Jesus’ Mighty Men and Women
Title: Jesus Mighty Men and Women
Text: 2nd Samuel 21:15-22; 2nd Samuel 23:8-39
Date: 8.7.20
The last four chapters of the book of 2nd Samuel form a concentric pattern known as a chiasm. We see these patterns throughout the Bible, and they are designed to give weight to the subject matter, in this case, the life of David who is presented as Israel’s greatest king. In the midst of this concentric pattern, there is a recounting of the great warriors that have been with David, some of whom from the very beginning of his career. It begins by speaking of the men who defeated the four remaining brothers of Goliath, the sons of Rapha, who were giant Philistine warriors. The narrative then moves to David’s thirty mighty men, great men of renown, beginning with the top three, known simply as The Three. The first warrior is a man named Josheb-Basshebeth, who by himself, killed eight hundred men in one battle. The second of these great warriors, and my personal favorite, was a man named Eleazar, who stood his ground after the rest of the Israelites had abandoned him, and killed Philistines all day, until his hand froze to his sword. The other soldiers eventually returned, but only to strip the bodies. The final warrior of The Three was a man named Shammah, who stood his ground on a food plot when the rest of the troops had fled. God won a great victory that day.
The narrative continues to recount the Thirty Mighty men, including Abishai, who killed three hundred Philistines with a spear and won great renown for himself, even greater than that The Three. And while he was not named among them, he actually led them in battle. He also killed one of the sons of Rapha, saving David’s life.
These are the men that had great renown in the David’s kingdom, and throughout the Bible, David is seen as a foreshadowing of Jesus. Though an imperfect messiah, he’s the one who was chosen by God to lead his people, Israel. This foreshadowing is fully realized in Jesus, who is chosen by God to lead his people in God’s kingdom. And like David, Jesus has a list of renowned people himself, but it looks a lot different that David’s. There was a point when Jesus’ disciples came to him and ask, “Who’s the greatest in the kingdom?” Jesus takes a child and sets him on his knee and says, “Unless you can come to the kingdom as a child, with all of the humility and the complete dependence upon God, you’ve no place in the kingdom. And whoever welcomes one of these little ones in my name, welcomes me.“ The disciples still don’t get it, and at another point, John and James ask Jesus if they can sit at his throne, one on his left, and one on his right. Jesus tells them that that is not what his kingdom is like. That’s the way of kings and kingdoms of men, but not his. He tells them that in his kingdom you have to be able to “pick up your cross and follow me.” You have to be able to lay down your life and to serve one another in humility. That was the whole point of Jesus’ washing his disciples’ feet on the very night he was betrayed by Judas. He’s demonstrating what the kingdom is like and the necessity of serving one another. When he comes to wash Peter’s feet, Peter says, “You’ll never wash my feet.” Jesus replies, “Then you have no place in my kingdom.” Jesus takes the kingdom of David, and frankly, the kingdoms of all men, and turns it upside down.
So if you’ve ever felt like you lack influence or significance, remember, that if you are a child of God, congratulations! You’ve made Jesus’ list of mighty men and women. Let’s learn to embrace his kingdom, to serve one another in humility, and to lay down our lives, so that by his Spirit, we can pick it up again, just like Jesus.