Have you ever noticed how often things happen on the third
day in Scripture? Esther appears before
the king, unbidden, on the third day and finds favor in his sight. There is a parallel here between Esther and
Nehemiah when he speaks to the king concerning the city of God. Here, Esther makes no statement at all, no
request concerning her people. The king,
remember, has no idea that the Jews are her people. All she asks is that a banquet be given and
Haman be invited. At the end of the
meal, she is again asked what she wants and her request is to repeat the
pleasant meal they have just completed.
Haman is now full of himself, believing not only is he in favor with the
king, he is also in favor with the king's favorite. Surely he will be able to do whatever he
likes. His one problem is his hatred for
Mordecai. Why does it matter so that
this one man bow down to him? His wife
and friends come up with the solution, hang Mordecai, so he commands the gallows
to be built. It's going to be a good day
tomorrow isn't it?
In spite of the great success of his mission John never
forgot who he was. The people were in
great expectation and wondered if John himself were Messiah. He quickly and thoroughly disabused them of
such an idea. “I baptize you with water,
but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not
worthy to untie." That is lowliness
compared to this one of whom he speaks.
Herod, a Jew, had married his brother's wife, and John spoke out against
the marriage on religious grounds.
Herodias was like Haman, she wanted John to bow to her, to cease his
speaking against the marriage. Her
daughter, Salome, will receive the same offer Esther received in our first
reading, and Herodias, like Haman, will have a murderous plan. Here, Jesus submits to the baptism of John,
the dove descends, and He is announced as the beloved Son. The mission has begun.
Gallio was willing to do what Pilate would not. Gallio understood the problem with Paul among
the Jews was a religious issue and not a civil issue and remanded the complaint
to their court where Pilate tried but failed to do the same. Neither man found the accused guilty of laws
which they were charged with upholding but Gallio refused to play the
game. At this point, however, Paul
begins a new missionary journey strengthening some of the work he had begun in
the region. At Ephesus, Apollos begins
to preach powerfully but incompletely.
What is perhaps missing is the power of the Spirit. Apollos seems to have the understanding of
John the Baptist concerning Messiah, that there is some human effort needed
here and not grace and the Holy Spirit empowerment. Priscilla and Aquila listen to his teaching
and then take him aside privately to explain the entire Gospel to him and
afterwards he becomes a yet more powerful instrument for the kingdom. We need always to make sure we know all we
need to know.
No comments:
Post a Comment