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From: 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22a

The People Ask For a King (Continuation)

[4] Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah
[5] and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways;
now appoint for us a king to govern us like all the nations.” [6] But the thing dis-
pleased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” And Samuel
prayed to the LORD. [7] And the LORD said to Samuel, “Hearken to the voice
of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they
have rejected me from being king over them.

[10] So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking
a king from him. [11] He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign
over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his
horsemen, and to run before his chariots; [12] and he will appoint for himself com-
manders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plough his ground
and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of
his chariots. [13] He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and ba-
kers. [14] He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and
give them to his servants. [15] He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vine-
yards and give it to his officers and to his servants. [16] He will take your menser-
vants and maidservants, and the best of your cattle and your asses, and put them
to his work. [17] He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.
And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for
yourselves; but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

[19] But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No!
but we will have a king over us, [20] that we also may be like all the nations, and
that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.” [21] And
when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears
of the LORD. [22a] And the LORD said to Samuel, “Hearken to their voice, and
make them a king.”

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Commentary:

8:1-12:25. These chapters deal with the first steps towards the establishment
of the monarchy which will last right up to the Babylonian captivity. These will be
very important years for the political life and religious practice of the chosen peo-
ple; under the guidance of the prophets they will gradually learn about the full
implications of the events that unfold.

Before dealing with the reign of the first king, Saul, the book has five chapters
about the difficulties surrounding the choice of king. They raise the whole ques-
tion of the need for and validity of the institution of kingship. Some of the narra-
tives are pro-monarchy, (cf. 9:1-10:16; 11:1-15), while others are strongly against
(cf. 8:1-22; 10:17-21; 12:1-15). It may be that in the last years of Samuel’s life
there were already these two opposed tendencies; but it is more likely that the
anti-royalist thinking in the book came from a Deuteronomic author of a later pe-
riod (sixth century BC) who was well aware of the disasters the kings caused.
Anyway, we need to remember that the last editor of this book is interpreting his-
tory in a theological way, showing how the Lord intervenes in the affairs of men,
sometimes permitting rulers to transgress gravely, sometimes punishing them to
make them mend their ways. The main message is that the Lord never remains
aloof or indifferent.

8:1-23. The misfortunes into which the kings will plunge Israel are summarized
in this chapter. The worst sort had to do with religion—apostasy and idolatry (vv.
7-8). The sacred writer stresses how sinful that was by reminding his readers
about the Israelites’ disloyalty after their escape from Egypt and by showing
that the warning comes from the Lord himself.

The monarchy was also responsible for social disasters. The so-called “statute
of the king” placed here on Samuel’s lips (vv. 10-17), is probably a summary of
an ancient document which regulated the monarchies of most of the “city-states”
of the Middle East; we find recorded here the worst abuses, so severely con-
demned in Deuteronomy (Deut 17:14-20).

However, the real danger is that the people, by choosing a king and swearing
allegiance to him, will be excluding God from the picture (cf. v. 18). From now
on the prophets will spend most of their energy convincing people that trusting in
God does not mean one has to reject human resources (such as the monarchy),
nor does the use of human resources involve turning one’s back on God. In any
event, the main danger posed by having a monarchy will be a tendency to solve
military, political and social problems without reference to God or even in contra-
vention of his Law.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Mark 2:1-12

The Curing of a Paralytic

[1] And when [Jesus] returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported
that He was at home. [2] And many were gathered together, so that there was no
longer room for them, not even about the door; and He was preaching the word to
them. [3] And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic carried by four men. [4] And
when they could not get near Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof a-
bove Him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which
the paralytic lay. [5] And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic,
“My son, your sins are forgiven.”

[6] Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, [7]
“Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God
alone?” [8] And immediately Jesus, perceiving in His spirit that they thus ques-
tioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question thus in your
hearts? [9] Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to
say, ‘Rise, take up your pallet and walk?’ [10] But that you may know that the
Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic—[11]
“I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home.” [12] And he rose, and im-
mediately took up the pallet and went out before them all; so that they were all
amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

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Commentary:

4. Many Jewish houses had a terraced roof accessible by steps at the back.
The same structure can be found even today.

5. Here Jesus emphasizes the connection between faith and the forgiveness of
sins. The boldness of the people who brought in the paralytic shows their faith
in Christ, and this faith moves Jesus to forgive the man’s sins. We should ques-
tion how God views our faith: the faith of these people leads to the instantaneous
physical and spiritual curing of this man. We should notice also that one per-
son’s need can be helped by the merits of another.

In this man’s physical paralysis, St. Jerome sees a type or figure of spiritual pa-
ralysis: the cripple was unable to return to God by his own efforts. Jesus, God
and man, cured him of both kinds of paralysis (cf. “Comm. in Marcum, in loc.”).
Cf. notes on Matthew 9:2-7.

Jesus’ words to the paralytic—”Your sins are forgiven”—reflect the fact that his
pardon involves a personal encounter with Christ; the same happens in the
Sacrament of Penance: “In faithfully observing the centuries-old practice of the
Sacrament of Penance—the practice of individual confession with a personal act
of sorrow and an intention to amend and make satisfaction—the Church is defen-
ding the human soul’s individual right, man’s right to a more personal encounter
with the crucified forgiving Christ, with Christ saying, through the minister of the
Sacrament of Reconciliation: ‘Your sins are forgiven’; ‘Go, and do not sin again’
(John 8:11). As is evident, this is also a right on Christ’s part with regard to eve-
ry human being in the soul’s life constituted by the moment of conversion and
forgiveness” (John Paul II, “Redemptor Hominis”, 20).

7-12. Here we find a number of indicators of Jesus’ divinity: He forgives sins, He
can read the human heart and has the power to instantly cure physical illnesses.
The scribes know that only God can forgive sins. This is why they take issue
with our Lord’s statement and call it blasphemous. They require a sign to prove
the truth of what He says. And Jesus offers them a sign. Thus just as no one
can deny that the paralytic has been cured, so no one can reasonably deny that
he has been forgiven his sins. Christ, God and man, exercised power to forgive
sins and, in His infinite mercy, He chose to extend this power to His Church. Cf.
note on Matthew 9:3-7.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.