Psalm 40, 54; 1 Samuel 31:1-13; Acts 15:12-21; Mark 5:21-43
Saul’s end comes by his own hand. He is wounded and asks his armor-bearer to finish the job by running him through with the sword but this servant refuses to kill his master, the king. Saul can’t bear the thought of what the Philistines might do to him, how cruelly they may treat him before killing him so he takes matters into his own hand and falls on his sword. The nobility of the armor-bearer is striking in that he immediately falls on his own sword as his master does. Saul’s fears concerning the Philistines intentions concerning him are well-founded as we see how they mistreat his body and those of his sons as well. The people of Jabesh-Gilead show themselves to be brave and noble as well as they come and take down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall after traveling all night, braving the Philistines, to care properly for their king and his family.
On His return from healing the demon-possessed man Jesus encounters great crowds and a synagogue ruler. In this passage we see hope and faith and also unbelief but even the unbelief we see is reasonable. The synagogue ruler surely knows where Jesus has been and how unclean He must be but He doesn’t care, he believes that Jesus can heal his daughter even though she is close to death. The woman with the issue of blood seems to have no doubt that she will be healed if she can but touch the hem of His garment and so she is. Jesus affirms that her faith has made her well, but has her touch made Him even more unclean? The logic of clean and unclean is interesting. Did they exchange states of clean and unclean? Jesus, however, has power in Him to make clean without spoiling His own condition. Priests cannot heal they can only inspect and proclaim clean that which God has made clean. Jesus continues with the ruler even though a servant has come to say that the girl has died. The mourners are already gathered and yet Jesus tells the ruler to continue to believe, even after death, that his daughter is not beyond Jesus’ ability to restore her and his faith is rewarded. There is no situation beyond the hope of Jesus, nothing is too hard for him.
James, the brother of Jesus, delivers the decision of the council. He makes no mention of Paul and Barnabas and their mission in his decision, only of Peter’s mission to the Gentiles. Perhaps Peter’s work carried more weight with the Judaizers and his methods were more acceptable to this group. That is an interesting thing though as Paul was a Pharisee and Peter a Galileean and here we are told that the group who objects are Pharisees. It is a measure of what God has done in Paul that he is more liberal with respect to the Gentiles than the rest. The decision is that there is no need to circumcise the Gentile believers, that the new covenant supersedes the old covenant but that these Gentiles should abstain from certain practices so that the fellowship between Jewish and Gentile believers is not compromised. The law has not passed away, it is written on the hearts of believers who have the Holy Spirit which impels us to please the Lord and we know that the law is the expression of God’s will for living in this world. In Jesus, the dividing wall between “us” and “them” and the enmity therein has been destroyed. The Philistines, in a metaphorical sense, are now joined together with the Jews.
Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more;
Feed me till I want no more.
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