The Interconnectedness of Scritpure

Jim:

Psalm 51:
It’s funny how a line or phrase can jump out at you from time to time from even familiar passages of scripture. I take that as a sign of the Holy Spirit at work through the text. I’ve read Psalm 51 any number of times, but today verse 6 caught my eye: “You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.” I’ve heard it said that character is what you do when no one is looking, which I think is similar to what this verse is saying. There are any number of reasons for doing the things we do, and even our most noble actions can be tainted by sinful intentions. God desires that we be motivated by truth, God’s truth. Like the psalmist we should constantly pray for God’s wisdom to permeate our very being and seep into our innermost parts so that what we do will be guided by genuine love for God and a desire to do God’s will. Daily reading of scripture is one important way we can be influenced and guided by God’s will and allow for the “seeping” to happen.

1 Samuel 21:1-15
Acts 13:13-25
The interconnectedness of scripture really stands out today in a couple of ways. In 1 Samuel 21: 3-6 we read of the encounter between David and Ahimelech the priest that Jesus referred to in our gospel reading yesterday (Mark 2:23 and following). Jesus clearly knew the scriptures and how to apply them to daily life in the light of the coming reign of God. In Acts, Paul calls on a knowledge of scripture as well when speaking to members of a synagogue. In portions of Acts 13:20-22 Paul refers to events in the reading we’ve been doing recently from 1 Samuel. Jesus and Paul knew the scriptures, but we should, too, so that, like them, we can learn to apply them to our lives and come to fully appreciate the way it all “hangs together.”

Mark 3:7-19a
I’ve seen the film of Charles Limburg’s landing in Paris after his flight across the Atlantic in the Spirit of St. Louis, and I’ve always been impressed by the massive crowd on hand to celebrate his accomplishment, a crowd that threatened to crush Limburg. I don’t think I’ve ever thought to apply the same phenomenon to Jesus’ experience with the crowds. Mark says, in verse 9, that Jesus asked for a boat to be ready “so that (the crowd) would not crush him.” Unfortunately, of course, many of those who pressed in on Jesus were not willing to go the distance with him and when later events threatened to engulf Jesus, these people would lose courage and flee. Even those whom Mark names as apostles would betray and deny Jesus in later days.