Did King Saul Have Memory Loss?

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1 Samuel 16:19, 21 - King Saul sent messengers to Jesse in Bethlehem, saying, "Send me David your son, who is with the sheep." And David came to Saul and entered his service [playing the harp when Saul was depressed].

1 Samuel 17:57-58 - When David came back from killing Goliath he was brought before Saul, still carrying Goliath's head. Saul asked him, "Whose son are you, young man? And David answered, I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."

Did King Saul suffer from memory loss? How could Saul forget David's father, who sent to him "a mighty man of valor, a warrior, prudent in speech, handsome, with whom the Lord abides"? (1 Samuel 16:18) This was the young man who used to play the harp for King Saul when the evil spirit troubled him.

Some Bible commenters have suggested that the verses in First Samuel have gotten mixed up, and are not presented to us in the proper order. But we will tackle this instead by remembering and applying the principles of a real people standing before a real God. Then as a bonus we'll look at the Christology embedded in the story of young David. Who knew?

David and Goliath

1 Samuel 17 ³ The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side, and Israel on the other, with a valley between them. ⁴ And out of the Philistine camp came a champion named Goliath of Gath, who was over 9 feet tall. ⁵ He wore a bronze helmet and a coat of mail, ⁶ and his shield-bearer went before him. ⁸ He stood and shouted,  “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man, that we may fight each other.” ¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words they were greatly disturbed. ¹⁶ For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.

Great fear struck the Israelites, such as they had not known under King Saul. But Saul had no answer for Goliath, except to post a reward for the man who might kill him.

¹² Now David was the son of  Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul, Jesse was advanced in years. ¹⁴ David was the youngest, and ¹⁵ he went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. ¹³ Jesse's three oldest sons--Eliab the eldest, Abinadab, and Shammah--had followed Saul to the battle. 

Here's David, now a young adult, still relegated to tending his father's sheep--the job of the least and last in the family, a child's job. This although he also had a place in King Saul's court where he used to play the harp to soothe the King.

¹⁷ Jesse said to David, “Take this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to your brothers, ¹⁸ and also take these ten cheeses to their commander. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.” ²⁰ So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions as Jesse had commanded . He came to the encampment as the army was going out to battle, shouting the war cry ²¹ as Israel and the Philistines drew up for combat. ²² David left the foods with the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks to greet his brothers.

David had not been here before. This was a sharp contrast to the peaceful life of a sheep-herder, and he did not know what to expect.

²³ As he talked with them, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks and spoke the same words as before, and David heard him. ²⁴ All the men of Israel were fearful and fled from him. ²⁵ The men said, “Have you seen this man? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. But the king will give the man who kills him great riches and his daughter in marriage.” ²⁶ David said to the men, “What shall be done for the man who kills Goliath? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

David's first reaction is to marvel at the insolence of this giant, who had no respect for the God of Israel. This is a disgrace: something must be done about this man.

²⁸ Now Eliab heard him speak to the men and his anger was kindled against David. He said, “Why have you come? And who is watching the sheep in the wilderness? I know your impertinence and the evil of your heart, for you just came down to see the battle.” ²⁹ And David said, “What have I done now? Wasn't it just a word?” ³⁰ And he turned away from Eliab to speak to the people, who answered him again as before.

No respect. David gets no respect at all from his brothers. He should go back to tending daddy's sheep.

³¹ When the words David spoke were heard by the people, they repeated them before Saul, who sent for him. ³² David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of this Philistine. Your servant will go and fight him.” ³³ And Saul said to David, “You aren't able to go against this Philistine, for you are but a youth, and he's been a man of war all his life.” ³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, ³⁵ I went after him and struck him and saved it out of his mouth. And if he rose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck and killed him. ³⁶ Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ The Lord who saved me from the lion and the bear will protect me from this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”

Notice that David does not attribute his great prowess to himself, but to the favor of the almighty God of Israel.

³⁸ Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on him and clothed him with a coat of mail, ³⁹ and David strapped his sword over Saul's armor. But he tried in vain to use them. David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off. ⁴⁰ Instead he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

Here we see confirmed the fact that David had no training in warfare or hand-to-hand combat. He goes instead to the weapons he had available to him as a boy, and trusted in God for his safety.

⁴¹ The Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴² When he saw David up close he scorned him, as if he was just a rosy handsome youth. ⁴³ He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his own gods. ⁴⁴ He said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.”

Goliath is un-cowed and confident in dispatching this puny youth. But David also was undaunted, and replied in kind.

⁴⁵ David said to Goliath, “You come against me with a sword and a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”

David knew how to respond to Goliath's threats, and what a calamity it would be to the Philistines if their champion was struck down.

⁴⁸ When the Philistine drew near, David ran forward to meet him. ⁴⁹ He reached in his bag, took out a stone and slung it, and struck Goliath on his forehead. The stone sank into his temple, and he fell on his face to the ground. ⁵⁰ Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine without a sword in his hand.

Now the tables are turned. The Philistines watching are frozen in astonishment.

 ⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over Goliath and drew his sword out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled in disarray. ⁵² And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines, so that the wounded Philistines fell along the way as far as Gath. ⁵³ And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and plundered their camp. ⁵⁴ David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath's armor in his own tent.

None was more astonished than King Saul. Here a people frozen in fear had been saved from an unexpected corner, by a mere youth. 

⁵⁵ When Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” ⁵⁶ And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” ⁵⁷ And as soon as David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. ⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” (Abridged from the English Standard Version (ESV)) 

Here is the place where we must apply the principles of a real people and a real God. Saul was not just some icon reining over Israel and playing out his fate from a gilded throne, surrounded by mighty men of valor well-trained in the martial arts. 

Saul was limited like all of us, and couldn't conceive that the salvation of his nation should come from a sleepy hamlet in the countryside. Saul knew very well where David came from, but in Saul's mind there had to be something more, something in his line that marked him out for future fame. Where did this David really come from, that destined him to be the killer of Goliath? "Whose son are you, young man?"

We can compare this to the twelve apostles, who were saved from a mighty storm by a few words from Jesus: "Peace! Be still!" They thought they knew Jesus,  but they didn't know him as someone who could command the forces of nature. Who was this Jesus, anyway? 

For Saul and for the Apostles, they had failed to account for a real God, who created the world, and cared for his people, and had unlimited power to redeem his beloved.

Christology: a "type" of Christ.

You may have seen this used before: an event or person in the Old Testament that is manifested as a type of things to come, that sets a pattern. Both David and Jesus began from very humble circumstances. Their first appearance was almost hidden: the anointing of the child David and the manger scene of the infant Jesus, two events that slid away into the realm of history long before they became consequential to Israel and the world. 

Both David and Jesus were dis-respected by their brothers, who did not believe that great things would become of them. For both of them, their power, or the power of God, worked through them to bring things to pass that seemed impossible. Both of them fed their brothers and Israel's throng. Both of them had to defend themselves from allegations of evil intentions. And both of them faced their challenges with great courage.

There are other similarities, but from these few we can see that David was a type of Christ who came to save the people of Israel. We see a real God. working his way with real people to show his love to the people of God.

Simon Son of John, Do You Love Me?

PETER'S GREAT TEST

Jesus Teaches for Forty Days

Jesus has been crucified, yet he lives on! He appears to some of his disciples, such as two men on the road to Emmaus, and ten of his apostles gathered in a secret room in Jerusalem. A week later, he appears to them again, this time including "doubting" Thomas, who falls down at his feet saying, "My Lord and my God!"

At Jesus' direction (Mark 14:28), the apostles go north to Galilee and wait for him there. Simon Peter and six more apostles were together one evening at the side of the Sea of Galilee where Peter and Andrew's well-worn fishing boat was dragged up on the shore and unused.

Then Peter said, "I'm going fishing."

The other apostles said, "We're going with you."

They fished all night, but like many another night caught nothing in their nets. The sun was coming up, so it was time to give up and pull the boat back up out of the water. When they were still a hundred yards from shore, there was a man standing there who called out, "Children, you don't have any fish, do you?"

"No," they answered.

The man said, "Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find some."

Doubtfully, they did so, and they caught more fish than the net could safely hold. By this time they were suspicious, but it was John son of Zebedee who said to Peter, "It's the Lord!"

Peter immediately threw himself into the water to get to Jesus, But the rest of the apostles used the small shore-boat to tow the net full of fish into shore. There Jesus had built a cooking fire and said, "Bring some of the fish you've caught. Come and  have breakfast." 

Simon son of John

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?"

Simon son of John? What happened to the new name Jesus had given him, "Peter." Why is Jesus addressing him by his patronym, the name of his father? It has been three years since Jesus took his walk down that beach , and called out to the four fishermen, "Follow Me!"

Jesus had made  it very clear that their old lives of hauling in fish were over, and they were to lead new lives as "fishers of men." Was Simon Peter thinking of returning to his old life? His father John had helped establish a prosperous wholesale fishing cooperative that fed his family well. When his father no longer fished, Simon took over his father's share in the co-op, partnering with old hand Zebedee and his two sons. Before Jesus came along, that was their destiny, to continue their families' traditions on the Sea of Galilee.

Just to make it sink in, Jesus repeated his question twice more, and emphasizing Simon Peter's new career: "Tend my lambs. Shepherd my sheep. Tend my sheep."

When Simon Peter said, "You know that I love you," he knew that he was re-affirming the commandment of Jesus: "If you love  me, keep my commandments."

Me, Myself, and I

Do you and I do the same thing? Does it sometimes seem easier to go back to our usual ways instead of serving Jesus? I know I have done it. But Jesus is always there, saying, "My child, do you love me?"

Jesus in His Father, 12 Years Old

How can somebody be "in his father?"

Jesus was having a good time in the temple, amazing the rabbi's and teachers with his advanced understanding of the Scriptures. He would ask questions that seemed beyond that which would be expected for a twelve-year-old. And when the learned professors would ask him a question they were even more astonished by his answers.

In the meantime, his parents were on their way back home, blithely unaware that Jesus was not among the caravan on its way to Nazareth. At the end of a full day's journey, his parents began searching for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but he was  nowhere to be found. The next morning, they had to return to Jerusalem to scour the city for him.

They finally found him in the temple, of all places, dazzling teachers and rabbi's. By this time his mother Mary was perturbed, and said to him, "Son, why have you treated us this way? Look, your father and I have been anxiously searching for you!" (Luke 2:48)

Then Jesus replied in a peculiar way. He responded,

"Why were you looking for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father?"

"In my Father?" What does that mean?

Many translators struggled with that, unwilling to leave Jesus' answer as found in the original Greek. They attempted to 'fix' Jesus' answer by adding more words so that it made more sense to them.

Some translators rendered it "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"

Or worse, others put it "Didn't you know I hade to be about my Father's business?"

(The better translations put these added words in italics to mark them as not present in the original.)

The better course would have been use of the maxim, "Let Scripture define Scripture." It's a short hop to the book of John, where we find Jesus telling us what "in my Father" means, at John14:20.

"In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you"

This bears closer examination. Here is John 14:20-21a, saying "In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and show myself to him."

When Jesus is in the will of the Father, he is in his Father. When you and I keep Jesus' commands, we are in Jesus. When we are in Jesus, we are loving him. And we who loves Jesus will love the Father, and Jesus will love and reveal himself to us.

So what went wrong?

Jesus knew where he had to be, but this twelve-year-old jumped the gun. There is a time for everything, and the time for Jesus to begin his ministry had not yet begun. Instead, it was time for Jesus to finish growing up, and gain more wisdom (Luke 2:52).

Jesus vs. His Mom

"Jesus, they've run out of Wine!"

"Woman, what does that have to do with you or with me?

"My Hour Has Not Yet Come."

Mother Mary clearly wants something to be done about the wine supply, and she  has presented the problem to Jesus. But Jesus replies, in effect, "Mother, I'm not in the miracle business right now."

(John 2: 1-11)

A Standoff !

Can Mother Mary command the King of the Universe to make more wine?

Can Jesus disregard, therefore disrespect, a request from his mother?

Mary has the solution to the dilemma. She turns to the servants and says, 

"Do whatever he tells you to do," and apparently leaves the  room.

Well. Obviously, Mary wields some authority around here. She gives a command to the servants, even though it may be unlikely these are her own servants. So this marriage feast may well be a celebration for a family relative. 

But what is Jesus to do now? His choice is between honoring his ministry plan, which is low key for now, and honoring his mother's request. He chose the latter.

Jesus chose to obey the Fifth Commandment of Moses: 

"Honour thy father and thy mother."

And he did it in a low  key manner, so as not to create a big stir at the wedding. But the  servants  knew what had happened, and eventually the word got out. It had a strong effect on the five or six disciples he had gathered by now. And by the time Jesus got to Jerusalem for Passover, Nicodemus already had heard the news. We can guess this because Nicodemus (in Aramaic, Nakdimon) was not only one of the three richest men in Jerusalem, but also the owner of extensive farmland in Galilee. Still, it would be at least a year before Jesus began attracting huge crowds wherever  he went.

And the lesson for you and me?

Honour Your Father and Your Mother.

The humor of the Man from Nazareth

From front to back, the Bible is sprinkled with touches of humor here and there, mostly missed by its readers. Too many commenters dwell on solemnness and seriousness in Bible passages and get left out of the wit and even comedy. 

Here's an example of the humor of Jesus and Nathanael from the Gospel of John:

1:45-46. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph!"

This exchange takes place early in the day, as Jesus prepares to take his new disciples on a vigorous 3-day walk to Cana. It is quite possible that Nathanael was asleep when Philip found him. Nathanael's retort was surprising.

1:46a. Nathanael said to Philip, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" 

Nathanael meant no bad will against Nazareth,which was only a sleepy little village of perhaps 200 residents. His response was lightly satirical, responding to Philip's over-exuberance. Philip had just met Jesus only moments before this.

1:46b. Philip said to him, "Come and see!"

The Gospel reported the same light-hearted response that Jesus had to Andrew and John the day before this (1:39).

1:47. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israel indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"

This was certainly a bold statement, but Nathanael was ever the skeptic.

1:48. Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, saying, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

This was certainly an unexpected response from Nathanael's point  of view. It was unlikely that an ordinary human being could know so much from so little information. Nathanael responded with broad satire, even a parody of what Jesus had said.

1:49. Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King  of  Israel!"

Here Nathanael is using outright comedy to portray Jesus' description of him. (As soon as he said it, he might have wished that he could take it back.)

BUT JESUS GOES ALONG WITH NATHANAEL'S JOKE!

1:50. "Jesus answered him, saying, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you [now] believe? You will see greater things  than these."

But this was a teaching  moment ,  and Jesus was not going to let it pass by. 

1:51. And Jesus said to him, "Truly, Truly I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

The first "you" is singular: Jesus said to Nathanael.

The second "you" is plural: "I say to all of you."

Jesus' audience for this final statement is at least both Nathanael and Philip, and probably Andrew and John as well.

If you missed the humor in this banter and interchange between Jesus and Nathanael, you might conclude, as many serious scholars have, that Nathanael was the first person other than John the Baptist that recognized Jesus as the Son of God.

Matthew 15:27, Mark 7:28

If you missed the banter of Nathanael, you might also have missed the banter of the Syrophoenician women when she responded to Jesus, "Yes, Lord, but even the puppies under the table feed on the children's crumbs which fall from their master's table." Jesus responded positively to this banter also, and granted the woman's request for her child to be healed.

REFERENCES: Here are three books that go into the humor of Jesus more deeply:

The humor of Christ, Elton Trueblood, 1964

The humor of Jesus, Henri Cormier, 1977

The joyful Christ, Cal Samra

John is AWOL! Or is he? (John 1:19-51)

Just when do we first find John, the future teenage apostle?

And why isn't he at home, fishing on the lake with his father and brother?
Did he run away from home?

Taken chronologically, John son of Zebedee first appears in the Bible as an anonymous disciple of John son of Zacharias, popularly known as John the Baptist (John 1:35). He is in the company of Andrew son of Jonas, evidently a close friend. A little background is useful here, to reveal some information we won't be exposed to until we wade farther into the chronological story  of Jesus  and his apostles.

Fathers Zebedee and Jonas are partners in a commercial fishing business at the Sea  of Galilee. They each have two sons. Zebedee's sons are James the elder and John the younger. Jonas's sons are Simon the elder and Andrew the younger.  As the youngest members of this co-op, it is natural that John and Andrew would hang out with one another and become friends. 

Church tradition very solidly identifies John as the youngest apostle, which is even more likely since we find this apostle still writing Bible material near the very end of the First Century. As a simple guess, it is likely that Andrew is also a teenager here, or at least a young adult. As John himself writes the story, he never reveals his personal name, although he does describe his personal relationship with Jesus.

Young John has solid employment prospects in the fishing business, and a very protective mother to keep him on the straight and narrow. But at this juncture he appears to be alone with his best friend Andrew, many miles south of his home in Bethsaida, which is far to the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

What happened? Did he have a fight with his dad or his brother? Did he dislike the fishing business? Was his mother overbearing? Did he have a strong independence streak?

Well, a few verses later we find out that these young men are not actually alone. More on that later, but first we will look at what John as Gospel-writer reveals to us in his story.

JOHN 1:1-5 - THE NATURE OF JESUS THE MESSIAH.

John begins his Gospel many years later with the most explosive theological concept since the creation of the universe: "The Light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not comprehended it." No teenager could have written this. The apostle John had lived 40 more years before he was ready to share this news. But this concept is for another blog on another day. 

JOHN 1:6-18 - THE NATURE OF THE BAPTIST AND HIS MESSAGE.

John continues his Gospel with a general description of who John the Baptist is, and what he is preaching. This is a general summary of the Baptist, not an historical "event."

JOHN 1:19-28 - FIRST DAY: THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

The Baptist has been preaching and baptizing long  enough to attract the attention of the Pharisees and the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem. They have sent priests and Levites to grill him on who he claims to be and what he is doing and why. His testimony: "I am a voice crying in the wilderness, 'Make  straight the way of the Lord.' I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. He comes after me."

This is an historical event, and young John is an eye-witness to it and describes it. But the Baptist said, "among you stands..." a more important person. Well, maybe the person is standing right there in the crowd, but our intrepid teenager has no idea which man the Baptist is talking about.

JOHN 1:29-34 - SECOND DAY: THE BAPTIST IDENTIFIES THE LAMB OF GOD.

The next day the Baptist sees the man coming and says, "BEHOLD the Lamb of God. This is the man I was talking about. He will baptize in the Holy Spirit. I saw the Spirit descend like a dove and remain on him. This is the Son of God!" 

Teenage John is an eye-witness again and describes the scene. But he takes no other action. Is he too slow on the uptake? Is Andrew not with him? We don't know, But the man continues his passage through the throng and disappears up  the path.

JOHN 1:35-42 - THIRD DAY: THE BAPTIST IDENTIFIES THE LAMB OF GOD AGAIN.

Jesus is walking, passing by without stopping. But both John and Andrew were there to hear the Baptist speak, and they immediately began following the man. The man turned and asked them, "What do you seek?" Together they said, "Teacher, where are you staying?" The man answered, "Come, and you will see."

The two followed him to where he was staying, and evidently talked with Jesus there. Andrew then went to find his brother Simon (who is nearby, evidently), saying, "We have found the Messiah!" Andrew brought Simon to Jesus and Jesus gave him a new name, Peter. ('Peter' is Greek, 'Cephas' is Aramaic.) It was about 4pm, so they stayed with Jesus that night. Was Simon Peter's wife also with them? We don't know, but it is quite possible that even if she were, the Gospel-writer would not have mentioned her. First century customs were all about the men, and the women often got little notice.

And what about John's older brother "Big" James? If he were there, wouldn't John the Gospel-writer have mentioned him? Or, contrary-wise, perhaps there was bad feelings between the brothers? We can't make too much of this, because even though John's Gospel mentions "The Twelve" four times, he only mentions 7 out of the 12 apostles by name, not including his brother. It seems John's Gospel only mentions a name if John has a specific incident attributed to that name. See "Judas (not Iscariot)" for example, at John 14:22. 

JOHN 1:43-51 - FOURTH DAY: TWO MORE DISCIPLES, DEPARTURE FOR CANA.

Jesus "finds Philip," an acquaintance of John, and says "Follow Me." John and Philip both live in Bethsaida. Then Philip "found Nathanael." Nathanael is from Cana, miles to the west of the Sea of Galilee. Philip told Nathanael they had found the man forecast by the prophet, and brought him to Jesus. Jesus and Nathanael have an interesting conversation, which will be the subject of a coming blog post. Then Jesus with his retinue of Andrew, John, Simon Peter, Philip, and Nathanael depart for Cana, where they have been invited to a wedding, where Jesus' mother will be assisting (still another coming blog post).

JOHN 2:1 - THE SIXTH DAY: JESUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS ARRIVE IN CANA.

Stay tuned: Lots of fascinating human-interest stuff goes on in Cana.

Digging Ditches

Jesus Prepares for His Ministry

Continuing Jesus' story from his aspect as fully man.

Digging Ditches: (2 Kings 3:16)

When three kings of Palestine were headed out to war, they ran out of water. They asked Elisha what to do, and he consulted God, who said, "Make this valley full of ditches. You won't see wind or rain, but this valley will be filled with water." And so it  was. The three kings had thought they were ready for war, but they had forgotten to consult God the Father. They were not yet prepared.

So, what does this have to do with Jesus, in the late winter of AD 27?

Jesus at 30 sensed that his time to serve was at hand, so he went to the Jordan where the Baptist was preaching that God's time was at hand. He got baptized and heard from the Father: "You are my beloved Son. With you I am well pleased."

But Jesus was not yet prepared to engage in his ministry, for he had to go into the desert to face down Satan's attempts to throw him off track. Jesus stood on the Word of scripture and vanquished the devil, and angels came to minister to him.

But he still wasn't prepared. He needed to dig some ditches  and let God fill them.

Digging Ditches: (John 1:29, 35-36)

It's late winter of AD 27 and Jesus is back from the desert. He doesn't have anyone following him, and he doesn't seem to have any disciples. It should be time for him to start his ministry. What should he do? How does he gather followers or disciples?

PLAN A: The Baptist has been gathering crowds, and has a few disciples. Maybe Jesus should copy the Baptist. Some commentaries have suggested that Jesus was indeed a  disciple of the Baptist, in part because his first known sermons repeated one of the Baptist's mantras: "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!" (Matthew 3:2, 4:17; Mark 1:15). But aside from his baptism and a brief interlude after Jesus' time in the desert, there's no other indication to support this.

Copy the Baptist? No, the Baptist is already doing a good job of stirring up the hopes of the people. There is no need for a second Baptist copying the first. Copycats don't make good mega-leaders.

PLAN B: Preach a prosperity gospel. Everyone wants to be prosperous, right? This should bring the people in. Break out the bread, so that everyone can eat! But wait. He already had a conversation with Satan about that. Scripture says that mankind does not live by bread, but by every word from the mouth of God.

PLAN C: Do a spectacular miracle, that will amaze everyone by his power! That will bring them in. Throw yourself from the pinnacle of the temple, so every one can see the angels holding you up! Oh wait. Satan and Jesus already discussed that. It was no good doing God-tricks, that was not allowed.

PLAN D: Work the politics. Partner up with the rich movers and shakers, and get the kings of the earth on your side. There's great power in politics. But uh-oh. Where does that power come from? Right. Directly from Satan, the chief of the powers of the air and the politics of the lands. So what's left?

PLAN E: Disciples. Jesus has already accepted that he's not going to be around for more than a few years. He's going to return to the Father and needs disciples to carry on his work. But if he's thrown out plans A through D, how does he gather disciples? I mean, this movement is going to change the  world. He needs a committed core group and an inspired army of disciples. Who can bring him this?

Ditches. That's it. Just like Elisha advised the three kings. Plow the fields of people and let God bring the disciples. So that's where  we find Jesus: walking purposely back and forth in the vicinity of the Baptist's ministry, connecting with people and waiting for something to happen.

The next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"

God is about to make his move. The Holy Spirit is about to do something. Jesus' active ministry is about to be born. His 'ditches' will be filled with disciples.

Son of God: Charcoal Pencil Drawing by Marina Petry

Desert Distress

Jesus and his Destiny

Jesus consented to be baptized by John, so that everything would be done rightly. Then the Holy Spirit descended upon him and a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 

So he is confirmed as God's  Son, the Messiah who was predicted! It's time for him now to forsake his career as a carpenter, and take up the role of prophet, for John the Baptist had prepared the way. BUT one more thing must happen, before Jesus begins to preach. What is it?

My thesis is that Jesus, as fully man, learned things the way we learn them: that is, the Holy Spirit reveals them to us. Jesus knew the scriptures, which said that the Messiah was destined to be scorned, beaten, and cruelly murdered by hanging on a cross. But now he had to deal with that fully, accepting those horrid facts into his life as a physical reality. We know that Jesus struggled with this to the very end, praying "Father, if at all possible, take this from me. But not as I want it, but as you want it." This could only be dealt with alone, in the desert, where he was driven by the Spirit.

Driven by the Holy Spirit

As Jesus wandered in the desert, he was led around by the Holy Spirit.

Alone with the Wild Beasts

Only Mark's Gospel mentions Jesus being with the wild beasts. Thus Mark confirms the scripture: "The wild beasts will honor me: The jackals and the ostrich."

Prayer, Fasting, and Hunger

As a middle-class carpenter, it is unlikely that Jesus had dealt with near-starvation before. The number of completion is 40, but before Jesus had completed his 40 days of fasting, he knew what starvation felt like. It even may have affected his mind, so that the very rocks would begin to look like bread. But he is here to resolve what his life holds for him, and what he is called to say to the people of Israel.

Satan Speaks

In the stillness of the desert, Jesus could hear the devil speaking: "You don't have to wait for a time of completion. You can have something to eat right now. You can turn these stones into bread. Go ahead, you can do it! If you are really the Son of God, you have  the power."

Tempting, right?  But something was wrong. If the Holy Spirit sent him out here, it was for a reason, and the reason was probably not to feast on whatever succulent food he could find--or conjure--out here. Besides, what was really keeping  him alive out  here? Something to eat? Or his Father in heaven?

Jesus reached deep into scripture and answered Satan, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

The Pinnacle of the Temple

But Jesus' mind leapt ahead to his coming ministry. John the Baptist had made his mark, Baptizing by the Jordan. Everyone knew about him. But who ever heard of Jesus? He's just a carpenter, and the son of a carpenter. How will people get to know him? Why would they come out into the desert to hear a carpenter speak, a carpenter who had  never done anything amazing? How would they know that Jesus is the Son of God?

Satan had an answer for him. He took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, and said to him, "If you are really the Son of God, then just throw yourself down from here. For in Scripture it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you that On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

So now the devil was throwing the words of Scripture at Jesus, showing him how he could become well known. But Jesus had a few words to throw back: "On the other hand, in Scripture it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

(In Luke's Gospel, he places this incident second, but he connects the three incidents with "and..." ..."and..."  Matthew's Gospel is more specific: he introduces this incident with "Then..." and introduces the final incident with "Again, ..."  Matthew has specified for us what the correct order was for the three temptations by Satan.)

The Kingdoms of the World

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But Satan is not done yet. Was Jesus troubled about the prospect of being tortured  and nailed to the cross? You bet he was. So the devil threw his best shot, showing  Jesus how he could avoid all that pain.

Satan took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to Jesus, "All these domains and the glory that  you see I will give to you, for it has been handed over to me, and I can give it to whomever I wish. So if you worship before me, it shall all be yours."

Jesus had a ready answer for the devil's wiles: "Leave me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only!"  So Satan departed, biding his time for the next opportunity he would have to tempt Jesus.

Angels Came to Minister

Jesus passed the test. In fact, he passed all three tests. Angels came and ministered to him, until it was such time that he would begin to reveal himself to the world.