This is a stinging rebuke not only of Eli's sons but of Eli
himself. He has failed to discipline his
sons and in so doing has condoned their actions and is accounted guilty of
committing them himself. He has brought
dishonor to the Name of the Lord, the fear of the Lord is not in him or his
sons and when the priests have no fear of the Lord, the people soon
follow. The demise of Eli's house and
his family's removal from office will restore the honor and fear due to the
Lord. Eli will know that this is the
Lord's doing and he will be able to make no excuse for it nor claim the Lord is
anything other than righteous in the matter. The devastation on the family will
be so great they will be begging for food from the priest rather than feasting
on the sacrifices of worshippers. Sin is
a serious business in a leader because they owe their position to the Lord and
they set the example for those whom they lead.
Jesus finishes his rebuke of the Sadducees by appealing to
David referring to the Messiah as his Lord.
Yes, Messiah comes after David and from David's line but certainly he
would not refer to one younger than he as Lord.
Logically then, Messiah must be older than David even if he was born
after him. The Sadducees having been
shown to be illogical and unbiblical, Jesus turns to the scribes for
rebuke. They enjoy the perks of
leadership at the expense of the people.
They are like the sons of Eli, living the high life and enjoying the
respect of the people while ignoring the people whom they are intended to
serve. The widow who sacrifices
everything is described as a person of greater faith and import in the kingdom
than those who give large gifts because she has given everything to the Lord,
held back nothing and in so doing shown her faith to be complete. Everyone they respected was demolished in
these few words of Jesus. Is there to be
a new order to replace the old? Has the
church ever gotten it wrong about leadership?
Peter had explained the meaning of the events by referring
to Joel, now he turns to present the Gospel.
His accusation against the people this day is that they failed to
discern Jesus as Messiah and that they crucified him at the hands of lawless
men. The Romans executed Jesus but the
Jews were responsible no less than the Romans, they could not wash their hands
of guilt because the lawless men, the Gentiles, the Romans, did the deed. Again, Peter appeals to the Old Testament to
point to Jesus, using David's words, the words of their beloved ancestor, the
one from whom Messiah would come, a king like David himself. If David anticipated a resurrection from the
dead and wasn't resurrected himself, would not the resurrection of Jesus then
prove beyond doubt that He was indeed Messiah?
If so, what would that mean, that they crucified their own Messiah? Would it mean their rejection forever as the
Lord had rejected the line of Eli?
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