Saturday, November 27, 2004 Fish, Wine, & Oil
Great-Martyr James the Persian
Kellia: 2 Kings 4:18-25a Epistle: Galatians 3:8-12 Gospel: St. Luke 9:57-62
2 Kings 4:18-25a MT ~ 4 Kings 4:18-25a LXX, especially vs. 23:
"And he said, Why art thou going to him today? It is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she
said, It is well." Lifting out this verse from the exchange between the Shunammite woman and
her husband draws us into a consideration of faith, or trust, and its nature. Many things transpire
in this interchange: the wife expresses her concern to leave for Mount Carmel with the utmost
speed. The husband expresses his puzzlement at the need to meet with the man of God on an
ordinary day of no special consequence that he is able to recall - neither the time for the religious
feast of the new moon nor the weekly sabbath. She mollifies any latent concern on his part by
assuring her husband, "It is well," in case he should link her journey to the earlier complaints of
their son - that his head hurt (vs. 19). How shall we understand the trust of the husband in his
wife? What shall we make of her trust in God and in His Prophet, the man of God, Elisha, given
that her son lay dead? How do we understand her comment,"It is well," when the death of the
boy plainly renders the family's life not at all well? Can we discern in her a functional trust in
her husband when she mollifies him with a statement contrary to fact? Let us see!
The basic fabric of marital and family life either is suffused with mutual trust or else these natural
bonds shred and fail. The same is true for every person in relationship with God. Again, the
marriage of the unnamed man and woman from Shunem reflects an abiding trust of the partners
in one another. There was no objection or resistance on the part of the husband when his wife fed
the Prophet during Elisha's regular visits to their community and home (4 Kngs 4:8). Note
further that she made no special effort toward her husband to 'sweeten' the proposal that they
provide lodging for the man of God and Gehazi his servant (4 Kngs 4:9,10). On the basis of her
trust in her husband, she simply proposed "an upper chamber," it came to be, and continued as a
place of respite for the wandering holy man.
In the present passage, this same evidence of trust between the Shunammite and her husband
continues. When their young son complains of a headache, the father has a servant take him
immediately to his mother (4 Kngs 4:19), no doubt trusting that she would supply the nurture
required for his care. A little later, despite the man's puzzlement as to a reason for her sudden
trip to Mount Carmel, she was able to leave with a family servant without objection - as it is said
in the Book of Proverbs, "Her husband is not anxious about those at home" (Prov. 31:21).
What is the nature of such trust between persons? Faith of this type contains underlying, and
usually unspoken, assumptions concerning the performance of another. One is able to rely on a
trusted person only when genuine faith is operative in the relationship. Now consider: a child of
prophetic promise, a gift from God, has died. Although conceived and born in a 'natural' way, he
came to his parents at the word of the man of God, contrary to the Shunammite woman's
expectation (4 Kngs 4:16). In the present instance, the woman's immediate response in the face
of the boy's death reveals her faith in the Prophet and in God for Whom he speaks. She already
had concrete evidence that reinforced her initial perception of Elisha as a man of God (compare 4
Kngs 4:9 and 17). Therefore, she places the boy in Elisha's bed, and sets out to bring the Prophet
to the bedside of the child in the ultimate repose of death.
Let us learn from the kind of faith that we discern in the Shunammite in her loss and pain. She
seeks the aid of God through the intercession of His true Prophet. Can we do less?
O ye Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, hierarchs, saints and righteous who have kept the Faith, we
beseech you, since ye have favor with the Savior, plead with Him for our sake.
