Yesterday's lesson ended at verse 4 of chapter 2 with David
reminding Solomon in his charge to him to keep covenant with the Lord and the
Lord would then maintain one of their descendants on the throne of Israel. We skip forward to chapter 3 today but the
rest of chapter 2 is the establishment of Solomon's kingdom by settling some of
David's old scores with those who had dealt treacherously with him. The peace of Solomon's kingdom is established
by ridding it of those who could not be trusted by either David or
Solomon. The marriage alliance here with
the king of Egypt was also an important factor in assuring that peace. After these things are taken care of God
poses this opportunity of receiving whatever he asks for. Does the fact that he asked for wisdom tell
us that he already possessed a good measure of wisdom? Notice that what he wants is what Adam and
Eve attempted to get from fruit in the garden, the ability to "discern
between good and evil." The Lord
renews the covenant with Solomon that He had made with David, and it is
contingent on walking in His ways and keeping His commandments. The covenant blessings are conditional but
the covenant is everlasting, it awaits the one who will walk perfectly.
The woman who anoints Jesus with the oil is likely a
prostitute. She would have worn this
flask in order to smell nice to attract men and now she pours it over Jesus as
an offering. It is both her repentance
and her testimony of Jesus. She is
forsaking her old life by pouring out that which set her apart and committing
herself to Jesus. The disciples'
reaction is to scold her for wasting such precious oil which could have been
otherwise sold. Jesus, however, receives
her offering and scolds the disciples for their lack of understanding. In so doing, He says that this woman's story
will always be told where the Gospel is preached and in Mark's Gospel it is
recorded for all time. How amazing that
this sinful woman might be remembered because she did this act of contrition
and love! This apparently is the last
straw for Judas, hanging out at a leper's house with prostitutes whom Jesus
affirmed at his expense. He is operating
on common sense wisdom rather than godly wisdom.
It is impossible to blame the centurion for choosing to
listen to the captain and owner of the ship rather than to his prisoner, the
tent-maker, Paul on the matter of safety at sea. Even though Paul says that his wisdom comes
from the Lord the man had no real reason to believe that Paul heard from
whatever Lord he might be referring to, it didn't seem to have done him much
good so far since he was a prisoner.
Nonetheless, Paul's words are borne out as true when they find
themselves in a terrible storm which threatens to ruin the boat and kill all
aboard. In the midst of the storm Paul
speaks, beginning with "You should have listened to me, I told you
so." The good news, however, is
that though the ship will be lost none will die. The wisdom of this man seems to have exceeded
that of the sea-faring men, perhaps the Lord does give him wisdom.
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