The people of Israel acclaim David as always having been
their shepherd. Even in the days in
which Saul was king David was the one who led them out and brought them in like
sheep. He is anointed at thirty,
approximately eleven years after Samuel first anointed him king. They have received him as their king,
recognized God's anointing on him and now join the Lord in making him truly
their leader. His first act is to go up
against Jerusalem whose king says that he will send the blind and lame to win
this battle so inconsequential is David and his army. In one verse we are told that David conquered
Jerusalem, one verse, so simple was this conquest. David then sends any who will go to kill the blind
and lame, and this then became a byword, the blind and lame shall not come into
his house. Remember Mephibosheth, the
little lame son of Jonathan? David will
make one exception to this rule. So great
was David becoming that neighboring kings like Hiram of Tyre now seek to curry
favor by donating materials to build David's house.
Both these scenes take place in Gentile territory. The Syro-Phoenician woman meets Jesus in
Tyre, the home of Hiram from our first lesson, where He is attempting to be
apart from the crowds who have followed Him.
In spite of the fact that this is definitely not Jewish territory this woman
knows who He is and what He is capable of and falls at Jesus' feet begging Him
to heal her daughter. The ensuing
exchange is difficult to say the least, Jesus referring to the Gentiles as
"dogs", but she won't be that easily put off, the possibility of her
daughter being healed is too important to miss this opportunity. She uses simple logic to press her case and
is rewarded. We memorialize her words in
the prayer of Humble Access, "We are not worthy to gather up the crumbs
under your table…" The second scene
is the region around the Decapolis, near the place where the Gerasene/Gadarene
demoniac was healed, on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. There are even crowds here now, not begging
Him to leave but anxious to hear Him and see Him heal. I love the idea that Jesus expected people to
obey His command to tell no one. We are
more apt to tell no one than one who was healed aren't we?
Paul and Silas come to Thessalonica. We have two letters to the resulting church
in our canon, First and Second Thessalonians.
The pattern here is certainly familiar, Paul preaches the Gospel,
proclaims Jesus as Messiah, receives a warm response, and then a heated
response, from the Jews who are roused to jealousy. Paul is charged by the mob with sedition,
proclaiming another king, Jesus, in
opposition to Caesar. A little bribe for
security goes a long way though in letting them go. Luke tells us that the Bereans, to whom Paul
and Silas go next, were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica and
reacted by seeking and discerning rather than emotionally. Eventually, those Jews from Thessalonica come
to Berea and stir up enough trouble that the brothers there implore Paul to
leave but Silas and Timothy remain behind to continue the work. The Gospel for Paul was all that was
important, that people know the truth, no matter the personal consequences to
him. Don’t you wish you were more like
Paul?
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