Joshua recounts Israelite history from Abraham to the
present day. They began as a people who
worshipped other gods, Abraham's father and his people. Abraham was chosen out of futility and
darkness to know God and to be covenant partner with Him, all grace. Following on Joshua tells of the work of God
in delivering them from slavery in Egypt and from Pharaoh and his army at the
Red Sea, the time in the wilderness, the battles they fought and won there with
the Lord's help, and finally the conquest of the Land and the defeat of the
peoples who possessed the Land. In all
these things He speaks of the sovereignty, goodness and faithfulness of God in
dealing with His people. All these are gifts
from Him, they cannot claim responsibility for anything at all. They played their part but without Him it
would never have been enough. Ultimately
Joshua says a choice has to be made, to believe these things, this version of
history, with the Lord as the hero, and therefore to serve Him as God or to
choose the vain imaginings from which they were taken or the gods of the
peoples they have conquered, but Joshua and his house will choose the Lord who
has done these things.
The Pharisees are nit-picking but Jesus' answer to their
query would have astounded them. He is
comparing Himself to David, the greatest king of all and the one from whom
Messiah would come. The episode in
David's life which Jesus likens to the current situation is when David and his
men are on the run from Saul who is bent on killing them and they have no food
but eat the bread of the presence from the tabernacle which is meant only for
the priests. David's actions were
presumptuous but since it was David it is okay.
For Jesus to make this comparison would have been incredibly offensive
to the leaders who were surely completely taken aback when He did this. He doesn't stop there though does He? He takes it one step further and says He is
the Son of Man. He has just healed many
people among them, they have to make a decision.
Paul makes a simple plea, believe in the one he is
proclaiming, Jesus of Nazareth, as Messiah.
It makes no sense to them, this Jesus died on a cross and is no
more. The resurrection isn't persuasive
because they are looking for the wrong kind of Messiah, one who will be an
earthly king. Paul's final judgment on
them is that they are exactly like their fathers before them, failing to listen
and believe the truth. They are making a
choice, a fully-informed choice and they are stiff-necked just as their
ancestors. Those are the words that Paul
heard Stephen utter as he was about to be stoned, while Paul stood by and
watched, right before he had his own encounter with Jesus.
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