Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 21 and Mark 15

2 Samuel 21 – A drought-induced famine hits for three years.  David learns from the Lord that it is because of the sin Saul incurred when he put the Gibeonites to death. 

David goes to the Gibeonites to ask what he can do to expiate Saul’s guilt.  They ask that seven of Saul’s sons be handed over to them to be “impale[d] before the Lord at Gibeon on the mountain of the Lord” (21:6). The king cannot give them Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, so he turns over two of the sons of Rizpah (daughter of Saul’s concubine Aiah) and five of the sons of Merab (Saul’s oldest daughter) and her husband Adriel. Rizpah keeps watch over the impaled bodies of her sons day and night, so they would not be carried off.  In response, David gathers the bones of Saul, Jonathan and all the seven sons and grandsons of Saul and buries them in the tomb of Kish, Saul’s father.  After that, it rained.

           

Again war breaks out with the Philistines, “and David grew weary” (21:15). His men finally convince him to stay away.  He attracts gallant attempts of the enemy to kill him.  Men of great size, descendants of a race of giants (such as Goliath) are mentioned.

Mark 15 – In the morning, the chief priests and others consult and decide to turn Jesus over to Pilate.  He asks if Jesus is “King of the Jews,” and Jesus says, “You say so” -- an ambiguous response to say the least.  He does not talk further to Pilate. Then the crowd refuses Pilate’s offer to let him go.  The writer makes it clear that it is the chief priests who are behind the crowd’s refusal (15:11). 

Jesus is flogged and handed over for crucifixion.  The soldiers cloth him in purple, give him a crown of thorns and a reed, mocking him.  On the way to his death, the soldiers compel a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene (father of Alexander and Rufus) to carry the cross.  They come to Golgotha, offer him wine and myrrh but he refuses it.  They crucify him and cast lots for his clothes.  Above him is a sign that reads “king of the Jews.” Beside him are two bandits.  He is mocked and taunted even by the men crucified with him. There is no story of a good thief here.

           

From nine to noon, he languishes.  At noon darkness covers the land and lasts until three.  Then he cries out in a loud voice “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” in Aramaic.  The women looking on “from a distance” (15:40) were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome—other women are there as will.  Joseph of Arimathea comes at dusk and body asks Pilate for Jesus’ body. He receives it and lays the body in a tomb hewn out of rock.  A stone is rolled against the door.

Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 19-20 and Mark 14:54-72

2 Samuel 19 – When word gets out how the king is taking the death of his son, the day of victory turns into a day of mourning, and Joab is furious – rightfully so.  His men are made to feel ashamed instead of proud of their sacrifices.  Joab confronts him: “Today you have covered with shame the faces of all our officers who have saved your life today, and the lives of your sons and your daughters, and the lives of your wives and your concubines, for love of those who hate you and for hatred of those who love you.  You have made it clear today that commanders and officers are nothing to you; for I perceive that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased. So go out at once and speak kindly to your servants; for I swear by the Lord, if you do not do, not a man will stay with you this night; and this will be worse for you than any disaster that has come upon you from your youth until now” (19:5-7). In response, David does get up and take his place at the gate of the city to receive the returning troops.

           

Meanwhile, the people of Israel, who had joined Absalom in his rebellion discuss among them the need to receive David back.  They remember the good he did in the past, defeating their enemies, the Philistines. The men of Judah, however, too are now torn (I think). Put off by the behavior of their king, they hesitate to rally around David.  He sends word to their elders through Abiathar and Zadok that he expects their support.  He then also contacts Amasa (!) and asks his support, promising him command of his armies (19:13).  He must be really mad at Joab or distrustful of him. Amasa is very popular among the people of Judah, so they give their support to David again. The result of this “diplomacy” is a revival of support among the Judahites for David.

           

Shimei (the Benjaminite) of Bahurim greets David with a thousand people from that tribe, and begs him to forgive his bad behavior (cursing him—see 16:10) And Ziba also comes to serve him. Abishai wants to put him to death, but David dismisses him, saying, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should today become an adversary to me?” (19:22) There is a permanent breach here between David and the sons of Zeruiah, his half-sister—Joab and Abishai, the very men who led his armies to victory.  Either his love for Absalom or his displeasure with their forthrightness over behavior toward his troops has soured David on them seriously.

           

Mephibosheth too comes to curry favor with David.  David presses him about why he failed to support him and he has the nerve to blame his servant, Ziba. David falls for his excuse and again offers to divide lands he confiscated (chapter 16) when he heard that Mephibosheth was not supporting him.  Wisely Mephibosheth refuses to take back half the land from his maligned servant.  I guess he’s just thankful he was able to hoodwink David into forgiving him.

           

Barzillai, an old Gileadite who had provided food for David in Mahanaim, is asked to accompany David back to Jerusalem; but he prefers to go back to his own town.  He offers to send his son Chimham instead.  They go over to Gilgal.  There is a feud building here between the people of Israel and the people of Judah. It has been stoked by David himself because he sought Judah’s presence in his return—thinking he was owed it as a Judahite himself or thinking he needed their support.  But Israel is jealous because the Judahites outnumber the Israelites in David’s retinue, even though they (the Israelites) represent ten tribes as opposed to Judah’s two, and they were the first to request David’s return. “But the words of the people of Judah were fiercer than the words of the people of Israel” (19:43).

2 Samuel 20 – Sheba, a Benjaminite, foments trouble by claiming now that the people of Israel “have no portion in David” (20:1). The Israelites fall behind Sheba, but the Judahites return to Jerusalem with David. The concubines Absalom had compromised, David now locks away “until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood” (20:3).

David asks Amasa to call the men of Judah together within three days.  He is late though. So David sends Abishai and Joab against Sheba.  Amasa, late, catches up with them at Gibeon.  What must be the ill-feelings among these commanders – Amasa, reconciled to David but previously leader of the rebellion of Absalom; Joab and Abishai, loyal commanders of David’s troops (except for the disobedient slaying of David’s beloved rebel-son? It is not really surprising what happens then. When Amasa approaches Joab, Joab takes him “by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.  But Amasa did not notice the sword in Joab’s hand; Joab struck him in the belly so that his entrails poured out on the ground, and he died” (20:9-10).

Then – amazingly –Joab takes off after Sheba. Why is this man loyal to David??? The bloody body of Amasa, lying on the road distracts the men, until one of Joab’s men removes it to a field and covers it. They all pursue Sheba to Beth-maacah.  A woman in that town approaches Joab and tries to save her town.  Joab tells her that if Sheba is turned over, he will withdraw from the city.  So she promises to throw Sheba’s head over the wall (20: 21). It happens, and Joab returns to Jerusalem in command of all the army of Israel. David’s government is reconstituted.

Mark 14:54-72 - Jesus is taken to the high priest and all the chief leaders are there.  Peter follows “at a distance” into the courtyard of the high priest.  Inside, “many” give false testimony against Jesus but they do not agree. 

Jesus is silent until the high priest asks him if he is the Messiah.  Jesus answers directly: “I am; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the power,’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven’” (14:62).  This drives the high priest insane.  Who needs witnesses he says in the face of this blasphemy.  They abuse him and the guards beat him.  Outside Peter denies him three times, hears the cock crow and cries in self-disgust.

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 11 and Mark 10:32-52

2 Samuel 11 – In the spring, David sends his army to besiege Rabbah (Ammonite city east of the Jordan). But he remains behind in Jerusalem.  He sees a beautiful woman, Bathsheba, bathing on the roof of her house.  He sends someone “to inquire about the woman” (11:3), and it turns out she is the wife of Uriah the Hittite, who is off fighting with Joab. David sends for her and sleeps with her.  She gets pregnant and David has a problem on his hands.

David sends word to Joab to send Uriah home.  After asking Uriah how things at the front are going, he tells Uriah to go home and “wash [his] feet” (11:8) -- relax. He wants him to sleep with Bathsheba.  But Uriah is too virtuous to do anything so pleasurable when the army is suffering at the front (11:11). David has him over again, this time to get him tipsy, so he will go home and do his duty.  But Uriah still does not.  So David sends Uriah back with a note to Joab instructing him to place Uriah in a position of danger so he will be killed (11:15).

           

It happens as David plans. Joab sends word along with a reminder that what happened was done at the request of David. When Bathsheba learns that Uriah has been killed, she mourns for him.  But soon after, David sends for her and makes her one of his wives.  She bears him a son. We are told that the Lord is not pleased (11:27).

Mark 10:32-52 - Jesus has talked generally about the fact that he will be “handed over” to men who want to kill him, but now Jesus lets them know that it is in Jerusalem – where they are headed – that he will face this passion. Disciples James and John just seem to be thinking about which one of them will be most important when Jesus is on his “throne” in the kingdom they are sure he is going to end up in. I guess it’s possible they understood that Jesus’ passion – his humiliation and death – would result in a “glory” that was other-worldly; but they sound so full of a sense of their own importance, it seems more likely to me that they think whatever suffering lies ahead will end up in a worldly victory and that they will be recognized as Jesus’ leading friends. The other disciples see James and John as self-seeking and highly annoying.

He tells them they will indeed “drink the cup” he drinks but that they just don’t “get” what his “kingdom” is about. Jesus rebukes them all for looking forward to reigning over others. Jesus’ “kingdom” is not about “reigning” over others. It’s about serving others. “[W]hoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.  For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life [as] a ransom for many” (10:43-45).

           

In Jericho, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar meets them and shouts at Jesus (“Son of David”) to have mercy on him.  The disciples try to keep him away but he cries out even louder to Jesus.  The man calls Jesus “my teacher” and he begs Jesus to let him see, which of course Jesus does.

Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 10 and Mark 10:1-31

2 Samuel 10 – Nahash’s (the Ammonite and David’s loyal friend) son Hanun succeeds him and David plans to remain loyal to him. But the Ammonite princes doubt David’s intent when he sends his messengers to meet with Hanun. They think he has sent them as spies.  As a result, Hanun seizes them and humiliates them by shaving off half their beards and cutting their garments.  David is furious. Realizing they are in for a fight, the Ammonites muster and alliance of men from the Arameans (20,000), from King Maacah (1,000), Tob (12,000). They take up position in David’s front and rear.  He puts his best men against the Arameans; the rest he gives to the command of his brother Abishai to go against the Ammonites. They agree to support each other in case of need.  First, the Arameans flee, and when the Ammonites see them, they too take off.

           

The Ammonites regroup. Hadadezer summons help from Ammonites beyond the Euphrates.  David gathers all Israel together and crosses the Jordan to Helam—due east of the Sea of Galilee. David defeats them.

Mark 10:1-31 – In the region of Judea, he again teaches the crowds.  The Pharisees ask him about divorce “to test him.” He tells them that the mosaic permission to divorce was given because of the “hardness of heart” they suffered from.  In a marriage as God intended it, the two become one and cannot be divided by anyone.

           

Another passage on Jesus and his love for children.  He will not have his disciples keep them from him.  At another time, setting out on a journey, a young man approaches him and asks him how he can inherit eternal life. He tells him the usual things—the law; but when he tells Jesus he does all these things it says, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me’” (10:21).  The young man is “shocked” and goes away “grieving,” because he had many possessions.

           

This leads to a discourse on the barrier wealth creates to inheriting eternal life.  But Jesus reassures his alarmed disciples and says that even though it is difficult, nothing is impossible for God. And Peter asks how their own sacrifices will affect their futures.  Jesus reassures him that leaving things for Jesus’ sake will not cause one to lose anything really.  The blessings will be so much more than the loss—plus there will be eternal life “in the age to come” (10:30).

Daily Bible Study: 2 Samuel 7-9 and Mark 9

2 Samuel 7 – Having consolidated the kingdom and had a great house built for himself, David conceives the idea of building God a dwelling place too.  He asks his “in-house” prophet, Nathan about it, and at first Nathan says fine; but at night Nathan receives a definitive word from the Lord that this is not His will.  These wonderful passages follow:

“Are you the one to build me a house to live in?  I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle . . . .did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel. . .saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, . . And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more . . . Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. . .I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.  I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me” (7:5-16).

There is so much in this chapter.  First of all the Lord makes it plain that man is really not the one who can ever “make a house for the Lord to live in” on this earth.  God is the one who makes us places to dwell, who provides for us, who raises up leaders for us and makes them successful.  The promise to David and to his line, which is set forth here, is a promise that will endure.  It will endure on a human level—Solomon will build the Lord a dwelling place in one sense in the next generation.  But when the Davidic line dies out in a human way, He will also see to it that the line is reestablished in Christ.  He will be a son to the Lord God and the Lord will be His father. As a Catholic I also see in this promise, as in the promises to Eve, to Noah and the Abraham a “type” of the promise Peter was to receive at Christ’s side; and one reason why I do is because like in the gospel where Peter receives his commission and the promise that undergirds it, he also follows it with a slip into apostasy (see Matt. 16:18 and 22-23). Two chapters on, incurs God’s wrath for the sin he commits with Bathsheba. 

2 Samuel 8 – David subdues the Philistines and the Moabites, fights against King Hadadezer and his Aramean allies from Damascus. “The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went” (8:6). He brought valuable booty home. Other people paid tribute, people such as King Toi of Hamath.  He killed 18,000 Edomites and placed garrisons in Edom.  Among his own people, he “administered justice and equity to all his people” (8:15).

           

Joab was his commander; Jehoshaphat his recorder and Zadok, son of Ahitub and Ahimelech, son of Abiathar were priests. Seraiah was secretary.

2 Samuel 9 – David seeks out Jonathan’s living sons to show kindness to them.  Ziba, one of Saul’s servants tells David that only Mephibosheth (also called Meri-baal), a crippled son of Jonathan is left.  He was crippled when his nurse dropped him when the news came about the death of Saul and Jonathan at the hands of their enemies. Ziba is told to work for Mephibosheth to provide his food, but Mephibosheth will eat at David’s table.  Mephibosheth has a son as well, Mica.

Mark 9 – The scene is of Jesus’ transfiguration.  The reference to six days relates back to the OT (Exodus 24:16, where the cloud covers the mountain for six days with Moses on it and 34: 30 where Moses returns from the mountain with his face shining). Like Moses, Jesus takes his three main disciples with him and goes up a high mountain (9:2).  His clothes become “dazzling white,” and he talks with Moses and Elijah.  Like the people of Israel in the Moses story, they are terrified, and then they hear God’s voice saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him” (9:7). For the first time, he tells them the Son of Man will rise from the dead (9:9).  Elijah, Jesus explains, is to come first to “restore all things” and he has come.

           

They arrive where the disciples all are and again there is a huge crowd—the scribes are arguing with some of them.  One in the crowd tells him he came with his son who is suffering from seizures of some kind.  The disciples can’t help him, and Jesus tells them they are “faithless.”  As a seizure takes hold of the boy, Jesus asks the father how long it has affected him—it is a long time.  Jesus tells the man all things are possible “for one who believes” and the man says the famous words, “I believe; help my unbelief.” (9:24). Jesus exorcises the “unclean spirit,” but it knocks the boy out. (9:26) Jesus later tells his apostles that this kind of spirit “can come out only through prayer” (9:29).

They go through Galilee: again he warns them not to let others know and again he predicts his passion. On the way to Capernaum, his disciples argue about “who was the greatest”(9:34). He tells them the first must be the one who is servant of all—that they must welcome children too in his name as if they were he.

           

John worries because another person is “casting out demons in [Jesus’] name” (9:38). Jesus tells them not to stop him—“whoever is not against us is for us.” Then he returns to the theme of innocence or of children again warning his disciples never to put stumbling blocks in the way of simple people’s faith. This is a Pauline concern, one he speaks of in connection with the eating of foods sacrificed to idols.  And lastly in this chapter Jesus warns them not to let any  “part” of them, any one impulse or failing in one to be the cause of “stumbling” in one’s own walk; for “it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell” (9:46).

Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 3 and Mark 7:14-37

2 Samuel 3 – A long war ensues between the house of Saul and the house of David.  David has six sons during the seven years he spends in Hebron: Amnon, Ahinoam’son; Ahinoam was his first wife; Chileah, his son by Abigail; Absalom, Maacah’s son – Maach’s father was king of Geshur, located in the Golan Heights; Adonijah, Haggith’s son; Shephatiah, Abital’s son and Ithream, son of Eglah.

           

Saul’s son Ishbaal (or Ishbosheth—to avoid use of the word baal) is a weak king who really does not have the loyalty of Israel.  It is really the force of his commander Abner who keeps the cities of Israel loyal to him.  They are centered in Gilead (at the city of Mahanaim). Jonathan, Saul’s other son is dead, and his son Meribbaal (Mephibosheth or Meribbosheth) is crippled (see 4:4), having been dropped at age 5 when his nurse dropped him running away to keep him safe after hearing of Saul’s and Jonathan’s deaths.

           

With the combat having come out in David’s favor, Abner now makes a play for control of Saul’s house by sleeping with one of his concubines.  Abner gets angry after the altercation this causes and determines to go over to David’s cause “For just what the Lord has sworn to David, that will I accomplish for him, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beer-sheba” (3:10). He actually tells Ishbaal this, and Ishbaal is reasonably afraid. The problem for Abner is that if he helps to deliver Israel to David, he will be seen as a threat to Joab, commander of David’s forces. Not only has Abner killed one of Joab’s brothers, he is ambitious to be equally important to David as he has been to Ishbaal.

Abner sends messengers to David indicating his willingness to join him.  David only asks that when he comes, he bring with him Saul’s daughter Michal.  David had won Michal from Saul by killing 200 Philistines (1 Sam. 18:20-27) and bringing the king their foreskins. Somehow in the conflicts with Saul, she had been removed from him and given to another man in marriage (Paltiel), a man who apparently loves her a great deal.  Through his contact with Abner, the traitor, David sends word to Ishabaal about his desire for Michal, and reminds him of the high price he paid for her. Ishabaal apparently agrees to return her. Paltiel follows Michal in tears when Abner brings her out with him (3:16). 

Abner contacts the elders of Israel who apparently have wanted to make David their king for a while and tells them that he will now permit David to become king.  Abner goes to Hebron and David receives him at a banquet.  David sends Abner off to rally all Israel so that they can make a covenant to seal the deal. But now Joab returns from a campaign and hears about the coming of Abner.  Joab confronts David because he is furious that Abner was received so well by him. I am sure he fears for his own place in David’s court but he is also angry because this is the man who killed one of his brothers. He tries to tell David that Abner must be out to deceive him.  And then, without David’s knowledge, Joab sends men after Abner to have him killed. What intrigue and drama there is in this story!

David learns of Abner’s  and declares that he (David) is without guilt for this bloodshed.  He sees to it that Abner is buried at Hebron and he laments his loss with fasting and prayer: “All the people took notice of it, and it pleased them; just as everything the king did pleased all the people” (3:36). He even repudiates the violence of Joab and his brother.

This killing, which David renounces and tries hard to put on Joab’s tab will be echoed in the killing of Uriah later, a killing Joab arranges at David’s command but which he will make sure ends up on David’s tab, so to speak.

Mark 7:14-37 - It is not the outward thing that makes clean or unclean—whether hands or foods or laws—but the “the things that come out” of man that “defile” (7:14). He explains this more when he is alone with his disciples.  “Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer” . . . it is what comes out of a person that defiles.  For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly” (7:18-23)

The next paragraph shows him in a house in Tyre, receiving a Syro-phoenician woman who begs him to come and heal her daughter who is possessed of some “demon.” He tries to dismiss her, “’Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs’”(7:24-29). The woman here teaches Jesus to observe his own teachings I think.

           

Then he goes on to the Decapolis region where he cures a deaf man who also cannot speak.  Again, he orders people not to speak of what he does, but “the more he ordered them the more zealously they proclaimed it” (7:36).

Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 1 and Mark 6

2 Samuel - I know it might seem to make more sense to start the books of Samuel with 1 Samuel, but I am following Year Two of my scripture plan. I love both books. The story of the transition from the era of "judges" to that of the "kings" is fascinating. We are skipping over Saul's time to the rise of David. The second book of Samuel centers on David's consolidation of power and the later weakening of his rule over the kingdom and his own family. 

While David is clearly a "hero," and a man who yearns to be faithful to his God, there is a dark side to the man. He was a war lord who played Saul off against the Philistines, bought the loyalty of the south, exploited the deaths of Saul and Jonathan to become king in place of the rightful heir and perhaps arranged the death of Ishbaal [Saul's son].  Then there are all the troubles he had with his own sons, the restiveness of the northern tribes, and his use of forced labor and a military draft made many unhappy (Lawrence Boadt's Reading the Old Testament, 234). The story of David provides yet another model of the type scripture dwells on—the unfaithfulness and imperfection of man as opposed to the steadfast love and loyalty of the Lord.

2 Samuel 1 – David is in Ziklag after having defeated the Amalekites.  A disheveled man comes into his camp and says he knows that Saul and Jonathan are dead.  David asks for details, and the man admits to being an Amalekite (a resident alien) and in fact the one who killed Saul. 

This is a different tradition from the one in 1 Samuel 31, which told us that Saul fell on his own sword.  Or, I guess it could be just a man trying to get in good with David, lying to him that he killed Saul. He tells David he found Saul wounded and that Saul begged him to kill him, so he did (or claims he did) and brought Saul’s crown to David.  David weeps and mourns until evening; then he calls the young man to him and asks him how he could have dared to raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed.  In turn he has the young man slain and says, “Your blood be on your head; for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed’” (1:16). Then he intones a hymn of praise to the fallen heroes:

“Saul and Jonathan, so wonderful and dear; together in life, together in death; swifter than eagles, stronger than lions. . . I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan; how dear you were to me! How wonderful was your love for me, better even than the love of women” (1:23-26).

Mark 6 – Jesus is not accepted in his hometown.  While they marvel at his wisdom and know of the amazing deeds of power he has performed, somehow “they took offense at him” (6:3). The result is he could work no great deeds there except for some minor healings, and he was surprised at their unbelief.

He goes out teaching again.  This time he sends his disciples out in twos as well, ordering them to take nothing but a staff with them (symbol of their shepherd’s office in his ministry--?) They performed healings and anointed the sick with oil (6:13).

Herod hears of Jesus.  Some people think he is John the Baptist raised from the dead; this expectation of God raising His anointed from the dead seems to have been something prevalent at the time. Again, his work among them raises the big question—who is he.  Is he John raised from the dead?  Is he Elijah?  The Prophet like Moses? (16:5) Herod thinks he is John—no doubt his guilty conscience getting after him (6:17). The writer tells the story of John being beheaded at the request of Herodias’ daughter – Herod’s step-daughter (6:17-28).

The apostles return and report to Jesus on all they have done and they get away from the many following them around. The motif of counterpoised solitude and pressing crowds continues here.

The crowds find them, however, and Jesus pities them “because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (6:34). The first feeding of the multitudes occurs when evening comes.  They have five loaves and two fish (6:38).  He orders them to sit down in groups on the “green grass.” Everyone ate and all “were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish” (6:43). There were 5000 men here.  Then Jesus goes up the mountain alone to pray - like Moses.

I remember an “opening” I had once in Meeting that relates to this passage. I think I was pondering the sense of change that had come over me in the years since I first had come to Christ through Quaker worship and exploration of early Quaker writings. Those early years as a Friend had brought me heart-thumping experiences of His presence in my life. But now, after twenty years, it was rare for me to feel that way, even when I did feel I was given an opening. Meeting felt a little dry in all honesty – why? It came to me then that the “bread” we get from Christ, however small, is completely adequate. We just need a breath of that bread, a touch of that cloak to be completely “filled” and “healed.” He could have “fed” the world on those five loaves and two fish.

Still alone that evening, he sees the disciples at sea, having a hard time sailing against the wind.  Early in the morning, then, he starts walking across the water meaning simply to pass them, but they see him and “are terrified” (6:50). He says to them, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” And then it says they were astounded—not because they just saw him walking on water but because “they did not understand about the loaves [. . .] their hearts were hardened” (6:52).

Again there are huge crowds to deal with, crowds of people seeking his healing touch; they “begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed” (6:56). 

Daily Bible Reading: Ruth 3 and Mark 5:1-20

Ruth 3 – Naomi wishes to find some better situation for Ruth.  She instructs her to go down to Boaz when he is done eating and drinking, “uncover his feet and lie down” there. What she is doing is offering herself for the purpose of giving Boaz the opportunity of providing his close relative—the deceased Elimelech—with a lawful heir. He is “next of kin” or “one with the right to redeem.” He wakes in the middle of the night, finds her there and is duly impressed with her virtue. He must go and first give an even closer male relative “the right of first refusal.”

Mark 5:1-20 – Immediately upon reaching shore a “man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met him” (5:2). He is clearly mentally disturbed and perhaps represents the condition of the people Jesus ministers to. The fact that his name is “Legion” might infer that there are many souls represented by him, or that his soul is many-layered, confused.  The spirit he has is the spirit of unholiness, of uncleanness before the things of God—all that is associated with the swine into whom Jesus banishes the evil spirit.  When word gets around that Jesus has exorcised the demoniac, people “beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood” (5:17).  The healed man begs Jesus to permit him to go with him, but Jesus only tells him to go and tell his friends.  This is the first time Jesus does say this—previously he asked to remain unmentioned.

Daily Bible Reading: Ruth 2 and Mark 4:20-35

Ruth 2 – Boaz is a relative of Elimelech and a rich man as well. Ruth goes to glean in his fields behind the reapers. Women with no man to whom they were attached had to glean like the poor, taking the remnants of the harvested grain. Boaz inquires about her and learns she has been gleaning for long hours. He talks to her, tells her to stay in his fields, that he has instructed his people not to bother her.  Ruth prostrates herself before him and asks why he is being kind.  He tells her he has heard her story, of her loyalty and good treatment of Naomi: “May the Lord reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!” (2:12)

Mark 4:20-35 - The parable of the lamp.  People don’t use lamps or light to hide things. Light is meant to open things to people. So the wisdom Jesus’ is offering us is not meant to be a secret or hidden “lamp” but is meant to shine in the open (4:21-25).

And the standards we use to judge things, the “measure” we use will be used to measure us as well (4:24-25).

Then Jesus compares the “kingdom of God” to a man scattering seed on the ground.  He may scatter the seed, but as for how it grows, how it gives forth fruit, this is not something he can understand or control.  It all depends on the soil. It happens “of its own accord” (4:28). He comes in again only to harvest what has come of his labor.

Jesus used a lot of “seed” parables. He tells one about the mustard seed as a way of explaining what the kingdom of God is like. It is tiny when sown, but once it is in the ground, it sprouts in ways we cannot fathom (as in the previous parable) and becomes a large plant – sounds a little evolutionary to me. He tells the parable in a public way but explains it in private to his disciples.

Crossing the Sea of Galilee that evening, there is a storm that threatens the boat.  Jesus was asleep in the stern.  They awake him in a panic, and he calms the storm by his word.  “They were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?’” (4:41)

The question of who exactly Jesus IS will form a central motif throughout the gospel accounts—it is this question that drives his disciples and ultimately us as well into the OT matrix, and it is only through that matrix, fully mined and integrated that we come to an answer to that question. A prominent motif of Mark’s gospel is the contrast between the huge, pressing crowds that follow Jesus wherever he goes (15 references to them so far) and the need he has to be alone, or anonymous.

Daily Bible Reading: Ruth 1 and Mark 4:1-19

Ruth (Background Information) – This book, one of only two in the Bible named for a woman character, has no known author. It was ascribed to Samuel and is set in the period of the judges – sometime between the 14^th to the 11^th century BC.

Ruth 1 – When the judges rules, there was a famine, Elimelech (a man from Bethlehem whose name meant “my god is king”) and his wife, Naomi (“my fair one”), went to Moab [east side of the Dead Sea] with sons Mahlon (“sickness”) and Chilion (“pining away”). Elimelech dies.  The sons take Moabite wives, Orpah (“she who runs away”) and Ruth (“the beloved”). After ten years, the sons are dead too.  The women are left together. 

Naomi wishes to return to her home in Bethlehem.  She tells her daughters-in-law that they can return to their families. One of them does, but Ruth, the wife of Mahlon, loves Naomi so much, she goes with her instead. She urges her not to—Naomi has no other sons for Ruth to marry. The rule was she could ONLY marry “a brother” of the husband per Dt. 25:5? Ruth says the famous lines to Naomi: “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.  Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried.  May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you” (1:16-17).

           

They arrive back in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.  Naomi says, “the Lord has dealt bitterly with me.  I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty” (1:21).

Mark 4:1-19 – Another large crowd near the beach hears him talk about “the sower,” who went out to sow who dropped seed on all kinds of ground—on the path, on rocky ground, among thorns, and on rich soil (4:2-8). Those “outside” the kingdom hear of it in a veiled way—through such stories.

There is a little irony in Jesus’ words here for he says that “the mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to those listening to him—the disciples, but they do not understand his parable any better than anyone else. Jesus’ use of parables also suggests to us that his message and indeed his entire being is only communicable through a kind of discourse that is not the same as everyday discourse.  It is imaginative and personal—in the sense that it is opened by a personal response to stories that bear only an indirect connection with the material realities we knock about in.

Here he explains the parable: Each type of ground represents a different set of realities—hearing the word of God and having Satan snatch the seed up before it has a chance to root; those who hear the word and snatch it up but who have no depth to their understanding and so fall away quickly in times of bad weather or tribulation; those who hear the word but wrestle with worldly concerns and get it entangled in complexity; and finally those who hear the word, give it soil to grow in and bear fruit.