Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 18 and Mark 14:32-53

2 Samuel 18 – David organizes his men into three groups: one under Joab, one under Abishai (Joab’s brother) and one under Ittai the Gittite (Gath was a city in Philistia on the Mediterranean).  David wants to go out with them, but they prevail upon him to remain in the city to send help if they need it.  As they go out David says to them, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.  And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders concerning Absalom” (18:5). This is pretty amazing. I understand it as a parent. David is a man who has trouble NOT forgiving, NOT reconciling; but Absalom is the reason all these men are going out to fight and many of them will die. Yet the man who leads the rebellion they are trying to put down cannot be harmed??

           

The battle is fought in the Forest of Ephraim [east of the Jordan, near Mahanaim], and there is a great slaughter—20,000 fall.  The men of Israel are defeated by the servants of David (18:6). Absalom, riding his donkey, is caught up in a tree: “His head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on” (18:9). Remember Absalom was a man renown for his abundant head of hair (see 14:25). Someone sees him and tells Joab.  Joab is angry that the man who came across Absalom did not kill him when he had the chance, but the man tells him he knows of the king’s wishes and was afraid to do it—believing that Joab would not have supported him against the king.  Joab says, “I will not waste time like this with you” (18:14). He runs three spears into Absalom’s heart and his armor-bearers follow suit. They recall their troops and bury Absalom in a great pit.

Priest Zadok’s son, Ahimaaz, wants to go tell David of their victory, but Joab sends a Cushite instead (worried about his reaction to the death of Absalom). Ahimaaz, however, refuses to be outdone and he outruns the Cushite.  David and his men see both running toward them.  Ahimaaz, wisely, only delivers news of the victory.  When David inquires about Absalom, he claims ignorance but does say there was some stir going on when he left. The Cushite does tell him, however. “The king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, ‘O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you.  O Absalom, my son, my son!’” (18:33).

If you have never listened to the amazing Sacred Harp version of “David’s Lamentation” you should listen to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCrzfrFwctg&feature=related

Mark 14:32-53 - Jesus goes to Gethsemane and asks his disciples to remain while he prays.  He takes Peter, James and John with him further and then asks them to stay while he goes further.  He “throws himself on the ground and prays that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him” (14: 35), “yet, not what I want, but what you want” (14:36). He returns to find his disciples sleeping—“the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (14:38). Twice more this happens.  Then Judas arrives with a crowd, this time a crowd unfriendly to him.  He kisses Jesus.  One of his disciples draws a sword and strikes the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear.  Jesus does not rebuke him in this account. But then all his friends desert him, including the one who runs off naked when one of the arresting men seizes his loincloth (14:51).

I am not sure of this, but I recently read that the Roman Catholic practice of “Eucharistic Adoration” originated as a way of remembering this moment in Jesus life. Those who do it sit in simple silence in the presence of the host for an hour or so. I am not sure that people today link the practice with this part of the Jesus story, but I think it would be more meaningful if they did. Jesus asks his dearest followers to “wait for him” while he prays, while he faces the “cup of suffering” he must face for us. This struck me as a very beautiful idea. Quakers similarly sit in silence in his presence in their Meetings for Worship, but I am pretty sure they rarely link that experience with this moment in the lives of Jesus and his faithful few. I think linking both these practices with the narrative is very meaningful and enriching. 

Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 17 and Mark 14:1-31

2 Samuel 17 – Ahithophel (the wise advisor) advises Absalom to pursue David that night while he is weary and discouraged and take him down – kill him, but him alone. Don’t kill everyone. Bring the rest of David’s army back to him and let them live in peace. But then Absalom seeks the advice of Hushai, the spy of David’s who has infiltrated Absalom’s circle of friends. He tells Absalom that Ahithophel is giving him poor advice—that David would not be “weary and discouraged” or easy to catch. He is a very experienced and clever fighter. He is probably off in a cave somewhere waiting for the time of battle (17:9). He advises Absalom to muster all of Israel and then overwhelm David, killing him and everyone fighting with him. Absalom chooses to go with Hushai’s plan: “the Lord had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring ruin on Absalom” (17:14). Ahithophel, realizing he is doomed because David is sure to win this contest, goes home and hangs himself (17:23).

Hushai passes word of the plan along to Zadok and Abiathar, priests who have remained loyal to David. And they in turn get word of it to their sons, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, who are hidden by a man and his wife in a well.  David gets the news from them when he crosses the Jordan.

                       

Amasa is Absalom’s general. The bloodlines of all these characters are extremely tricky to follow. Amasa is, I think, a first cousin of David’s commander Joab. He is the son of Abigail who is Joab’s aunt (sister of his mother). When David arrives at Mahanaim, a man named Shobi brings food for his troops.

Mark 14:1-31 – Two days before Passover and the chief priests and scribes are still looking for a quiet way to get rid of Jesus.  Fear of the crowds, fear of the people is a dominant theme in this book—crowds that are attached to Jesus, that hunger for him and for his healing touch. Jesus is in Bethany, at the house of Simon the leper.  A woman anoints his head with expensive ointment.  The “waste” of this costly product angers those who think the money it represents would be better spent on the poor (14:5). But Jesus says they ought not to trouble the woman, for “you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me” (14:7). He also connects her anointment of him with his coming death.

           

Just after this, Judas goes to the chief priests and offers to betray him. Was he outraged at Jesus’ apparent dismissal of the concern for the poor in Jesus’ words? The disciples want to go and prepare a Passover meal.  He sends them into the city to meet a man who will show them a large room.  That evening they gather and eat.  He tells them that one among them will betray him, the “one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me” (14:20).

           

It is at this meal that the “tradition” holds that the sacrament of holy communion or “eucharist” [thanksgiving] is instituted: Jesus “took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many” (14:22-24). They then sing a hymn and go out to the Mt of Olives.  Here Jesus says to them, “you will all become deserters” (14:27). Peter swears he will never desert, but Jesus tells him he will do it not once but three times (14:30).  They all chime in.

Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 16 and Mark 13:24-36

2 Samuel 16 – Meanwhile, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, meets him with food for his men.  His master has stayed behind in Jerusalem believing that the overthrow will result in the restoration of his father’s patrimony to him.  David then turns all he has previously granted to Mephibosheth to the servant Ziba.

There is incredible drama in this story. Mephibosheth is the lame son of David’s dearest childhood friend, Jonathan – Saul’s son. Out of David’s love for his friend, now dead as a result of the conflict between David and Saul, he brought Mephibosheth under his protection and care. But now Mephibosheth is joining a rebellion. David responds here by taking the properties he bestowed on Mephibosheth and giving them to Ziba. But the story is not over yet. Forgiveness and love are very much attributes of this king – David.

           

At Bahurim, a man named Shimei of the family of Saul, comes out and curses David and throws stones at him.  He screams, “The Lord has avenged on all of you the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom.  See, disaster has overtaken you; for you are a man of blood” (16:8). Abishai (Joab’s brother) wants to kill him, but David reprimands him: “If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’. . .Let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord has bidden him” (16:10-11).  They go to the Jordan.

Here too we see something very unique in David’s temperament – a willingness to hear unpleasant things, a willingness to let men “witness” before him. There was no First Amendment in this time, but David should be seen as laying the foundation for such freedom. Also, don’t forget, David is a king who has “on his staff” an honest prophet – Nathan – who is willing to challenge David’s actions and policies as King.

           

Back in Jerusalem, Hushai approaches Absalom and offers his loyalty. Absalom is suspicious, but accepts him. Then he asks Ahithophel for his advice about what he should do.  He tells him to go in to David’s concubines, that it will communicate to Israel that Absalom has taken his father’s place and has become odious to his father as a result.

Mark 13:24-36 - After all the suffering, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.  Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven” (13:24-27).

What shall we make of Jesus’ words, “I tell, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (13:30-31).  And then these really troubling words: “No one knows, however, when that day or hour will come—neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son; only the Father knows. Be on watch, be alert, for you do not know when the time will come” (13:33).

The mix of allusions in chapter 13–allusions to sufferings we know the disciples will all face after Jesus’ death and resurrection and allusions to what seems to be the end of the world – makes it very confusing. Clearly the first apostles of Jesus went out with an expectation that His Second Coming and the Parousia would come in their life-times. And when that did not happen, the apprehension about the “end times” became an obsession among many in the wider Christian community even to this day. Harold Camping thought he had it all figured out in 2011. Maybe the key is that the end-time comes for each and every one of us – at our deaths; and we should live our lives on alert to the frailty and transience of everything in this life, preparing it for Christ every day.

Daily Bible Reading 2 Samuel 15 and Mark 13:1-23

2 Samuel 15 – Absalom steals the hearts of the people of Israel (15:6) by being available to them to give judgment on cases that affect them.  After four years of this, he asks his father if he may go to Hebron to offer a sacrifice there he promised to make while he was in Geshur.  Hebron was a holy site to Jews in that time, the place where Abraham and Sarah were buried, the place where David had been anointed king. The plan Absalom really has is to have the people proclaim him king there. 

He sends messengers to all the tribes summoning them to Hebron—they are innocent of his intentions.  When David finally learns of the growing conspiracy, he gathers his people together and leaves the city of Jerusalem to escape his son.  He leaves his ten concubines behind to look after the house.  The Gittites, Cherethites and Pelethites—peoples who served David as protectors—stay with him as do Abiathar and Zadok.  The ark, which accompanies David as he leaves the city, is sent back with the two priests and their sons. David believes that if God favors his cause, “he will bring me back and let me see both it and the place where it stays” (15:25).

           

David ascends the Mount of Olives “weeping as he went, with his head covered and walking barefoot; and all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went” (15:30). He learns that Ahitophel, a trusted advisor, is among the conspirators. He prays that Ahitophel’s (usual) wisdom will be turned to foolishness.  He sends another advisor, Hushai, over to Absalom to be a spy and help to him there.  His job will be to defeat the counsel of Ahitophel. He should report to the priests in Jerusalem—their sons, Ahimaaz and Jonathan will report it back to David. He goes just as Absalom enters the city of Jerusalem with his men.

Mark 13:1-23 – Coming out of the Temple, a disciple points out the huge stones that make it up, but Jesus is not impressed.  Even a great building like the Temple is fragile in God’s hands. “Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down” (13:2). This prophecy would seem to relate to the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70. This would fit with a Pauline vision of God’s displeasure with the Jewish rejection of Jesus, but I haven’t read much to indicate that others tie Jesus’ words to this event. 

           

They have a mysterious conversation about when this will happen and the larger implications of it happening—is it meant to mark the coming parousia? The end of the world? The beginning of the end? The beginning of a period of chaos that will culminate in the end of the world?  Jesus describes the unrest but does not clearly state what he is addressing.  As for the treatment his disciples will receive, this he outlines fairly graphically beginning in verse 9.  They will be brought before governors and kings; they will be handed over, tried, and beaten; brother will betray brother and they will be hated “because of my name” (13:9-13). But Jesus tells his disciples that they are not to worry.  He will send the Holy Spirit to give them words that will help them spread his message of salvation (13:11). Jesus’ language becomes even more puzzling and his description of coming turmoil even more disturbing.  There will be false messiahs and prophets who will lead people astray.