Jesus is Neither a Resource Nor a Mascot

The Temptation of Gehazi: making miracles into commodities

“Christ has come to proclaim liberty to the captives, but he will not become the mascot for a people’s movement of liberation.”

— Leslie Newbigin

The Old Testament passage assigned by the lectionary for this Sunday is 2 Kings 5:1-14. While my own preaching text is John 6.1-15, the two scriptures intersect at Karl Barth’s analysis of the political nature of biblical miracles. Interpreters ought to read the stories to their end rather than attend only to the redactions offered by the lectionary.

Both miracles end in failure.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus multiplies loaves and fishes but he cannot multiply the crowd. By the conclusion of his sermon on the sign, a mass of five thousand has dwindled to eleven. Before the crowd abandons him, they respond to the miracle by attempting to seize Jesus and conscript him as their king.

If he can command bread, he can command an army!

With a sword in his hands, Caesar will be on his knees!

In the Book of Kings, the forerunner to Jesus refuses recompense from the Syrian King whom the prophet Elisha heals— he will not be pulled into the world’s economy of exchange, possession, and power. Elisha’s servant Gehazi, having witnessed the prophet refuse the king’s gold and silver and garments, nevertheless attempts to extract payment from the pagan monarch.

“As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

Elisha heals Namaan of his leprosy.

Gehazi contracts leprosy on account of his greed.

At times I wonder if the lectionary deliberately conspires to make believers into bad readers of the scriptures. The tragedy of Gehazi in 2 Kings 5, for instance, is not a peripheral footnote to the healing of Naaman. It is the sharp edge of the narrative.