Scripture: 2 Samuel 18:31–33
Then the Cushite arrived and said, mind “My lord the king, case hear the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you.”
The king asked the Cushite, medical “Is the young man Absalom safe?”
The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.”
The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”
Thought for the Day: In yesterday’s Daily Wonder, joyful, peaceful people who had a smile for everyone they met spread good news about a God of love, hope, salvation and peace. Today, we read about violent, bloody vindication being pronounced as “good news.” Is it still good news when it’s about the death of your son, even though he led a revolt against you? David wins the rebellion his son Absalom leads, but he loses him in the process, and is heartbroken. The difference between yesterday’s passage from Isaiah and today’s from 2 Samuel clearly shows that the “good news” of humans is very different from the “Good News” of God.
Jesus teaches about God’s love, about God’s creative nature, and reveals our own very spiritual nature as well. Truly Good News never has anything to do with war, violence, or triumph over enemies. The Good News all people of faith are tasked with spreading reminds everyone of their spiritual unity in God, and calls everyone to meet war and violence head on with unconditional love, peaceful resistance, and non-participation. Jesus never reacted to violence with violence, the way Absalom and King David reacted to each other. Jesus reacted to violence by simply not participating in it, ever, even to the cross. That’s still our task today.
Prayer: May you grant me the courage and strength to resist violence, the machinery of violence, and systems that support violence in any form, most Peaceful and Holy God. Amen.