So why does Saul ask whose son David is? Remember back a couple of chapters ago Samuel
told him that the kingdom would be taken from him and given to a neighbor of
his who is better than you. "Better
than" is a social statement and then you have to remember that Saul
himself told Samuel that his clan was the least of the clans of the tribe of
Benjamin when Samuel was prepared to anoint him. Saul knew David because he had served at
court but it would seem he didn't know who David's father was. The details in the story include a statement
that David carried Goliath's head to Jerusalem but he put the giant's armor in
his tent. What happened to it afterwards
is an open question but the sword comes up again as we will see later this
week. Saul is happy with the result here
but it would seem he is concerned about the implications of this youth being
responsible for the victory. His son,
Jonathan, however, is enthralled with David and the giving of the robe, armor,
sword, bow and belt indicates a covenant relationship, we would call it blood
brothers perhaps. Jonathan has given an
oath of allegiance to David and all that is Jonathan's, his stuff and his
person are now pledged to David if he needs them.
In these woes pronounced on the leaders we hear echoes of
the parable of the wicked tenants. Jesus
directly confronts the leaders on their hypocrisy regarding the prophets who
have come before them. They build
monuments and treat these men with reverence and respect but at the same time
reject Him and John the Baptist who is the greatest prophet of them all because
he gave the message that Messiah was imminent.
We make the same mistakes when we receive those who prophecy prosperity
and give us pats on the back but reject any word spoken which convicts us of
sin and which says we need to be humbled.
They and we are no better than those Israelites of days of yore whom God
wanted to turn from sin by sending the prophets and thought it better to reject
them, stone them and kill them.
Ultimately, Jesus will die because of their rejection of His
message. God's love, however, is
unfailing. His covenant is
unbreakable. No matter the rejection of
His people He continues, like Jonathan, in covenant with them, desiring to
bring them close and shower them with love and affection.
Are we saved because we once believed and once
confessed? Paul is saying something
entirely different here than what we have often made of salvation. Believing and confessing are not a one time
event, they are a continuous event. We
are to confess Him always. The Law
required constant vigilance and obedience, it was a way of life that was
measured against the plumb line of righteousness all the days of one's
life. How can salvation in Jesus be less
stringent? Does God suddenly no longer
care about righteous living once Jesus died for sin? No, the cross shows us how much righteousness
matters, how highly God esteems it.
Belief in Jesus should mean that we understand the reality of the
heinous nature of sin in light of the righteousness of Jesus, it is so bad
God's Son had to die in order for us to have hope. Justification is the beginning of the
process, like circumcision or a Bar Mitzvah, not the end of the story. Our lives are the story of God's work and our
faith and belief. Let us never lose
sight of the fact that we must continue to work out our salvation with fear and
trembling but we do so within the confines and security of an everlasting
covenant of love with a merciful and forgiving God.
No comments:
Post a Comment