Is Jesus Your King?

Memorial of Saint Anthony

~~~ 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22a ~~~ Psalm 89 ~~~  Mark 2:1-12 ~~~

Be careful what you ask for....
The people came to Samuel asking him to appoint a king.
They wanted to be like every other nation.
They erroneously believed that having a king would solve their problems.

Have you ever wanted something so intently;
only later to discover it was not what you should have gotten?

Samuel tried to paint the most awful picture for the people
about how their lives would be worse if he granted their request.
The rights of the king
 who will rule you will be as follows...

No matter what Samuel said they continued to insist on having a king.

We too must be like other nations,
with a king to rule us and to lead us in warfare
and fight our battles. 
There are good kings and there are bad kings.
Just as today we have good elected officials and bad officials.
Samuel had wisdom in trying to get the people to see that any person
 that he would choose to be king was not going to be a good kind of king....
rather this individual would turn out to be a typical king of that time.

A king who would mistreat his subjects, take advantage of their women,
put them to work for him plowing and harvesting.
They ultimately would not be happy.

On the other hand we have the picture of what a good king should look like.
A good king would look out for the well being of his subjects.
A good king would heal and protect.

A good king would forgive those who sinned against him.
A good king would teach the people
 and treat them with fairness and compassion.

A good king like Jesus would care about his people.
A good king like Jesus would rule with authority from God the Father.

But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth

Jesus was the good king that dwelt and walked among the common people.
When he was finally given the title of 'king'
they mocked him, spit upon him, and crowned him with thorns.

When the paralytic was healed by Jesus
 in body and spirit he picked up his mat and walked away.
All the people were amazed and glorified him.
Those kings before Jesus never treated anyone
 the way Jesus treated those who came
 to him or those who were brought to him.

So the question is what kind of king do you want?
The harsh brutal heavy handed one or
the kind fair forgiving compassionate one.

We remain astounded for the blessings God has given to us.
Thank God for your blessings today.
Jesus is the eternal compassionate King...the fair ruler...the healer
the one to be praised and adored forevermore.