To Encourage You

2 Samuel 15:17 “And the king went out, and all the people after him.”

The verse above is taken from the account of King David as he fled Jerusalem because of his son Absalom’s plot to usurp his throne. It was one of the lowest points of David’s life. Thankfully, for him, he didn’t leave alone. We are told that there were many who went with him into exile in the wilderness. There were those who had remained faithful to him from his army. There were some of the priests and their sons. And there were other faithful ones. They knew that David was God’s anointed king. David was running for his life, but he had many who were running with him. Their attitude was expressed well in this statement from his servants: “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides” (2 Samuel 15:15).  Sink or swim, they were with him.

Throughout this account, as with so many of the stories of the Old Testament, we see shadows of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of those shadows are typical – i.e., they are a type that is very similar to the life and character of the Lord. Others are antitypical. It is contrast with the type that is noteworthy. So, in this account we have an antitype.

So much of David’s story has a parallel in the story of Jesus. In the account of David’s rejection by the nation of Israel, we have a parallel account of this same nation as they rejected the King of the Jews. By contrast, on what we now call Palm Sunday, Jesus was acclaimed by the masses as they threw their cloaks on the street before Him, waved palm branches in adoration, and shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” (John 12:13).  They saw Him as a miracle worker who would lead them to freedom from Rome. But then the tide turned against Him as he was arrested and handed over to Rome by the Jewish leaders and condemned by Pilate to die. In the process, the shout of the crowds turned from exaltation and worship to “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” But what about his most loyal subjects? What about the disciples whom He had taught and who knew that He was, as Peter proclaimed, “the Christ, the son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16)? Did they, like David’s most faithful servants, follow Him, no matter what? The answer is “No,” for here we have the antitype. We are told in very stark language, that “they ALL left him and fled” (Mark 14:50).

Over the years I’ve had several discussions with unbelievers that are offended by the idea that Jesus claimed to be the one and only way to the Father. They see this as too exclusive of all the other religions in the world. They see it as too narrow-minded, even arrogant. They say this although Jesus went alone to the cross to die for them, for He was the only One Who was qualified to die as a sacrifice for their sin. This One Who alone of all who have ever lived had no sin of His own, suffered and died alone for them. And it is He alone Who can accompany them as they pass through the valley of the shadow of death, for we have been told that even there, He is with us (Psalm 23:4). It is “He (alone that) will never leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). Yes, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He is the only one Who will ever truthfully say this, for He is the only One Who can. It’s so incredible that He alone could have called ten thousand angels, but He died alone for you and me (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wotCFoMbjAY)