How horrifying it must have been for David when his sins
were laid bare before him by the prophet.
I wonder what he thought after the little story when he proclaimed
against the man who had done such evil against his neighbor and Nathan said, “You
are the man!” When Nathan continued that
the Lord had blessed David and given him so much and then finally he told the
sins of David with Bathsheba and her husband Uriah David must have been utterly
devastated. In the Psalms, particularly
Psalms 51 and 139, we see David’s response to this episode in his life. The lament of Psalm 51 over sin and the
initial lament and then ultimately finding comfort in what he had formerly
lamented in Psalm 139, that there was no place he could hide from God reveal
David’s suffering and then his wisdom and trust in the Lord. How wonderful it must have been after he
confessed to hear the words of absolution.
There would be consequences, serious and abiding consequences but not
punishment for sin. We have to separate
the two, consequences and punishment, from one another to understand things
rightly. David’s sin was forgiven but
the child born from this relationship would die.
Had the disciples come to believe that they were the source
of the power to heal? Jesus says that
this kind can come out only by prayer in response to their question as to why
they couldn’t heal the boy. It is
certainly possible to take His meaning as they had depended too much on the
power of the Spirit so that they took it for granted rather than depending on
God in an intentional way like prayer. I
think perhaps it also says that while there is anointing for some things, some
things are more difficult and require us to plead before the Father. The man’s faith has been tested for years
with this infirmity and now is being tested again with the disciples’ failure
to help. His plea to Jesus is conditional,
“if you can…”, he is about out of hope and Jesus speaks into this lack of
faith. I’ve been there and I know that
it looks like to have no hope and yet know that indeed all things are possible.
There are no limits to the possible with God.
Demetrius posed two problems that the Gospel may
present. First, it was a threat to the
trade in hand-made gods that he and his fellow craftsmen made and sold, their
livelihood was potentially at stake.
Second, the temple of the goddess was at risk of being counted as
nothing and she deposed from the preeminent position she occupied in the
world. The first concern is really the
concern of these craftsmen but it helps to get others on your side if you make
the issue something that concerns them.
The strategy worked. The people
didn’t know why they were there but then sorted it that their god was somehow
under attack so chanted for two hours, “Great is Artemis of the
Ephesians!” Can you imagine watching and
listening to this? Fortunately, the town
clerk saw through it all and calmed the crowds.
It had to feel a bit dangerous for Paul and his friends for a bit
though.
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