July 26, 2009

Breaking Open The Scripture
Scriptures for the week of July 26th : 2 Samuel 11:1-15, Psalm 14, Ephesians 3:14-21, John 6:1-21

2 Samuel
Once David became king, it was decided that he would not go in battle. His followers did not want the dame fate that happened to Saul. And yet, even though he was not killed, he made the same mistakes. He began to think that he was beyond the law because he was king. Everything that he did and everything that he thought was correct. So when he saw Bathsheba, he could have her, even though she was already married. When she gets pregnant, David has his faithful husband killed to cover up his sin. God reminds David that no person is above God’s law, and no one gets away with wrong. We all have to deal with the consequences of our bad behavior. David’s request for forgiveness (psalm 51) becomes our example of realizing that we too are sinners, and in need of a relationship with God to ask for forgiveness.
John
We switch to John for a few weeks. The feeding of the 5000 is contained in all 4 gospels. We skipped Mark’s version, so that we could look at John’s version. By this time in Jesus’ ministry, he is very tired, and needs to get away. There are still messages that he need to make sure they understand. But no matter what he needs to do, there are people who need him. He uses prayer and faith to meet that need.
Questions: How have you learned the lesson that faith and integrity does not protect you from sin? How does power seem to still corrupt some otherwise good people? Jesus does not want people to see him, but to see the message. What is the message of the feeding of 5000 for today? How do we point to the present sign of the times?