This is the event mentioned yesterday by Jesus in our Gospel
reading as a defense of the disciples eating the grain on the Sabbath. David affirms that the men with him had kept
themselves from women and were therefore ritually pure enough to eat the
showbread or bread of the presence. Interestingly,
David also lies about his reason for being in Nob at all. He says that the king has sent him when in
fact he is running from Saul. Did you
notice the shadowy figure of Doeg who happened to be there hearing and seeing
all this, he was detained before the Lord, it was God's doing that this man is
in this place and he will tell his master all he sees and hears. Goliath's sword also happens to be in this
place for David to take with him. The sword
would have been huge if Goliath were as large as we were told. David, when he reaches Gath, Goliath's home,
is mistakenly identified as king of Israel based on the little ditty they had
heard that indicated him to be greater than Saul. There are all kinds of questions from this
passage. Where is Nob and why is there a
worship center with a priest there? Why do
they have Goliath's sword? Is it
acceptable for David to lie to both the priest and the people of Gath in
pretending to be a madman?
Jesus is beginning to attract huge crowds due to His healing
so many people at Capernaum. They are
coming to see just who this man is and they are coming from everywhere, He is
not just a local phenomenon. It is time
then to specify the twelve who will be His disciples. It had to be an amazing thing to hear your
name called to be one of His pupils and know that you were going to be with the
man you believed to be the Messiah of Israel.
The twelve are going to have a one of a kind experience in the history
of the world. One, however, misses it
entirely because he wants it all his own way.
He would have the Messiah of his own choosing rather than Jesus who
fails to meet his expectations and hopes.
We all have to choose whether we will have God's agenda or our own.
I wonder if the leader of the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch
knew what he was letting himself in for when he invited Paul to share any
encouragement he might have. Did he have
any idea that Paul would come and preach Jesus or did he expect something
different? Paul begins simply by briefly
sharing Israel's history concerning the kingship of the nation and then swiftly
moving to Jesus as the fulfillment of the hopes of the nation for the Savior
from David's line. Are we prepared for
Jesus to change our expectations and to have His way in our lives? We can't simply add Jesus to our lives, we
must absolutely surrender to Him in order for Him to truly be king and Lord
over us. Have you fully given Him your
life or are you still more or less in charge?
Paul could no longer preach what he formerly taught, the entire
trajectory of his life was different and when anyone gave him a chance to
provide encouragement, no matter what forum it was they had best be prepared to
hear about Jesus.
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