Samuel proved himself to be the seer/prophet right away on
meeting Saul. He invited him to a meal,
told him how long he would remain with him and then gave information about the
lost donkeys. All without charging a
cent for the information. Saul was
clearly taken aback at Samuel’s final words, “And for whom is all that is
desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father's house?” That was quite a statement Saul says for a
man from the least family of the least of the tribes of Israel. Saul was treated as an honored guest at the
meal, given a special portion of meat that Samuel said he had set aside just
for Saul. We can be sure that all this
was very mysterious to the young man.
How could food be set aside for him when they had no idea he was coming
here at all and had never met this man?
As they are leaving the town, Samuel whips out a flask of oil and
anoints Saul king over Israel. This is
certainly not what Saul expected when he went off in search of lost donkeys.
The disciples must have been equally confused about what was
going on when they got to Olivet. Jesus kneels in prayer a short distance from
them and an angel appeared there to strengthen Him as He prayed and poured out
His soul to the Father in a way they had never seen. Twice in this time Jesus told them to pray,
both times for the same things, that they not enter into temptation. What specific temptation was Jesus concerned
about them facing here? If this was
indeed Passover, the tradition is that the vigil of waiting for Elijah to come
and the kingdom to be established ends, and the wait will last at least another
year when those present are asleep enough they can’t be easily wakened. The time has come, the rescue has not
happened, now destiny awaits in the form of Judas. The disciples submit to the temptation to
strike out and Jesus stops the defense immediately and restores, even here, the
damage done to one who is there to arrest Him.
It’s interesting the little twist Stephen puts into the
narrative, a true twist, but it is the place where the story needs focus, “This
Moses, whom they rejected…” Forty years
earlier, Moses tried to step into the place of leadership of the people and they
rejected him, “who made you ruler and judge over us?” Who else was rejected as leader over
Israel? Jesus. This Moses prophesied about Jesus and Stephen
slips that in to the story too, “This is the Moses who said to the Israelites,
‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’” Even after all Moses had done, when he
lingered on the mountain too long the people got impatient and made Aaron their
leader to do their bidding in the episode of the calf. He’s saying, you brag about Moses as though
the nation had always followed him and that is a ridiculous claim, our fathers
turned away from Moses again and again, don’t tell me about the devotion to Moses. Stephen’s defense is now becoming clear, and
the next part will get to the point. His
defense is going to turn offensive and that is never welcome is it?
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