We are told in the verse preceding our lesson, "David
went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. So, even though he was important at the court
of Saul, he continued to serve also his father and the sheep. When Jesse sends him out with provision for
his brothers in the army and to the commander of the thousand, David willingly
runs the errand. He was a man who even
though greatness was clearly marked on him, was humble and willing to serve. His brothers are apparently jealous of
David's rise and anointing. Eliab, the
eldest and largest of the brothers makes an interesting remark, "I know
your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the
battle.” There is surely an inherent
boast in these words, leave the fighting to men like me, but Eliab has cowered
with the rest in fear of Goliath. David
is roused to anger and wonders why someone hasn't stood up to this bully. Help sometimes comes in the most unlikely
guises.
John certainly looked a bit of an unlikely messenger to
prepare the way for the king. He was a
bit of a wild man and yet his story was certainly known among the people. No one could have missed the fact that his
father was a priest who had an angelic visitation prior to John's birth to announce
this one was to be special but what in the world was John doing living outside
the city, wearing rough clothing and eating only locusts and wild honey,
nothing cultivated or processed? His
message was to herald the coming of the king and Messiah but heralds were
usually dressed in finery and attended with pomp and circumstance and here was,
well, an odd-ball. Nonetheless, the
people were receiving his message and preparing themselves to greet this king,
not by dressing up their houses and the city but by confessing their sins and
washing themselves in the waters of baptism.
It was a preparation of righteousness.
Jesus' baptism is not for sin but for identification, full
identification, with sinners and to provide the sign God had promised
John. It would seem time to greet
Messiah but the Spirit drove Him out to the wilderness, where they had spent
all those years of the exodus, to be tempted by satan himself. We never expect to be tested in these
occasions, we see glory and want to move into that, but we aren't prepared
without testing.
Peter and Cornelius were both tested, they both had words
from the Lord that made little sense but they were obedient to do all He
commanded them not knowing what in the world lay ahead. Peter responds to Cornelius' request to speak
the word of God by proclaiming in simplest terms what he had seen and heard and
how it related to what Cornelius already knew.
There was no New Testament in written form, Cornelius knew the word of
God but not in its fullness, not the revelation that came in Jesus. I would love to have seen Peter's face when
this group of Gentiles suddenly began speaking in tongues and extolling God
right in the midst of his little homily.
He didn't know what to do except now baptize them, they had already
received the Holy Spirit. Was God
telling him something about this movement that was going to surprise him and
require him to let go of more than dietary restrictions? Did he know what he thought he knew about
people and God's ways? We need new eyes
to see what God is doing.
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