03.39. The Journey to Samaria: 2Ki_5:4-7
Chapter 11 The Journey to Samaria
2 Kings 5:4-7
How unspeakably consoling are those words of our blessed Lord, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost!" Luke 19:10. He here represents man as a sheep wandering without a shepherd in the solitude of a waste and howling wilderness, which, finding nowhere a hospitable shelter, is exposed, weak and defenseless, to the ravenous wolves, and ignorantly pursues the path of death. Or, we are reminded of a ship foundered in the mighty billows, and "lost" to all hope of recovery: or of a person who has borrowed a large sum of money, and who, when the time for repayment arrives, has not a farthing left, and is obliged to part with his house and all that he hath; his comfort, his credit, his strength, and, perhaps, his life. Examine yourselves, and see if your own spiritual circumstances do not answer to this descriptive word, "lost;" and if they do, then mourn and lament, but yield not to despair; for it was "to seek and to save that which was lost," that "the Son of man" is come.
Sorrow and humiliation for sin are indispensably requisite to all who would enter the temple of the New Testament. Do we wish that Jesus should befriend us, we must plead that we are "lost;" and should we even have good qualities and good works whereof to boast, we must on no account make them our plea. For the Lord might answer us, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Let others boast of the sincerity of their repentance, the fervor of their piety, the purity of their desires, or whatever else they please; our plea must be, "Lord Jesus, we are lost and ruined, therefore have mercy on us!" This appeal, humbly urged, will never meet with a repulse. "The Lord abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself;" and he declares that the humbled and the lost are the objects of his saving mercy. To save them, yes, to seek them out, he declares to be his peculiar office, the real end of his mission into our miserable world. God be thanked, that he came to seek us, and that we had not first to seek him; for had this been the case, who would ever have come to him? We are not merely lost as travellers, who, by deliberation and the help of guide-posts, can regain their right road; but we are lost, as a piece of silver is lost, which of itself will not return into our purse, and must be carefully sought. Blessed are we, that He, who alone can save, condescends also to seek. And this is beautifully exemplified in what follows concerning Naaman the Syrian.
"And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me." The termination which this mysterious history was likely to take now begins to show itself. Three points claim our attentive consideration—
I. Naaman’s preparation for his journey;
II. His passport; and III. His arrival in the Holy Land.