Once traveling back from a trip to Ireland I was driving across Anglesey from the ferry terminal and was suddenly flagged down by a man at the side of the road. In a moment, a terrible illness can be devastating, or a horrific car crash can result in a child being orphaned and experiencing life changing injuries. How does Mephibosheth’s story have any relevance to us today? Well, perhaps in that it is sadly not unusual for children to have catastrophic, life changing, events happen to them still. The Philistines have killed his father and grandfather in battle, and when the news reaches the royal court they flee in terror, dropping Mephibosheth and causing him to become disabled, described in the story as being lame in both feet. But in one fell swoop his life is transformed. He would have grown up in his first five years with privilege and honour. Mephibosheth was important, the grandson of a King, the son of an heir to the throne. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. “Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. We read that the same day he learned that his father (Jonathan) and grandfather (King Saul) were dead, an accident where he was dropped by his nurse resulted in him having a physical disability in his feet We first encounter Mephibosheth as a young boy of five. There are many characters in the Bible that we might, wrongly perhaps, skip over as not being particularly important they don’t come across as heroes like Samson or Esther, they aren’t great Kings like David or Solomon, they weren’t vital to the life and story of Jesus like Mary.īut some of these often-overlooked characters can be significant in other ways, showing us and teaching us something really important through their lives, what happened to them, and how other people engaged with them.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |