1 Kings 2:38-46 - What you say is good

2:38-40

Shimei agreed to these terms, and for a long time observed them. However, after three years two of his servants made a run for it, going to Gath. Shimei went on horseback to hunt them down, he then brought them back to Jerusalem. One can imagine him thinking that he had observed the rules for so long, and surely breaking it for what seemed a good reason would not be a problem.

2:41-46

However, it certainly was a problem. On hearing of the news Solomon summoned Shimei and confronted him with his breaking of the oath. Shimei would now suffer the consequences of his earlier wrong actions towards David, and Benaiah killed Shimei.Solomon’s throne was now firmly established. So what are we to make of all this? In political terms Solomon has acted wisely, but did he act in a godly manner? The latter question is difficult to answer. All the men who died deserved to die, they experienced justice for their sins, but there was not much in the way of grace in this chapter. Maybe the lesson is that under law our sins will always find us out, even if it seems that we are “getting away with it” for a time. Without the blood of Jesus we are all lost.

Mark 10:27,28 - All things are possible with God

10:27

The disciples needed to realise that all their assumptions about the kingdom, and who could get in it, were wrong. It is only by the grace of God that anyone, rich or poor, religious or not, can enter the kingdom of God. So by human will alone no one, including the rich, can enter the kingdom. But with God, anyone can enter. We need to put our trust solely in the Lord.

10:28

The disciples had left everything, and so Peter pipes up. Jesus had told the rich man to sell everything and give it to the poor, Peter and the others had left their livelihoods, their families. So they may have thought they had done all that was necessary in order to enter the kingdom. But Jesus had said to the rich man that after selling everything he should then follow Jesus. Following Jesus is what the disciples were doing.

1 Kings 2:31-37 - Strike him down

2:31-33

Solomon was not going to stand for any nonsense from Joab. If he wanted to die at the altar, then at the altar he would die. Solomon saw this as clearing his family of the guilt of the blood that Joab had shed. Why did Solomon feel guilty for this? None of the actions had been done at David’s command (though there were instances where David slaughtered people), but maybe it was guilt at having employed the services of such a man? Solomon considers the two men that Joab killed as being better than Joab himself.

2:34-37

Benaiah then went and carried out Solomon’s orders and Joab was buried. Benaiah then became commander of the army in Joab’s place. And Zadok became priest in place of Abiathar.

Shimei was the next to be dealt with. He was not punished immediately. Instead he was told to build a house in Jerusalem, and ordered to stay there. He was confined to Jerusalem, but warned that if he went elsewhere (crossing the Kidron Valley) he would be put to death.

Mark 10:25,26 - Who then can be saved?

10:25

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God”. Jesus now emphasises how difficult/impossible it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. You may well have heard that the “eye of a needle” was a narrow gate in the walls of Jerusalem. There is actually no evidence for this, and the eye of a needle is probably just an eye of a needle. The point is that such a thing was impossible.

10:26

The disciples' amazement was then doubled, for now it wasn’t just hard, but absolutely impossible for a rich man to be saved. So the disciples then asked “Who then can be saved?” Why did they ask this? They, and Jewish society (along with all of humanity) looked at “entering the kingdom of God” from a purely human perspective. Wealth can be utterly deceptive (Mark 4:19) and it can fool us into thinking we are secure.  Surely someone who has kept the commandments and has been blessed with wealth is blessed by God and deserves or has salvation? 

1 Kings 2:26-30 - You deserve to die

2:26,27

Solomon is somewhat more gentle with Abiathar the priest. Abiathar had sided with Adonijah, but had carried the ark, and had shared in many hardships with David. So Solomon was more lenient with him, merely stripping him of his priestly role. One could look at all these events purely in terms of political machinations, but there are frequent mentions of the word of the Lord being fulfilled. When we look at our world, there are all sorts of political and military goings on, but ultimately it is the Lord who is in control.

2:28-30

Joab hears what is going on, and knows that trouble is heading his way. Although Joab had not sided with Absalom, he had sided with Adonijah. So he fled to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar, believing this would give him sanctuary. Solomon learnt of what had happened, and ordered Benaiah to “strike him down”. Benaiah went to the tent and ordered Joab to come out, but Joab refused. Benaiah was reluctant to do anything, and so reported the situation to Solomon.

Mark 10:23,24 - How hard it is

10:23

Jesus then makes the comment to His disciples that it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. We need not apply this just to material wealth, though that is the primary application here. Considering ourselves morally righteous, or having a high status in society can also be traps. The problem arises when we consider something we have makes us secure. It is only Christ who makes us secure.

10:24

This teaching astounded the disciples. The general view was that material wealth was a sign of God’s blessing, and a blessing to the righteous. There are obvious echoes in the so-called prosperity gospel. It is significant that Jesus addresses His disciples as “children”, reminding them of the other things that He has been talking about. The kingdom of God is radically different from earthly kingdoms, in all sorts of ways. It was difficult for the rich man to enter the kingdom, but it is actually difficult for all of us. In the Beatitudes Jesus said the kingdom was made for the poor in spirit.

1 Kings 2:19-25 - I have one small request

2:19-22

Bathsheba goes to meet the king. The meeting seems to be very formal, but the king is honouring Bathsheba in bringing a throne for her. Bathsheba makes Adonijah’s request to Solomon. Before hearing the request he promises his mother a favourable response. Bathsheba then asks that Abishag be given to Adonijah in marriage. As mentioned in my comments on 2:17,18, this request has much deeper implications than giving Adonijah a beautiful wife, and Solomon is immediately aware of this. Adonijah is also older than Solomon. Solomon is acutely aware of the danger. 

2:23-25

Solomon then makes a declaration that Adonijah must pay for this with his life. So we have wisdom in that Solomon is aware of the danger and takes action to snuff it out, but the measures taken are rather drastic, to say the least. Solomon knows that God has “founded a dynasty” for him, and that Adonijah is trying to usurp this. So orders are given to Benaiah to kill Adonijah, and this was done.

Mark 10:20-22 - He went away sad

10:20,21

The man claims to have obeyed all these, and outwardly this was quite possibly true. It seems from the whole episode that this was not a proud boast on the part of the man. He seems to have known that this was not good enough to earn eternal life. “Jesus looked at him and loved him”. Jesus had a deep concern for the man. He then tells him that he lacks one thing. He should sell everything he had, give it to the poor, and then follow Jesus. Note that even if the man had sold everything, he would not have earned eternal life. He still needed to follow Jesus.

10:22

The man’s face fell, and he went away. Now what is going on here. The man had great wealth and the thought of giving it all away seemed impossible to him. He was so attached to his wealth, and it was his security. So he was not prepared to give it up in return for following Jesus. But if we look at ourselves, most of us have not had to make such a commitment in order to follow Jesus. Is it because we haven’t had so much that we haven’t put such a trust in wealth? This would seem to be in line with what Jesus says in the subsequent verses. At the same time, we should remember that in comparison to much of the world, those of us who are of average wealth in the West are incredibly rich.

1 Kingsd 2:15-18 - The kingdom was mine

2:15,16

He starts by saying “the kingdom was mine”. This was never really true. All Israel did not look to him as king, some did, but such support as there was was very shallow. He then recounts how Solomon ended up as king. All this should alert us to the intentions of Adonijah, and to how we understand the request that he is about to make.

2:17,18

His request is that Abishag should be given to him in marriage. Now to our western ears this seems to have nothing to do with a plot to gain the kingdom. Abishag was beautiful, and we think Adonijah just fancies her. However, Abishag was part of David’s harem, so taking Abishag as a wife would give Adonijah some possession of the harem. In the culture of the time this would be seen as giving him some claim to the kingdom. I.e. It was much more than just taking a fancy to a girl and marrying her. He wants Bathsheba to make the request because he believes that that is more likely to lead to a favourable outcome. We see here another example of how the “many wives” scenario is something that always leads to trouble!

Mark 10:18,19 - Why do you call me good?

10:18

Jesus responds, as usual, with His own question, “Why do you call me good?”. “No one is good - except God alone”. A vital purpose of the Law was to demonstrate that no one can meet all of God’s requirements. Sacrifices for guilt were a key element of the Law. If someone could fully obey the Law then there would have been no need for sacrifices. The history of Israel clearly demonstrated their inability to obey the Law fully. This also implies that Jesus is God, for in order to be a suitable sacrifice He had to be fully good.

10:19

Jesus then lists the second part of the Ten Commandments. These were the “outward” commandments, rather than the God focused commandments (e.g having no other gods etc). They were also the ones that a person could claim to have obeyed outwardly, though Jesus teaching in the Sermon on the Mount shows that inward obedience is also important (Matt 5:21-30).

1 Kings 2:10-14 - David rested with his ancestors

2:10-12

“David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David”. In a way there is less fanfare about David’s death than with people like Jacob and Moses, and their charges/prophecies over their sons in Jacob's case. It is like David came in with a bang and went out with a whimper. We are told that he reigned for forty years in all, and that Solomon was installed as king and that his throne was firmly established.

2:13,14

Adonijah is now back on the scene. He had claimed the kingship, then given it up without a fight. However, he now seems to be trying to use intrigue to gain the throne. He does this by first approaching Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. She is initially suspicious of him, asking if he comes in peace, to which he replies “yes”. He has something to say to her.

Mark 14:62-66 - I am

14:62

Jesus knew who He was, and this was the basis for his mission, likewise the foundation for our mission must be who \jesus is. At this point the priests and guards attacked jesus.

14:63

The High Priest knew that Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, as far as he was concerned they had all they needed.They all agreed on this. They had all the evidence they needed

14:66

Peter now begins his denials.  A servant girl confronts Peter, asking if he was with Jesus, implying that she had seen him with Jesus.Peter quickly denied this. \why did he do this, maybe out of fear, maybe our of just not thinking, not being prepared.

Mark 10:15-17 - He took the children in his arms

10:15,16

“Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” What is the key characteristic that Jesus is pointing at here? Most probably it is a child’s utter dependence upon their parents, and so our utter dependence on God. If we think we are inherently important and deserving then we can never enter the kingdom of God. Now this does not mean that we do not do anything. Continuing with the child analogy, our children are dependent upon us, but we want to see them grow and to develop skills and abilities. So it is with us as children of God. 

So having corrected His disciples’ thinking, Jesus takes the children in His arms and blesses them. He affirmed the children, stressing their importance.

10:17

We now get more on what the kingdom of heaven is all about. A man runs up to Jesus and falls on his knees. The man had great wealth, and was also a “ruler” (Luke 18:18), so he had good standing in society, yet he still knelt at the feet of Jesus. This demonstrates the effect that Jesus had. He is also a serious man, he wants to know what “must I do to inherit eternal life”.

Mark 14:53-56 - Many testified falseley against Him

14:53,54

Jesus questioned his captors as to why they needed to use force, for he was not leading a rebellion. They had had ample opportunity to arrest him, but had not taken these opportunities.At this point everyone fled. A young man is named who fled naked. his anonymity if preserved possibly for his own safety. 

\The chief priests and elders were all gathered together/, they were united in their efforts ro have Jesus killed.Peter had managed to get into the courtyard probably thinking he was fulfilling his promise to stick with Jesus.

14:55,56

The chief priests and the sanhedrin were determined to find a way to have Jesus put to death, but they could not find any evidence. The evidence of those who testified against h\im did not agree. They used a misinterpreted statement of Jesus, but even these did not agree. The HIgh Priest was getting frustrated because Jesus was nor answering the so-called charges. Jesus did give an answer, but it annoyed them all the more, for He did claim to be the Messiah.

1 Kings 2:5-9 - You know what Joab did to me

2:5,6

Things now start to turn sour. As noted earlier, Joab was a complex character, and David was actually dependent upon him. However, Joab had also killed various people out of vengeance. David had clearly been holding this against him, and now orders Solomon to ensure that he did not let Joab die in peace. One wonders why David did not see to this himself.

2:7-9

Conversely, the sons of Barzillai were to be shown favour. They had stood by David during the time of Absalom, as had Joab for that matter. Shimei is another one who comes in for trouble. He had called down curses (and stones) on David, but then “repented” when David retook the throne. David, apparently, also held a grudge against Shimei and did not trust that his “repentance” was real. So Solomon is instructed to use his wisdom, and to “bring his grey head down to the grave in blood”.

Mark 10:13,14 - People were bringing little children

10:13

“People were bringing little children to Jesus ... but the disciples rebuked them.” It seems that the disciples had forgotten the teaching of Jesus in Mark 9:36,37. The disciples rebuked the parents who were bringing their children. The parents wanted Jesus to bless the children. We are not told why the disciples resented this so much. This small passage has been used by some as a justification for infant baptism, but to do so is an example of eisegesis, rather than exegesis.

10:14

Jesus was having no truck with the attitude of the disciples and was indignant. Perhaps we would all do well sometimes to ask if our attitudes make Jesus indignant. This is especially so when we get up on our high horse. Jesus told them to “let the little children come to me”. The disciples were not to hinder the children, for the kingdom “belongs to such as these. Now why does Jesus say the kingdom belongs to “such as these”. Sometimes we say it is because of the”innocence” of children, but anyone who has children knows that they are far from innocent. If we go back to the notion that children were regarded as not being important, i.e. they could not advance someone’s career or standing in society, then perhaps we get a better idea. The kingdom of God belongs to those who are considered as being of little value in terms of power and influence. We should also remember that while the child had little value in the world’s terms, to the parents the child was of immense value. So in the kingdom those considered to be of little importance in the world’s terms, are to be treated as being important, and we are to value them as we value our own children.

Mark 14:41-43 - Here comse my betrayer

14:41,42

Jesus went away to pray for a third time. Once again He returned to find the disciples sleeping yet again. “Enough!” It seems that Jesus was now settled in His mind. He knew that there was no other way, the cross was the only way, and He was going to receive no help from the disciples. “The hour has come”. He knew He was about to be arrested, and then the “trial” and sentence would all commence. The Son of Man would be delivered into the hands of sinners. “Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” In the words of Isaiah 50:7 Jesus had now set His face like flint. There was no deterring Him from the path God had chosen for Him.

14:43

Judas appeared together with a crowd armed with swords and clubs.Judas had arranged a signal, he would greet Jesus with a kiss. \neither the swords nor clubs, nor the guns were necessary, for Jesus was not going to resist nor was he an unknown figure. After Judas gave the signal, the soldiers arrested jesus.

1 Kings 2:1-4 - He gave a charge to Solomon

2:1-3

This chapter marks the end of David’s reign, and the beginning of Solomon’s. To be frank, it is not an encouraging chapter, and does nothing to enhance David’s reputation. It does start off relatively well. David is about to die and gives a charge to his son, Solomon. David knows he is about to die, and tells Solomon to “be strong , act like a man”. Then he goes on to instruct him to walk in obedience to the Lord, to live according to the Law of Moses, and that this will bring success. Note that we are in a “works salvation” mode here, obedience brings blessing.

2:4

David was also mindful of the promise that God had made to him, namely about him always having a successor on the throne. We know that neither Solomon nor any future kings managed to live up to this. There is only one future king who did obey God completely, Jesus Christ. In one sense God’s promises of blessing for obedience are ultimately useless, for if we seek to live out of our own strength and righteousness we are doomed. Conversely, if we live by faith then God’s promises are useful, and obedience comes as a gift of salvation, not a means of earning salvation.

Mark 10:7-12 - They are no longer two, but one flesh

10:7-9

Jesus then speaks specifically of marriage, and it is between one man and one woman, and they will become one flesh. The latter is demonstrated by the sex act, but means much more than that. We live in a fallen world, and so accept the effects of sin as being “normal”. They may well be common, but that does not mean they are the way things should be. Divorce is “normal”, but that is not the way it should be. Mal 2:16 says that the man who divorces his wife “does violence to the one he should protect”. Some translations say that God hates divorce. “Therefore what God has joined let no one separate”. So should divorce be allowed at all? I would say that the answer is yes, but we need to recognise that that is only in the context of being the lesser of two evils. Elsewhere Jesus seems to allow it for adultery, and 1 Cor 7 allows it when an unbelieving partner refuses to live with a believing partner. I would also say that it is consistent with the spirit of Biblical teaching to say it is allowed if one partner is physically abusive .

10:10-12

Jesus’ teaching went against the spirit of the age, and goes against the spirit of the age today as well. The teaching Jesus had given had been given in public, but when they were back “in the house” the disciples inquired of Jesus.”Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another woman, she commits adultery”. Note the balance here. In the society of the time it would normally be the case that the man would divorce the woman, but it was possible for it to be the other way around. Now refer back to my comments on 10:2. Jesus was concerned with the heart.

Mark 14:28-40 - \watch and pray!

14:38

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation”. We need to keep alert, and we need to pray, this helps us to avoid temptation. In 1 Pet 1:13 Peter urges us to be fully alert, he knew from bitter experience the cost of failing to do so. “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”. The disciples, Peter in particular, genuinely wanted to be committed to Jesus. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. In Romans 8 Paul tells us that if we live by the flesh we cannot please God. Our human strength is insufficient to enable us to live godly lives. We need the power of the Holy Spirit within us.

14:39,40

Jesus went away again to pray the same thing. He had not yet received an answer, or strength , from His first round of praying. Sometimes we need to pray the same thing repeatedly. After He had finished He returned, and once again the disciples were sleeping. This was because their eyes were heavy. The events of the past few days had been emotionally exhausting. Yet they were ashamed at their failure, and did not know what to say to Jesus.

1 Kings 1:49-53 - Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon

1:49-51

The shallowness of the support for Adonijah quickly became apparent, for his guests “rose in alarm and dispersed”. Adonijah was full of fear, expecting Solomon to have him put to death. He “took hold of the horns of the altar”. He believed that since this was in a holy place it would give him some protection. Solomon heard what Adonijah had done, also that Adonijah was pleading for mercy. All this proved that Adonijah was no real threat at all. It is amazing how shallow Adonijah was, he had no guts at all, and one wonders why he claimed the throne at all, when he was not willing to fight for it, not even one little bit.

1:52,53

Solomon gave  a rather gracious reply. If Adonijah proved “himself worthy”, then no harm at all would become him. But if he proved to be evil, then he would die. The now King Solomon sent men to bring Adonijah down from the altar. Adonijah came to Solomon and bowed down before him. Solomon then sent him home. Adonijah is presented as a rather weak and pathetic man.

Mark 10:5,6 - It is because your hearts were hard

10:5

The view of what Moses said was seeing it as a “right”, i.e. it was normal for a man to divorce his wife.  In fact it was a mitigating law, a law seeking to reduce the ill effects of divorce. In particular, the divorce certificate gave some protection to the woman. Divorce would happen, it was futile to deny that it would ever happen, but that did not mean that it was a desirable thing. There were divorce laws “because your hearts were hard”. The same is true today. Divorce should never happen, but it will. So we need laws to deal with the situation, but it happens because of our sinful hearts.

10:6

Jesus then goes right back to the beginning, and the beginning of Genesis. There He quotes two key scriptures. The first is that God “made them male and female”. It is amazing how relevant Genesis is today, and how society is seeking to undo or deny Genesis. We were created male and female.

1 Kings 1:41-48 - What's the meaning of all the noise?

1:41-3

Adonijah’s “party” was going on at the same time, and they heard all the noise accompanying David’s pronouncement. Joab wondered what was going on. Adonijah was somewhat complacent, and expected Jonathan, son of Abiathar the priest, to bring good news. He also described him as “a worthy man”. Jonathan, however, did not have good news for Adonijah, and he announced that David had made Solomon king!

1:44-48

Jonathan goes on to list all the officials who are with David, and therefore backing his move. Moreover, the people of the city were rejoicing at the news. Solomon had taken his seat on the throne, so it was now effectively a “done deal”. The royal officials were also supporting the move. So the picture was one of widespread support for Solomon becoming king. David was for it, the officials and confidants of David were for it, the people were for it.

Mark 10:3,4 - What did Moses command you?

10:3

As always, we can learn a great deal from the way that Jesus dealt with “difficult” questions. Note that the difficulty usually ended up being on the side of the questionnaires (or accusers). Jesus rarely dealt immediately with the matter raised, but went to the Biblical fundamentals, i.e. to the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter in terms of what God says, and the heart of the matter of what needs to change in our hearts. So here Jesus goes back to the Law of Moses. This would be particularly poignant because the Pharisees were so proud of their assiduousness in keeping the Law of Moses.

10:4

The Pharisees answered by saying that “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away”. The relevant teaching of Moses is Deut 24:1-4, and doesn’t actually “permit” a man to write a certificate of divorce. Rather it assumes that this has happened, and the crux of Moses’ teaching in that section is that the woman and the original husband must not remarry if the second husband also divorces her. It was assumed that divorce would happen, and that divorcees would often remarry.

1 Kings 1:32-40 - Call in Zadok the priest

1:32-35

David now calls in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah (who was in charge of David’s bodyguard). David’s private declaration will now be made public, and David is acting decisively. Solomon will be put on the king’s mule. This would be a sign that he had David’s approval. The priest and the prophet were to anoint Solomon as king over Israel. The trumpet was to be blown, and a shout of “Long live Solomon”. Then Solomon was to sit on David’s throne. There could then be no doubt that Solomon was king. When Jesus returns there will be no doubt that He is Lord of All (Phil 2:9-11).

1:36-40

Benaiah announces his approval of the whole episode, and calls on the Lord to be with Solomon as he was with David. Zadok, Nathan and Benaiah then carry out David’s instructions, and anointed Solomon with oil from the sacred tent. All the people rejoiced greatly at the news. Adonijah’s actions, and those of Absalom, were done with factions. I.e. Some supported them, but not all the people. David’s actions were done for the whole nation. David was initially anointed in private, now the king is anointed in public. Jesus first came as the anointed king, but this was not known publicly. He then did all sorts of kinglike actions, supremely going to the cross and rising again. He will return with a very public anointing!

Mark 10:1,2 - Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?

10:1

We now move into chapter 10, and start with a controversial topic, marriage and divorce. Jesus entered the region of Judea, crossing the Jordan. As usual crowds of people came to him, so the growing opposition of the religious leaders was not deterring the people from seeking Jesus. “As was His custom, He taught them. I know I keep going on about this, but the repeated emphasis that Mark puts on the fact that Jesus taught the people is so important. We need to learn from Jesus, the people in our societies need to learn from Jesus. Without Jesus we are following foolish ways. Teaching and preaching are fundamental parts of the church's mission and task, both to church members and to society as a whole.

10:2

Again, as usual, some Pharisees came to test Jesus. They asked Him “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” Then, as now, the issue was contentious, the Pharisees were trying to drive a wedge between Jesus and the people. At the time there were two main schools of thought. The school of Shammai, probably  the minority view, allowed divorce only for serious cases of immorality. The Hillel school allowed divorce for almost any reason. My view is that to properly interpret Jesus’ teaching we need to realise that many followed the Hillel line, and used it as justification for trading in their current wife for a younger and prettier model! They would do so claiming they were following the Law of Moses, and were good Jewish boys. Note that this line devalues women. When a society has lax morals it is women and children who suffer the most.

1 Kings 1:28-31 - Call in Bathsheeba

1:28,29

David calls in Bathsheba again. He wanted her to hear him make the declaration that Solomon would be his successor. David had now got a grip on things. He makes reference to God’s faithfulness in repeatedly delivering him from trouble. Note that God has been with David when he went valiantly into battle, Goliath being the best known of these instances. But God was also with him when he was in trouble because of his own weaknesses and sinfulness. We need to recognise this as being true for our lives as well. This is not an excuse for thinking our sins and failings do not matter, but we do need to appreciate the extent of God’s grace. 

1:30.31

David is making the declaration to Bathsheba. Although it is not recorded elsewhere in Scripture, it seems that David had promised to Bathsheba that Solomon would be his successor. So David declares that Solomon will be the next king.Bathsheba demonstrates gratitude towards the king, prostrating herself before the king. Now to us this seems a very strange way for a wife to act towards her husband, but the culture was different in those days.

Mark 9:43-50 - Thrown into hell

9:43-49

Jesus then turns the attention on ourselves to an even greater extent. It is human nature to be concerned about what other people are doing wrong, our top priority should be on what we might be doing wrong.  Jesus uses analogies of cutting off a hand or foot, or gouging out an eye. These words are not meant to be taken literally, but rather to illustrate how seriously we should treat things which cause us to stumble or sin. If bitterness takes root in our lives it can have deadly serious consequences (Heb 12:15). The implication in these words is that it could even lead to our losing our salvation.

Jesus also speaks about hell. There is a lot of nonsense talk about hell, with some seeming to want to lessen the terror of hell. Now it is true that none of us knows the exact details of what hell is like, but from Jesus’ words here and elsewhere, it is clear that hell is the worst possible thing that can happen to a person. The word used for hell is “Gehenna”, the Hebrew equivalent is “Valley of Hinnom”. Human sacrifices had been offered to Ball there, and it had become a place for dumping and burning rubbish. “Where the fire never goes out”. There are some who argue against “eternal conscious torment”. But understanding hell as a place “where the fire never goes out” is a far more useful understanding, for you would want to do anything possible to avoid going there.

9:50

The statement here is somewhat enigmatic, but I take it like this. Salt can represent tastiness, it was also a preservative, and it also could represent judgement. We need to preserve a right spirit within ourselves as individuals, and as a church as a whole. We are to have salt among ourselves. We should seek to keep each other in line with God’s word, but this is to be done with an attitude of peace, not seeking to exalt ourselves, nor to do others down.

1 Kings 1:15-27 - Bathsheeba went to see the aged king

1:15-21

Bathsheba went in to see the king. They do not seem to have had a close relationship at this point, and one can imagine what it was like with Bathsheba seeing David with this bimbo! However, she was feeling, Bathsheba bowed down before the king. While the whole situation seems weird to us, we should beware of viewing it through current cultural norms.Bathsheba then enacts the scene as Nathan had advised her, telling David all that had happened. She reminds him that the people were expecting a lead from him. David is a remote figure by this point. Unless he does something, the people will look elsewhere for leadership. It is easy for leaders to become obsessed with their own problems, and at that point people can easily be led in the wrong direction by others. Bathsheba also confronts him with the fact that she and Solomon would be treated as criminals.

1:22-27

Nathan then played his role. David maybe remembered the last time Nathan had come to confront him. Nathan entered, and he too bowed before the king. Nathan asks David if he has approved Adonijah becoming king, knowing full well that he hasn’t. Nathan essentially repeats what Bathsheba has said, thereby reinforcing it. He also points out that Solomon, himself, and others had not been invited. Nathan is essentially forcing David to get a grip and take charge of the situation. It can be very frustrating when leaders are not leading.

Mark 9:41,42 - Anyone who gives you a cup of water

9:41

The emphasis on a generous spirit continues. We should not look down on people, thinking that they are not doing much. If someone gives us “a cup of water”, i.e. a welcome, but not an enormous thing, because we belong to Christ “will certainly not lose their reward”. We should gratefully accept any help, however small. Note that the motivation for all this starts with the attitude that God has. He will reward the one who gives a cup of water, so we should have the same attitude of appreciation.

9:42

When we don’t have a generous spirit we can cause others to stumble, either by our words or by our actions. John had been worried about the man who was driving out demons in Jesus’ name. Jesus tells him that he should be more concerned about having an ill-effect on a man who was honestly seeking to follow Christ and do His work.

Mark 14:9,10 - What she has dond will be tolf in memory of her

14:9

Far from being treated with scorn and derision, the world would remember what the woman did, and would do so favourably. The immediate reaction of people to an action is not always the long term reaction. Things can be viewed very differently in the future. Now it is the woman who is regarded favourably, not her detractors.

14:10

Judas now decided to go to the chief priests and to betray Jesus to them. There are two key questions, the first is why did Judas decide to do this? Why did he do it all, and why was this the point at which he decided to take action? There are some who seek to rehabilitate Judas, trying to put a more favourable gloss on him. We should note that the Bible has nothing favourable to say about Judas. Was Judas disillusioned? Whether he was or not, we read elsewhere that “Satan entered Judas” (Lk 22:3). This does not mean that he was possessed, but when our minds are not submitted to Jesus we are prone to Satan’s deceptions. There was the money aspect that we read about in John. Also we may think we are committed to Jesus, but are not committed to do things His way. That will ultimately lead to us going astray, and we can see examples of churches and individuals where that has happened.

1 Kings 1:11-14 - Nathan asked Beersheba

1:11

Solomon was the son of Bathsheba, and Nathan the prophet now enters the scene again. His last main appearance was when he rebuked David after the Bathsheba incident. He raises the matter of Adonijah becoming king with Bathsheba. David was ignorant of what was going on, and the inference is that what was happening was not what David would want. David now is a greatly weakened figure, definitely not in control of events. It is also quite amazing that it is the son of Bathsheba that ends up being the king. The union between David and Bathsheba is one that should never have happened.

1:12-14

Having highlighted the situation, Nathan proposes a solution. Although he is a prophet, the solution is a very “political” and practical solution. Nathan, seeking to ensure that he has Bathsheba onside, points out that if things continue along their present course, then Bathsheba and Solomons’ lives will be in danger. It seems that David had sworn that Solomon would be his successor. Alternatively, David could be so feeble minded at this point that Nathan was playing on that weakness. While Bathsheba was speaking to the king, Nathan would come in and add to the conversation.