Sorrow...Loss

~~~ 2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30-19:3 ~~~ Psalm 86 ~~~ Mark 5:21-43 ~~~

More than anything a parent wants what is best for their child.
David now mourns over the death of Absalom as a result
of his hair getting tangled in a tree.

Who could have guessed?
The beauty of his long flowing hair would result in his death.

Because he cannot escape from the tree branches,
 Absalom becomes an easy target.

The king was shaken,
and went up to the room over the city gate to weep.
He said as he wept,
“My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom!

No matter how much we are hurt by our children
 the underlying love mostly remains constant.
Even though Absalom wanted to over throw his father,
David still loved him.
His love was made evident in his weeping at the death of his son.

The Gospel today is one I have written about many times here on this blog.

Living Faith the Hemorrhagic Woman

Here is one previous post about this passage...
an official, an ill child, and a desperate woman
joined together for one purpose...calling out for God
to hear their broken hearts.

How does one's heart heal after losing a child?
This is not the death order we often imagine.
We believe the young should be allowed
to have their future days before them.

The undercurrent is always driven by great love.

How can we begin to express
our gratitude for every way in which God finds to bless us?
So many times in ways we could not envision on our own.
Peace be with you.

Conspiracy of Death

~~~ 2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13 ~~~ Psalm 3 ~~~ Mark 5:1-20 ~~~

The third son of David, Absalom, suffers from over active ambition.
He conspires to strip his father of his kingship.
He carefully carries out his plot until David flees in despair.

David and his loyal armies leave the city of Jerusalem.
David leaves weeping and with his head covered.
He is devastated and probably did not see this coming from his own son.

As David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, 
he wept without ceasing. His head was covered, 
and he was walking barefoot. 
All those who were with him 
also had their heads covered and were weeping as they went.

David is deeply disturbed by the actions of his son taken against him.
He had only recently agreed to restore his relationship with Absalom
after he killed his own brother.

One of the most somber places we might go is a cemetery.
A cemetery is usually a fairly quiet place...
a place where only a handful of people frequent on a regular basis.
A cemetery, is where we find the main characters in the Gospel today.
Jesus gets out of the boat and is confronted with a myriad of evil spirits.

...a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.
The man had been dwelling among the tombs,
and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain.

This poor soul was alive, but completely consumed by these demons.
The demons never let him rest;
they tortured and tormented him night and day.

But when they see Jesus they know with certainty
 that he has come for them.

Jesus walking among the dead cast the demons into the herd of swine.

Swine were already considered unclean and not fit for human consumption.

In this cemetery Jesus has a confrontation about life and death
 in the very location where death remains.

The tormented man wants to be given life.
The evil demons had robbed him of his life,
just as sin robs us of life.

Jesus restores life no matter what the situation.
He is life...he has conquered death.
Absalom conspired with his own demons of death.
The legion of demons conspired to draw their life from the poor man.

Jesus wants us to  have life...life everlasting.
The life Jesus restores is the most amazing life;
a life like never before experienced.

“Go home to your family and announce to them
all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”

God wants to bless us in telling others of his great love and mercy.