naaman loads up his servants and his horses and crosses the border into Israel, bringing with him 150 pounds of gold, 750 pounds of silver, and ten suits of clothing. \u00a0It was definitely more challenging to carry money in the days before Bitcoin.\u00a0 He comes to Elisha\u2019s house.\u00a0 Never has anyone been so prepared to buy a miracle.\u00a0
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That\u2019s what makes 2 Kings 5:10 so over-the-top insulting: \u201cElisha sent a messenger to say to him, \u2018Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.\u2019\u201d
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The Aramean general goes ballistic.\u00a0
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\u201cBut Naaman went away angry and said, \u2018I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 In other words, \u201cDoesn’t this prophet know who I am?\u00a0 He wants me to go jump into a muddy creek?\u00a0 I could have stayed home and done that.\u00a0 He at least could have come out and done a little leprosy dance.\u201d\u00a0 Thus verse twelve concludes, \u201cHe turned and went off in a rage.\u201d
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What God is saying through Elisha is, \u201cNaaman, I know you\u2019re used to being in charge.\u00a0 But if you want to experience My<\/em> power, you\u2019ll have to give up the illusion of being in control and just do what I say \u2013 even though it goes against your intuition.\u201d\u00a0
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This is where Naaman’s servants come to the rescue.\u00a0 \u201cLook,\u201d they reason, \u201cyou came all this way prepared to do anything<\/em> you were asked to do.\u00a0 You would have carried out the hardest, bravest, or costliest assignment.\u00a0 Now this prophet asks you to do the simplest thing any of us could ever have imagined.\u00a0 Won\u2019t you at least give it a try?”
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To wash in the Jordan, Naaman will have to remove his armor.\u00a0 He will have to reveal to the world the physical condition he would prefer to hide.\u00a0\u00a0
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He chooses to humble himself: \u201cHe went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0
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During the course of a single day, Naaman loses two things.\u00a0 He loses his leprosy and he loses the delusion that being in control is the best way to go through life.\u00a0He returns to Elisha\u2019s house, overwhelmed with joy and expressions of praise to God.\u00a0
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Here is where the story resonates powerfully with Luke 17.
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Jesus is saying, \u201cWhen it comes to God\u2019s grace, there are no foreigners.\u00a0 There are no people disqualified because of their ethnicity or current sense of hopelessness \u2013 no Arameans, Samaritans, or lepers.\u201d
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Nevertheless, there is a dividing line.
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On the one side there are those who have much to be happy about but don\u2019t get around to saying thank-you.\u00a0 That would include the nine lepers who are healed and then go their merry way.\u00a0 They\u2019re grateful, no doubt.\u00a0 Even people who don\u2019t believe in God are grateful for sunny days, cherry pie, and clear X-rays.\u00a0
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But those who are grateful and thankful<\/em> belong in an entirely different category.\u00a0 Jesus calls out the man who came back.\u00a0
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The ones who choose to come back and make a special effort to say, \u201cThank-you, God!\u201d \u2013 like Naaman and the Samaritan, even though they aren\u2019t card-carrying members of the people of God \u2013 these are the very ones who bring deep delight to the Lord.\u00a0 \u00a0
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In which category are you?
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Let your hope become trust.\u00a0 Let your gratitude become thankfulness.\u00a0
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There\u2019s so much to be thankful for \u2013 that this is the first Monday of spring, for instance, and that Easter is just around the corner.
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And that for at least the past 10 minutes, the odds are very good that you haven\u2019t been Rickrolled.\u00a0

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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here\u00a0Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at the miracles of Jesus \u2013 his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What are the 10 scariest words in the English language?\u00a0Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down\u00a0Just like that, you\u2019ve been reminded of… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3511,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11,246],"class_list":["post-3510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-miracles","tag-thankfulness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3510"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3512,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3510\/revisions\/3512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}