Jun 19, 2022
2SAMUEL 20:
Yesterday we heard the story of how David sent
out his army under three commanders, Joab, Abishai, and Ittai. He
gave them orders to deal gently with Absalom. Joab— who was always
pragmatic, didn't do this. Along with Absalom, 20,000 men died in
the civil war. Joab stopped David’s mourning for his son and
ordered him to go out to encourage his troops. And finally the
people decided to bring David back as their king.
PSALM 118a:
This
is one of the antiphonal psalms. Imagine a leader and all the
congregation saying the refrain. One of the most often quoted
verses about the Messiah is found in verse 22. And I have quoted
verse 24 at the beginning of a number of podcasts.
JOHN 2:
John
uses simple words, such as light, word, lamb, and door. But the
concepts he deals with are anything but simple. The meaning goes
deep— so deep that you could spend a lifetime studying the prologue
in chapter one alone and never get to the bottom of it. Note also
that John very artistically makes use of double meaning— using a
word with two meanings simultaneously.
Note how Jesus (and the writer, John) artfully hint at the story of Jacob. Jesus calls Nathanael a true son of Israel. Israel is one of Jacob’s name, and Jacob’s name means ‘cheater’. And then Jesus paradoxically calls Nathanael a man of complete integrity. Finally Jesus didn’t need to make it obvious to his hearers and John didn’t need to explain to his readers that Jesus was quoting from the Jacob’s Ladder story. Just a few words and the previous hint were plenty to imply this: Jesus is claiming to be the Way/Ladder to the Father. The way, the truth, and the life.
NLT Translation note:
Ps.
118:7 Yes, the LORD is [on my side//for me]; he will help
me.
I will look in triumph at those who hate
me.
====
John
2:24 But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew [all
people//human nature].
[I
believe that John is telling us something miraculous about Jesus
here. He wasn’t just a good student of ‘human nature’! He actually
knew everyone, just like he knew the Samaritan woman whom we will
hear about. ]
25 No one
needed to tell him what [anyone was//mankind is] really
like.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.