Wed.’s Devo - The Players

Read: 2 Samuel 15:23-16:23; John 18:25-19:22; Psalm 119113-128; Proverbs 16:10-11
Today’s reading has many different players so it’s a little hard to keep everyone straight. David fled from Absalom across the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives. This is the path that Jesus will enter Jerusalem when he comes back. He sent Zadok, the priest and his two sons back so they could be spies for him. He prayed that God would make the advice of Ahithophel foolishness. Ahithophel had been David’s advisor but he rebelled to follow Absalom.
Ziba, who had been Saul’s servant that David honored when Saul died, met David and his men with provisions. When David asked about Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s cripple son, Ziba lied and said that he had stayed hoping to get his father’s kingdom back. David flippantly gave Ziba all of the things he had given to Mephibosheth.
David was next met with a man named Shimei who cursed David and threw rocks at him from the hillside. Shimei was of the clan that Saul was of. David’s men wanted to kill him but David wouldn’t allow them to.
While David was leaving the city, his friend, Hushai was just arriving and they missed each other. Hushai stayed and acted like he was loyal to Absalom so he could protect David.
When Absalom asked Ahithophel advice about what to do, his advice was to make a tent on the roof of the palace and sleep with David’s concubines so all Israel could see. What foolish advice!
In John, Peter was going through his own fire. He was asked by the relative of the man whose ear he cut off if he was the man with Jesus in the garden. He denied it. This was Peter’s third denial of knowing Jesus. Meanwhile, Jesus was taken from Caiaphas’ house to the palace of the Roman governor, Pilate. The Jews couldn’t enter his house because it would make them unclean and they wouldn’t be able to celebrate the Passover. What a farce! Everything they were doing was making them unclean to ever enter heaven and they were worried about their manmade laws! Pilate wanted them to settle this themselves, but their Jewish laws wouldn’t allow crucifixion so they had to include the Romans.
Pilate had a conversation with Jesus about being a king. He decided there was no just cause to charge him with so he tried to get Jesus released. It backfired and he was forced to flog Jesus. His soldiers mocked him with a crown of thorns and a robe, hailing him king. Pilate handed him back to the Jews. The Jews said he had to die because he claimed to be the son of God. This scared Pilate even more and he tried everything he could to set Jesus free. The Jews made Pilate choose between Caesar and Jesus. Pilate felt his hands were tied and sent Jesus to be crucified. He made his men make a sign that said “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”. This made the Jews mad but he refused to change it.
So many players and so few faithful. We are all players in the game of life and we all get to chose whose side to follow. The crowd is loud and forceful and the way to life is always death.
Lord, help us to chose life.