Naaman was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. What a shock it must have been to this great man, the leader of the Syrian army, when the unaccountable lethargy and the terrible pain in the joints attacked his body. Then he discovered, especially on his back, the discolored patches and on them the little nodules which were pink at first and then turned brown. He knew that he had it, the dreaded leprosy. It was the scourge of the ancient world -- the AIDS of his day. In crystal clear and cryptic language the Bible says it all. He had leprosy, that terrible skin disease that was dreaded not only because of the physical suffering involved but also because to have it meant one would be socially isolated.

Leprosy was very democratic. It infected the rich and the poor, the wise and the un…