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From: 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51

David and Goliath (Continuation)

[32] And David to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will
go and fight with this Philistine.” [33] And Saul said to David, “You are not able
to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he has
been a man of war from his youth.” [37] And David said, “The LORD who deli-
vered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will deliver me
from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be
with you!” [40] Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones
from the brook, and put them in his shepherd’s bag or wallet; his sling was in his
hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

[41] And the Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer
in front of him. [42] And when the Philistine looked, and saw David, he disdained
him; for he was but a youth, ruddy and comely in appearance. [43] And the
Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the
Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me,
and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” [45]
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear
and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God
of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. [46] This day the LORD will deliver
you into my hand, and I will strike you down, and cut off your head; and I will give
the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and
to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in
Israel, [47] and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with
sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and he will give you into our hand.”

[48] When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran
quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his
bag and took out a stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead;
the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

[50] So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck
the Philistine, and killed him; there was no sword in the hand of David. [51] Then
David ran and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword and drew it out of its
sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that
their champion was dead, they fled.

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Commentary:

17:32-37. The conversation between Saul and David about Goliath’s challenge
shows Saul’s dispiritedness and David’s courage. David has not got some mad
juvenile idea; he is consciously committing himself to a difficult enterprise, con-
vinced that the Lord will protect him just as he has so often done in his work as
a shepherd (vv. 34-37). The Fathers apply David’s experience to Jesus Christ:
“David, that is, Christ, strangled the lion and the bear when he descended into
hell and freed everyone from the jaws of death [...]. Since the strength of the bear
is his paws, and the lion’s, his mouth, these fierce creatures prefigure the devil.
Moreover, all this is said of Christ who would have to free the one, true Church
from the clutches of evil, that is, from the power of the devil” (St Caesarius of
Aries, “Sermons”, 121, 4).

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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 3:1-6

The Curing of the Man with a Withered Hand

[1] Again He (Jesus) entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a
withered hand. [2] And they watched Him, to see whether He would heal him
on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. [3] And He said to the man
who had the withered hand, “Come here.” [4] And He said to them, “Is it lawful
on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were
silent. [5] And He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of
heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his
hand was restored. [6] The Pharisees went out, and immediately held counsel
with the Herodians against Him, how to destroy Him.

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Commentary:

5. The evangelists refer a number of times to the way Jesus looks at people (e.g.
at the young man: Mark 10:21; at St. Peter: Luke 22:61, etc). This is the only
time we are told He showed indignation—provoked by the hypocrisy shown in
verse 2.

6. The Pharisees were the spiritual leaders of Judaism; the Herodians were those
who supported the regime of Herod, benefiting politically and financially thereby.
The two were completely opposed to one another and avoided each other’s com-
pany, yet they combined forces against Jesus. The Pharisees wanted to see the
last of Him because they considered Him a dangerous innovator. The most re-
cent occasion may have been when He pardoned sins (Mark 2:1ff) and interpre-
ted with full authority the law of the Sabbath (Mark 3:2); they also want to get rid
of Him because they consider that He lowered their own prestige in the eyes of
the people by the way He cured the man with the withered hand. The Herodians,
for their part, despised the supernatural and eschatological tone of Christ’s mes-
sage, since they looked forward to a purely political and temporal Messiah.

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