Micah's word here is particularly directed to the leaders of
Israel, those who are charged with oversight and who are responsible for
ensuring that there is justice. His complaint
is that they do not do justice, they are self-seeking rather than
selfless. A primary charge is that so
long as their own bellies are full they declare there is shalom in the
Land. Their own well-being is all that
matters to them. It is an easy thing to
fall into this mindset, so long as our life is pleasant and comfortable, that
we have all that we want or need, then all is well. We, the people of God, have to think and act
on a larger scale. The well being of the
community is as important as our own. Micah
says he has no fear because he has the power of the Lord within him to speak
truth and make the Lord's case to the people.
Apparently it was customary to allow uninvited guests to be
present when an important teacher was a guest as no one objects to the woman's
presence behind Jesus as he reclined at table.
The Pharisee thinks to himself that Jesus must not be that good as a
prophet or He would stop this woman touching Him as she is a filthy
sinner. Jesus knows the man's thoughts and
speaks into them by asking a simple question concerning forgiveness of
debt. In doing so, Jesus shows that He
knows all about the woman but also points to the sin of the Pharisee for his
failure to offer basic hospitality. He has
disrespected Jesus and the woman has proven she knows who Jesus is while the Pharisee
has proven he doesn't know who reclines at table. The one person there who lacks knowledge of
people is the man who thinks he knows.
Jesus offers pardon to the woman and that becomes the next scandal. On what basis has He forgiven her?
Don't you just love the idea that Paul stirs up riots
everywhere amongst the Jews. Yes, there
were frequently riots where Paul was but was he the proximate cause of the
riots? Paul makes just that argument,
that he wasn't disputing with anyone, that he had not, in fact, profaned the
temple, he was purified when he went there. His only offense was in speaking of the resurrection
of the dead. We are not told who his accusers
are here before Felix so we can't know if Paul was seeking to create division
among them by this statement. Felix, we
are told, has an accurate knowledge of the Gospel, the Way. He determines to either pass the buck further
for judgment or get a second opinion but his directions concerning Paul's
treatment under his care tell us that he saw Paul as no threat.
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