READING FOR MAY 29, 2025: 2 SAMUEL 14, MARK 11, PSALM 48:1-8 2 SAMUEL 14 It is surprising how often Joab, David’s army commander, plays an important role in this book. Here we see him trying to nudge David to reconcile with his son Absalom. In contemporary organizational theory, this is sometimes called managing from below. It may be necessary if one is certain the boss is moving in an unwise direction. In this case, Joab takes a page from Nathan in presenting the king with a story that relates to David’s situation. Instead of just telling the story, Joab recruits a “wise woman” to act it out. The gist of her story is that her two sons got in a fight, and one of them killed the other. The rest of her family advocated putting the surviving son to death, leaving her without any sons. This horrified her. David promised her remaining son would not be harmed.
Then the woman applies her story to David’s situation. She states an important truth: we will all die and have limited time to reconcile with those with whom we are estranged. Do we have friends/family with whom we have let slip from our circle of relationships? Time is running out. Remember that God, through Jesus, has reached out to us to be reconciled to Him after our sin led to our estrangement from Him. We should not wait to reconcile with God, with others, and to foster the reconciliation of others with God through sharing the Gospel: “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:18-19).
David perceived that Joab was behind this conversation and ordered him to bring back Absa-lom. For reasons not given, David didn’t wish to see him immediately. Absalom waited for two years, repeatedly sending messages to Joab that weren’t answered (How do we feel when someone won’t answer our emails or texts?) Finally, Absalom got Joab’s attention by setting his field on fire. (Don’t try this at home!) This led to a seemingly happy reunion with David, but we’ll see if perhaps the long time Absalom was left waiting in limbo might prove problematic.
MARK 11 Up until now, Jesus had been repeatedly preparing his disciples for his upcoming death and resurrection, while downplaying it publicly. In this chapter, he orchestrated an event to call attention to his entrance into Jerusalem that would culminate in the cross. The day for which He came to earth was fast approaching. One detail that Mark mentions but Matthew omits is that the colt chosen for Jesus had never been ridden before. Might that represent the fact that no other person or spiritual being had ever before experienced this kind of willing sacrificial death for the entire world? No one would ever do so again: “Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; Nor are there any works like Your works” (Psalm 86:8).
READING FOR MAY 29, 2025 CONTINUED: MARK 11, PSALM 48:1-8 An added phrase in Mark’s account about the cleansing of the Temple is, “He would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple grounds.” Another is the reaction of the Jewish leadership: “They began seeking how to put Him to death.” The implications that are more strongly conveyed in Mark than in Matthew are that Jesus really wanted to distance His house of prayer from any commercial activity and that this potential loss of commercial space (and resulting loss of income for the leaders) prompted definite plans for the killing of Jesus. How might this relate to how we live our lives and view our house of prayer?
It bears repeating from our Matthew study that the fig tree with no fruit represents a supposed follower or nation of God who doesn’t live a life of obedience or bearing spiritual fruit. By condemning this fig tree, Jesus sends a message to his disciples that an unfruitful Christian life is not permissible: “I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:5-6).Note it says in the Mark account the disciples were listening to this condemnation. Let’s also listen closely and take this to heart.
The disbelieving chief priests, scribes, and elders questioned Jesus’s authority for His actions. As He has consistently maintained, Jesus will not explain certain levels of spiritual truths to those who have already rejected the basic truths provided them. In this case they rejected the message of John the Baptist. Consider Matt. 13:12: “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”
PSALM 48:1-8 The city of our God here likely refers literally to Jerusalem, with its Temple containing the special presence of God, high elevation, fortified walls, and palaces of the kings of Israel. Yet, in the New Testament we begin to see the concept of God’s city applied more broadly. These additional meanings add richness and hope to the Psalmist thoughts:
- The people of God: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matt. 5:14).
- Abraham’s faith destination: “He was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:14).
- The new Jerusalem: “I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:2).
We may currently be residents of Yorktown or Muncie, but we should only consider ourselves as resident aliens of these towns: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our lowly condition into conformity with His glorious body, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” (Phil. 3:20-21). The City of God is our true home.
