Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: 1 Samuel 15:16-23
Saul Is Again Condemned by Samuel (continuation)
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[16] Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Say on.”
[17] And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. [18] And the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ [19] Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop on the spoil, and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?” [20] And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. [21] But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” [22] And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. [23] For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king?"
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Commentary:
15:1-35. The battle against the Amalekites is the occasion for Saul to be rejected by God forever. The episodes dealt with up to this have built up evidence of Saul’s sins, particularly his lack of trust in God. However, here his disobedience is clear to see.
This account contains echoes of earlier divine condenmnations. The Lord “repents” (an anthropomorphic expression) having made Saul king (v. 11), as he earlier “was sorry” for having created man (Gen 6:6); Saul’s rejection of God’s plans (vv. 11, 23, 26) led to his rejection by God. Saul’s access to the throne is blocked, just as the gates of Paradise were closed on Adam (Gen 3:23-24). As in the case of Adam, God’s punishment of Saul is severe and there will be no going back on it, for Saul’s is a very grave sin, that is, a sin of rebellion and of rejection of God and his word (v. 26).
From this point on, even though he knows that the Lord does not acknowledge his kingship, Saul will continue to be king in name, because the sentence given against him was told him by Samuel in secret (vv. 30-31), just as his first anointing was done in secret (cf. 10:1-16).
15:22-23. Samuel’s oracular pronouncement, given in verse form here, is one of the oldest of its kind in the Bible. From the literary point of view it is very beautiful; and it also provides a clear definition of obedience, which it identifies with acknowledgment of God: obedience is the most perfect form of divine worship--more perfect than the offering of sacrifice; disobedience is a form of idolatry. The sentence against Saul is harsh and unambiguous; it applies the ancient law of vengeance (“an eye for an eye...”), “rejection” being referred to in the fault and in its sentence.
This short canticle in praise of obedience finds an echo in the Northern prophets (Amos 5:2.1 and Hos 6:6) and it will be updated by Jesus (Mt 9:13) who gives the fullest definition of the meaning of obedience to God and those who represent him. “Obedience, and holy obedience alone, gives us a clear view of the will of God. Superiors may make mistakes, but we can never err in obeying” (St Maximilian Kolbe, "Letters", in "The Divine Office", Office of Readings, 14 August).
A Discussion on Fasting
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[18] Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to Him (Jesus): "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?" [19] And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. [20] The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. [21] No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; if he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. [22] And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but new wine is for fresh skins."
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Commentary:
18-22. Using a particular case, Christ's reply tells about the connection between the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament the Bridegroom has not yet arrived; in the New Testament He is present, in the person of Christ. With Him began the Messianic Times, a new era distinct from the previous one. The Jewish fasts, therefore, together with their system of religious observances, must be seen as a way of preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah. Christ shows the difference between the spirit He has brought and that of the Judaism of His time. This new spirit will not be something extra, added on to the old; it will bring to life the perennial teachings contained in the older Revelation. The newness of the Gospel--just like new wine--cannot fit within the molds of the Old Law.
But this passage says more: to receive Christ's new teaching people must inwardly renew themselves and throw off the straight-jacket of old routines.
19-20. Jesus describes Himself as the Bridegroom (cf. also Luke 12:35; Matthew 25:1-13; John 3:29), thereby fulfilling what the Prophets had said about the relationship between God and His people (cf. Hosea 2:18-22; Isaiah 54:5ff). The Apostles are the guests at the wedding, invited to share in the wedding feast with the Bridegroom, in the joy of the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Matthew 22:1-14).
In verse 20 Jesus announces that the Bridegroom will be taken away from them: this is the first reference He makes to His passion and death (cf. Mark 8:31; John 2:19; 3:14). The vision of joy and sorrow we see here epitomizes our human condition during our sojourn on earth.