Mark 15
Read this chapter slowly and imagine being there. How does it make you feel? I have been thinking a lot lately about when and how we are to judge others. I believe it is never ours to condemn another, at least outside of an appropriate court setting, which is an entirely different thing. However, I also believe that it is our duty to be discerning. And what we discern in others directly impacts what kind of relationship we have with them. What exactly is it we are to discern in others? We aren’t making a determination as to their salvation status. That kind of declaration falls too far into the condemnation camp. But I do think we are discerning whether a person is currently tapped into Spirit or self. Are they seeking to follow God, loving Him and loving others, or are they putting themselves at the forefront?
What does any of this have to do with Mark 15, you ask? Mark told us Pilate, “[knew] it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.” (Mark 15;10). So if even Pilate, a man who was not himself seeking God, could discern whose interests the chief priests were serving, shouldn’t we, who have God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in us, be able to do the same?
2 Sam. 13-14
How is David’s sin in ch. 11 connected with this sad story? (See 12:10) What weakness in David contributed to Amnon’s death? Analyze the characters of Absalom, Joab and David as revealed in this chapter. I don’t know what to think of most of what went on in these two chapters. The one thing I can say is that even David’s kingdom went the way of all other human kingdoms. It deteriorated into a spiral of sin, shame, and devastation. As discouraging as this seems, however, it gives me a far greater appreciation for God’s promise to establish David’s throne forever. It drives home the point that David’s kingdom didn’t stand because of David’s efforts. It stood because of God’s promise.
That’s an important point to drive home. David’s kingdom, which replaced that of Saul, is representative of God’s new covenant for the world. Actually, it is not just the representation of God’s new covenant, it is also the instrument through which God brought it about. But it reveals the truth that nothing about the human condition changed with the new covenant. Our nature still leads to death, just as we see with David’s house. What changed is the part we play in the new covenant. As in, we don’t. It doesn’t rely on us at all. As with David’s kingdom, it stands because it stands on God alone. In spite of our continued faults and failures, we have a hope and a promise that cannot fail. Just like David did.