26 July 2105
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 12B (RCL)
2 Samuel 11:1-15
Psalm 14
Ephesians 3:14-21
John 6:1-21
Is it good to be king? In a disarmingly simple story, 2 Samuel shows us everything wrong with monarchy. The passage begins, “In the spring of the year, when kings go out to war.” War is the liturgy of the royal cult. But David stays at home, and enjoys the leisure of an afternoon nap while his generals are out at war. After bringing the ark into Jerusalem and distributing food (including the meat of sacrifice) to everyone in Israel, man and woman, and thereby claiming all women as his own, David enacts this claim. And to finish off the story, David sends by Uriah’s own hand orders to Joab to have Uriah killed. Uriah respects the royal authority enough not to read the letter he is carrying. He is faithful where David is deceitful.
Jesus, on the other hand, escapes up the mountain when he perceives the people want to come and make him king by force. Continue reading “A new covenant”