Text: 1 Samuel 8:4-22a; 9:1-2; Matthew 21:1-9
This Advent,
we will examine three of the most notable Old Testament kings: Saul, David, and Solomon, in turn. Advent has an “Old Testament” flavor, as we
take our place alongside the people of Israel who waited and prayed for the
coming of the Messiah, the king. And so
it is fitting to dig deeper into the Old Testament as we prepare to celebrate
our Lord’s birth. Through these three
kings of old, we will examine the coming king that is Jesus Christ, the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords.
Be careful
what you wish for. That’s about the gist
of what Yahweh said to the people of Israel when they clamored for a king. “We want to be like the other nations” they
whined. “We want a king!”
Ah, but they
already had a king. Yahweh himself was
their king. And what a good king he
was! Just, but also merciful. A king who had brought them out of Egypt. A king who had provided for them through 40
years in the wilderness. A king who
brought them to a land he had promised them, a land flowing with milk and
honey. And the king went before them to
clear the way, even fighting the battles for them. He brought down the walls of Jericho. He drove out the Canaanites before them. Each of the tribes had its own portion of
land, and was settled, and possessed it.
And there was peace.
But they
were slow to learn. Through the time of
the judges, the people fell into the same old patterns – the same mistakes –
and history continued to repeat itself.
They would fall into sin, turning away from Yahweh and following other
gods, each doing whatever was right in his own eyes. God gave them over to some enemy, and they
suffered oppression. Each time, the
people repented and God raised up a deliverer for them, a judge, to lead them
to victory and peace again. God wasn’t
the problem, though, in all this, he was the one to deliver them. But still they wanted a king. They wanted to be like other nations. In effect, they were rejecting God as their
king in favor of a mere man. Not a good
idea. And it didn’t turn out very well.
God warned
them, through Samuel, just what a king would mean for them. A king would assert his rights over
them. A king would conscript their sons
for battle, and make their sons and daughters work for his purposes. A king would take taxes, too, a portion of
their crops and vineyards and animals.
You will basically become his slaves.
And when you cry out for relief from such a king, the Lord will not
answer you. Consider yourself warned.
But. They.
Did. Not. Listen.
And so they
got Saul. And look what we know about
him – he’s tall! He’s handsome! Is that what you really want in a king? Outward beauty, but inwardly lacking –
cowardly, and eventually downright evil.
Saul stands as a stark contrast, a foil, if you will, to the king that
would follow him – king David. In fact,
Saul was jealous of young David and tried to kill him. David was far from perfect himself, and we
will consider him more closely next week.
But David was, at least, a man after God’s own heart. He was a man of faith.
But Saul is
also a contrast to both David, and the Son of David, Christ the King. Saul was handsome, one of the best looking
guys around. Surely that would make for
a good king, right? Easy on the
eyes. But we are told that Jesus “had no
form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire
him” (Isaiah 53:2b) Jesus, especially at the apex of his ministry, would have
been horrible to look at – a man of sorrows, beaten, bloodied, humiliated,
shamed. Ah, but there at the cross was
his true beauty, for there, at the cross, “it is finished”.
Saul cowered
in fear, from the day of his coronation to his confrontations with enemies. It was Saul, really, who should have stood up
to Goliath, but did not. But nothing
caused our Lord Jesus to waver – not powerful men, not jeering crowds, not even
the devil himself could shrink Christ from completing his mission – and going
to his cross.
Saul fell
from grace, fell from faith, and died in shame, defeated in battle, died by his
own hand. On the eve of that fateful
battle, Saul went to see the witch of Endor, and called up the spirit of Samuel
from the dead – only to receive the dread prophecy that he and his sons be
defeated in battle and die the next day.
The King of
the Jews who was crowned with thorns also died in shame, but not for his own
sin – rather he was bearing ours. Not a
suicide, but a sacrifice, our king Jesus laid down his life for his friends,
the shepherd dying for the sheep. It was
a death that he, Jesus, predicted himself.
He knew, and foretold, who the perpetrators would be, the method of
execution, and even the time of his rest in the grave, but also his ultimate
resurrection. And as Saul’s sons met the
same fate as their father – defeat and death – so do those who are in Christ
follow him into resurrection. Thanks be
to God!
Saul
couldn’t ultimately save his people from their enemies, but King Jesus destroys
our ancient foe the devil, he wipes the slate of sin clean, and he even defeats
death itself – trampling the grave in a glorious victory we call Easter.
The warning,
then, to us, is not to reject the king we have because we want to be like the
world.
The people
took their eyes away from the many blessings Yahweh had bestowed. They forgot the greatness of their king. The despised his word and promise, and
doubted and denied his provision. They
sold their collective birthright for a poor facsimile of the real thing. And they suffered for it.
So, people
of God, look to no other king but Jesus.
Put your trust only in him. Have
no other savior but Jesus, your king.
Let him be who he is. You can’t
be king of yourself. And no man, no earthly prince call fill those shoes or sit
on that throne. Give us only Jesus as
our king, our master, our Lord. And we
will be in good hands.
The people
rejected God as their king, but merciful, loving Yahweh did not reject
them. Instead, he continued calling them
to repentance and faith, and throughout the next several hundred years of
earthly kings, would continue to patiently do so.
And finally,
he would send his Son, the Son of David, to Jerusalem, to suffer and die. “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your
king is coming to you!’ ” Thanks be to God for the righteousness and salvation
he brings. Hosanna to the Son of David.
In Jesus’
Name, Amen.
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