The commander of the army of Absalom was Joab’s first cousin
whose father was an Ishmaelite. To make
it all more complicated, if you go to 1 Chronicles 2 you will find that this
Zeruiah, who was Amasa’s mother, was also the sister of David, so both Joab and
Amasa were David’s nephews and therefore first cousins of Absalom. This battle was a family affair. David’s intention was to go out with the army
but his commanders convince him that he is more valuable elsewhere and that he
needs to stay behind. Why does he still
tell them to deal gently with Absalom?
This young man has caused great difficulty in David’s life yet he still
loves him as his son. It would have
seemed unlikely that the armies of David would prevail since they had been put
to flight, but here in the wilderness they win the day. Absalom’s army appeared more formidable than
it was.
The lesson of the fig tree isn’t that Jesus didn’t
understand the seasonality of the tree.
The story of the fig tree brackets the day. In the morning Jesus cursed the fig tree then
went to Jerusalem and cleansed the temple of the moneychangers and “the seats
of those who sold pigeons.” Pigeons were
a poor man’s offering at the temple, and the implication was that the sellers
were preying on the poor. Forbidding to
carry things through the temple would suggest that merchants of all sorts were
using the temple as a short-cut to their businesses, thereby cutting off the
Gentiles from praying there. In the
evening, when they returned to the place of the fig tree, the disciples remark
on the fact that it had withered during the day. The fig tree was a precursor to the work of
the day, something that looks good on the outside but isn’t producing what it
was intended to produce and was therefore cursed. It becomes a parabolic element in Jesus’
teaching on faith in God and in prayer.
Who called this meeting?
The “he” of the first verse of our reading is the tribune whom Paul had
confronted and confounded yesterday. He
commanded the council to meet together so that he might understand the charges
they laid against Paul. Why did the high
priest order Paul to be struck? It could
be that he had spoken out of turn or that his statement was not believed and
considered blasphemous. When Paul says he does not know that Ananais is the
high priest you have to remember something and know something. First, it has been a long while since Paul
has been in Jerusalem and cared who the high priest might be and second, the
priesthood, at this time, bounced back and forth between Ananais and a couple
of other men so to know at any given time who it might be required more effort
to know that Paul would have put forth.
His apology for lashing out verbally is sincere. Paul knew his audience and chose the strategy
of divide and conquer, dividing them along party lines via an appeal to
resurrection. The tribune would have
been completely confused at the end of this meeting. Nothing is as it appears, no judgment was
possible. Paul is reassured that in any
event, he will, as he desires, go to Rome to bear witness to Jesus. What is it that you believe God is going to
do in and through your life that doesn’t seem possible today? As Jesus said, have faith, believe.
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