Jonathan was a man of faith and a faithful man. He inspired great loyalty in a way that few
men do and it is because he took no concern for himself. Here, the Israelites are greatly outnumbered,
have no weapons, and most are hiding in fear of moving forward and Jonathan
determines to go on a scouting expedition on his own without telling his
father. While on the expedition, Jonathan
decides to see if the Lord wants to do something more than just spy out the
enemy. Even though it is only he and his
armor bearer, when Jonathan suggests it, the armor bearer immediately agrees,
“Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.” Why would this man be willing to risk his
life on a fool’s errand such as this?
Jonathan had something that caused men to trust him and to take great
risks to serve him. In spite of the odd
strategy he conceived, it worked and he and the other man put fear into the
hearts of the Philistine army.
You could almost say that Jesus had something about Him that
inspired women in an unusual way. All
along, women are at the forefront of the movement and it is truly amazing how
often His encounters with women are recounted in the Gospels. Women take a major role in every part of His
life and ministry, beginning with His mother and ending with them being the
first to see Him resurrected. Here, the
disciples have hidden themselves but the women of Jerusalem are faithful in
their mourning for Him as He goes to Golgotha.
They are the ones who are willing to align themselves with Him in spite
of this miscarriage of justice. They, in
some ways, have less to lose, their social standing was dependent on their
husbands. Here, they weep for Him and,
even in His hour of need, He reaches out in prophecy concerning the near
future, when the temple will be overthrown and persecution will come against
the Jews.
We see that Saul was persecuting the church but it is
interesting that he isn’t just seeking out the men, “if he found any belonging
to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” It would certainly have been unusual for
women to be arrested and tried for what amounted to heresy in Judaism. Saul’s encounter with the risen Christ would
have shaken him to the core. To hear the
voice from heaven say that He was Jesus would have rocked his world, meant that
he had gotten everything wrong. He would
have to re-examine everything he believed if this were truly Jesus. Losing his sight for a time would have been
important, he needed to see with new eyes.
I wonder about the men who were with him at this time, did they too
become believers? Are we willing to always
allow God to re-direct our lives, to take risks when called upon to do so, and
to re-examine what we think we believe?
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