Hushai's counsel took into account the exceeding vanity of
Absalom. If he were only to lead the
people into battle they would take heart and fight and surely with his
leadership they would win the day. There
was no way Absalom was going to ignore such advice when he could gain such
glory for himself. The strategy of
Ahitophel was certainly much better conceived than this but vanity always
wins. From there it is all intrigue and
intelligence. David's side has a plan
but it is discovered yet doesn't fail because the people want David to succeed
and hide the messengers. Ahitophel can't
cope with the loss of confidence displayed in rejection of his counsel and his
own vanity causes him to take his own life.
Perhaps he also knew that this would mean the end of Absalom and, if so,
would not bode well for him either in the event that David returned as king.
What is the purpose of Jesus' ministry? When He notes that John has borne witness to
Him He also remarks that He doesn't need human witness but also says, "Not
that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved." He doesn't need any man to tell Him who He is
or to be the primary testimony because truth isn't known completely based on
human words and reason, it is based in the witness and testimony of the Holy
Spirit. If we don't have the Holy Spirit
it makes no difference how many times or how reliable the testimony we receive
may be, we will not accept it as true.
Jesus here also points out that much of what we do is about vanity and
appeal to vanity while He receives no glory from man. Can we say the same? We should have the mind of Christ which is to
receive no praise and glory from others, our only goal to please Him and
glorify Him.
Paul's desire for the Galatians is that the understand the
difference between Gospel and Law. The
Law is opposed to the Gospel. Faith
preceded the Law. The covenant was based
on faith and not Law. The Law came that
we might know and believe in the mercy and love of God rather than our own
ability to be good. We aren't good
enough no matter how good we are because there is one standard for
justification, perfection but not legal perfection, righteousness is about so
much more than keeping rules. In the
Prayer Book our confession is based on things done and also things left
undone. The Law has no means of tracking
those things left undone unless we understand the true righteousness of the Law
as Jesus explicated it, for instance in Matthew 5.21-48. That passage tells me that righteousness is
more than morals and ethics, it is a matter of the heart and in that
realization there is no further room for vanity and pride or the belief in my
goodness. I need a savior, thank God
that is why Jesus came.
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