2 Kings 5:13
But his servants came near and said to him, "My father, if the prophet had commanded you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much rather, then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?"
Naaman, the great general, had a little problem. He was a leper. He'd gotten wind that a prophet of Israel named Elisha might be able to help him out of his predicament. So he asked for help. The reply came from Elisha: "Not a problem. Come on down and take a dip in our filthy, muddy Jordan river and God will heal you." Naaman was furious. There are a lot of rivers right here in Damascus and they're a heck of a lot cleaner than the Jordan. It was an affront to his dignity and intelligence. But his servants brought him to his senses with the words of today's verse. In his pride, he was ready to perform seven Herculean feats to earn his healing. But he wasn't prepared to humble himself. When he realized they were right, he humbled himself (which is even more Herculean) and received healing on God's terms, not his. Baptism is a similarly simple act of submission to God. It washes us of all sin, the greatest of which is pride.
