What an incredibly sad scene to see David and those who
remain loyal to him leaving the city of David going out towards the wilderness
in fear. Men come to him and offer their
loyalty. Some, like Ittai the Gittite,
David allows to go with him, others, like the priests and his friend Hushai the
Archite, David sends back to the city to be his eyes and ears there. He refuses to allow the ark to go with him
into the wilderness, it is not a talisman with magical powers. He will rely on the Lord to bring him back to
Jerusalem if it seems good, otherwise he is willing to accept the Lord’s
judgment. As he prays for the Lord to
turn the advice of Absalom’s counselor, Ahitophel, to foolishness, the Lord
presents a solution in the person of Hushai, who can become a counselor as
well, speaking alternative wisdom to Absalom.
Who could have imagined such a scenario as this?
Jesus and his retinue are going towards the city of
Jerusalem for the festival. The scene is
remarkably different here, there is anticipation and excitement surrounding
Jesus. The people are coming to believe
perhaps this is the one who will take the throne, the Messiah, and crowds line
the streets of Jericho as He comes through the town. Bartimaeus cries out, ““Jesus, Son of David,
have mercy on me!” He believes this Jesus is the Messiah, the promised Son of
David and he will not be silent in his plea for mercy. Jesus’ question of what Bartimaeus wants from
him gives the man a chance to beg alms but instead he wants more than this, he
wants his sight restored. Because he did
not balk at such a request, he proves that he believes even more than simply a
king has come, this one has healing power as well. Because he asks, he receives and follows
Jesus on the way. He will soon have
reason to wish he had not received back his sight as he, surely, watched the
events of Good Friday.
To the tribune, Paul speaks Greek and proves himself to be
one thing when the tribune thought him to be something else, an Egyptian. This shows how confused was the scene when
Paul was arrested. When he is allowed to
speak to the crowd, however, he speaks in the Hebrew language, he is speaking
to his people, and they immediately pay closer attention. He begins his defense by situating himself
squarely in Jewish culture, he was raised here in Jerusalem and was educated by
one of the two great rabbis of the day, Gamaliel himself. He was as zealous as anyone for the Law and
hated this sect of the Way who believed Jesus was Messiah and persecuted it
vehemently until he had an encounter with Jesus on his way to Damascus and then
everything changed. Paul’s life was
utterly changed when he met Jesus. He received
an eternal reward but it cost him everything he had ever worked for to receive
it. Trusting the Lord is sometimes difficult
but it is the only way.
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