Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 13-14 and Mark 12

2 Samuel 13 – Another drama unfolds – I remember the first time I read some of these stories when I was teaching Middle Schoolers (7^th graders) at Friends Academy. I could hardly believe I was reading the Bible! Some of the stories, I didn’t think 7^th graders should read. Old-fashioned me.

Anyway, David’s son, Absalom (his son by wife Maacah—3:3), had a sister named Tamar. His half-brother Amnon (by wife Ahinoam—1 S 25:43) is enamored of her.  He gets his cousin Jonadab (his father’s brother Shimeah’s son), a crafty man, to help him corner her by pretending to be ill.  When his father asks how he can help, he can suggest getting Tamar to help him by preparing his food, etc. This happens, and when Tamar is thus brought near him, he forces himself on her despite her pleas.

But then “Amnon was seized with a very great loathing for her; indeed, his loathing was even greater than the lust he had felt for her” (13:15). She, on the other hand, seems to want to be with him, but he cannot stand to have her near. She behaves very strangely. Am I mistaken, or is Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet not made to act in a similarly strange way?

Her behavior raises the suspicion of Absalom. David finally is put on notice and he becomes very angry, “but he would not punish his son Amnon, because he loved him, for he was his firstborn” (13:21). But Absalom hates Amnon. Two years after this happens, Absalom arranges for Amnon (and his other brothers too) to come to a sheep-shearing event at Baal-hazor near Ephraim. There, he has his servants kill Amnon.  The others flee, but David mistakenly hears that all his sons have been killed by Absalom (13:30). It is the cousin Jonadab who tells David that only Amnon has been killed, and also that it was Absalom who did it and had planned to do it from the day Amnon raped his sister.

           

Absalom runs away, but the other sons return to David. Absalom goes to the king of Geshur [Golan Heights in Syria today] and stays for three years. “David mourned a long time for his son Amnon; but when he got over Amnon’s death, he was filled with longing for his son Absalom” (13:39).

2 Samuel 14 – Joab senses that David is fretting about Absalom, so he sends to Tekoa for a wise woman to come and help by pretending to be a mourner with a story—using a tactic similar to that used once by Nathan (getting to David through his imaginative identification with a person going through what he is going through). She comes and pretends to be a woman who had two sons, one of whom killed the other.  She says her family is insisting that she turn over the guilty son to be punished by the family with death, but she does not want to lose him too.  The king says he will help her by giving orders to the family to leave the son alone.  When he says this, she goes on to bring the point home to him—“in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring his banished one home again.  We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up.  But God will not take away a life; he will devise plans so as not to keep an outcast banished forever from his presence” (14:14).

This is the condition of every one of us “in the fall” – guilty of sin against our “brothers,” alienated from the “family of man.” God will not rest easy until we are brought back to him again.  Where David once was brought to repentance and restoration as a result of his own sin – with Bathsheba, now he must be brought to see that his own son, Absalom should be forgiven and restored to the family.  Unfortunately, Absalom will NOT respond with humility and repentance.           

The king sees that Joab’s hand is in this, and the woman admits it.  These stories are pretty complicated psychologically. Remember that Joab himself felt obligated to avenge the death of a brother by Abner. Now he is acting as an advocate for Absalom, who also acted upon a conviction that the wrong done to his (Absalom’s) sister was justly avenged.

David accedes to Joab’s request and has Absalom brought back, but he is not to be permitted back into the king’s presence.  Now, Absalom is a beautiful man.  He had three sons and a daughter whose name also was Tamar. After three years, Absalom tries to get Joab to effect a reconciliation with his father, but Joab does not respond to his summons.  Twice he calls on him, but he does not come.  So he sets fire to Joab’s fields.  He gets Joab’s attention and the reconciliation comes about: “he came to the king and prostrated himself with his face to the ground before the king; and the king kissed Absalom” (14:33). 

But this drama is not over yet – Absalom has ambition and rebellion in his heart.

Mark 12 – Jesus tells a parable of a vineyard that is protected by a fence and watchtower.  Every year the vineyard owner’s servants—sent to collect his share of the produce from the tenant farmers who are working the vineyard—are beaten and sent away empty-handed.  The third is killed.  Finally he sends “his beloved son,” expecting them to respect him.  But they kill him too (12:8).  Jesus says the man will eventually come and destroy the tenants and “give the vineyard to others” (12:9). Again, only fear of the crowds keeps the leaders from pouncing on Jesus (12:12). They are the tenant farmers tending the vineyard of the Lord’s people.

This parable tugs a little against a left-wing predilection I have in favor of workers over owners, who do nothing but provide the business and then collect a share of what the workers have produced. I know the owners have a role; they buy the land and the seed and make an opportunity to labor and earn a living available to those who have no money to make such investments. If you’ve ever seen the movie Matewan about a seminal coal miners strike in the early 20^th century, you may remember a similar problem one young Christian minister had with another of Jesus’ parables – the one about paying workers equally regardless of the time they’ve spent laboring. But, I think it is important to see that what Jesus is talking about with God’s sovereignty over His creation is substantially different from the “sovereignty” earthly rulers and authorities have over those who labor for them.

They try again to entrap him by asking him a question about payment of taxes, but Jesus refuses to be put in the role of rebel against the state.  The Sadducees try to trap him on the intricacies of resurrection faith.  Jesus tells them when we “rise from the dead, [people] neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (12:25). The scribes take their shot by asking him what the greatest commandment is, but he gives them an answer they respect.  Jesus acknowledges the wise response of the scribe by assuring him that he “[is] not far from the kingdom of God” (12:34).

Teaching in the Temple Jesus seems to say that the Messiah cannot be David’s son because David called the Messiah Lord. He also teaches them that it is wrong of the scribes to put on airs of holiness when they “take advantage of widows and rob them of their homes, and then make a show of saying long prayers” (12:38). And he points out the greater holiness of the poor who give all they have to those who make offerings of the surplus wealth they can comfortably dispose of (12:44). 

Daily Bible Reading: Psalms 128-134 and Matthew 18:21-3518:21-

Sticking to a fairly demanding schedule of scripture readings can seem a bit challenging. I am trying to stick to a schedule that has worked for me over the years since I discovered it. It was first published in 1952 and is published by the Liturgical Press of St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. I am not a scripture literalist, but I have found over the years that the advice given by the "cloud of witnesses" that have gone before us - from the earliest years to the present day - is true: that a close knowledge and meditation on the biblical narrative is very nourishing for the spiritual life. One of the "draws" of Quakerism to me over my whole life has been the sense that the "theology" of Friends provides a way of seeing our daily lives, our daily steps in faith as a way of "consecrating" our lives. In the Catholic Church, the idea of consecration has typically been the province of the "religious" - those who dedicate their lives wholly to the spiritual. They have always been around from the earliest years of Christianity, but over the years, came to be seen mostly as those who do not marry, who do not involve themselves in the secular world on a day to day basis. But I am involved in all the affairs of human life - marriage, children, grandchildren, work, politics, etc. Yet I still seek a way of making my life "consecrated" to Christ. Consecration is defined as a formal dedication of one's life to a divine purpose. Quaker worship and Quaker practice is a way I have found helps me to do this.

Most of the people who have chosen the consecrated life have developed a "rule" that helps them further the practical sense of achieving that purpose. After nearly 30 years, I am still working on the rule I need to adopt. I do not have a neat and tidy set of habits, but the scripture reading is probably the one thing that has been a constant with me - fairly constant, not perfectly constant. I hope it helps others as it has helped me. But it can be a lot to fit into the day. I am finding that it helps to break it down - reading the Old Testament readings at night and taking a few notes on them, reflecting on what I find meaningful in it. Then in the morning, I read the New Testament reading. But the notes I post here are from both. With all of this in mind, here is the post for today - January 10, 2012:

Psalm 128 – “Happy are those who obey the Lord, who live by his commands” (128:1). You will work and your needs will be met; you will be prosperous and happy. Your wife will give you children and “your children will be like young olive trees around your table”

Psalm 129 – The story of Israel’s persecutions. They have cut deep but the Lord has freed them from slavery. May all Zion’s enemies be defeated and may they not prosper at all.

Psalm 130 – “From the depths of my despair I call to you, Lord” (1). Hear my cry, please. Our sins are endless but you are a forgiving God and we are in awe of you. I wait in hope that the Lord will respond to my cry. Trust in God. His love is constant.

Psalm 131 – I have turned away from my pride. “Instead, I am content and at peace. As a child lies quietly in its mother’s arms, so my heart is quiet within me.”

Psalm 132 – Do not forget David and all he endured, all he promised and did the “provide a place for the Lord” (132:5). In Bethlehem they learned of the “Covenant Box” [the Ark of the Covenant]. It was found in the “fields of Jearim.” I read that this psalm is called a “song of ascent” because it was read or recited as people went up the hill to the Temple at Jerusalem. It is about David’s devotion to getting the Ark installed in the Temple. Though he himself was not permitted to build the Temple, his son Solomon fulfilled the promise and hope of David. “The Lord has chosen Zion; he want to make it his home: ‘This is where I will live forever; this is where I want to rule” (132:13-14).

Psalm 133 – This psalm celebrates the wonders of peace – God’s people living in eternal harmony.

Psalm 134 – Raise your hands in praise of God – everyone who serves him in his Temple. Raise your hands in prayer.

Matthew 18:21-35 - Peter asks how many times he should be willing to forgive a member of the church who sins against him—seven times? Jesus says, “’No, not seven times, . . .but seventy times seven’” (18:22). Jesus compares the kingdom of God with an earthly kingdom where the king deals with people who owe him money in a generous way: one man who owes the king 10,000 talents is brought to him, and when he tells the king he cannot pay and begs the king to be patient with him, the king forgives him the debt. But then this same man goes out and deals with a man who owes HIM money in a ruthless way – having him thrown into prison. When the king hears of this, he becomes furious and says “’You worthless slave! . . . I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to. You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you’” (18:33). Jesus says, “’That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother form your heart.’” (18:35).