Three Kings

The Mass readings for Friday got me thinking a bit about sin, conversion and humility. The daily readings are not "synced up" like those on Sunday, and so any thematic connection between the two selections from Sacred Scripture is unintended. But today I think we can see a thread running through the Word as we hear about three kings; David, Herod, and of course Jesus Christ. The two who were kings in the worldly sense stand in contrast to one another, though both had certain negative traits in common. Both were weak in the areas of sexual sin and the abuse of power. But one lived with a spirit of humility that allowed him to accept correction, recognize his sin and return to the Lord. The other was a slave to pride and status that lead to his taking a destructive path.

For the last two weeks we've been hearing about King David and all his famous exploits.  Today we get a summery of his mighty deeds by way of a poem from the Book of Sirach (47:2-11).  While the passage does mention God forgiving his sins, most of the reading deals with his heroism like when he defeated the Philistines and slayed lions.  But if we've been following the readings from Second Samuel we also know that David was guilty of adultery and of arraigning the death of his lover's husband, Uriah the Hittite, in order to cover up the affair and resulting pregnancy. He is also guilty of holding a census of the people. In trying to count the number of the inhabitants of Israel David was showing a lack of confidence in the Lord's promise to make the nation as numerous as the stars of the sky or the sand on the sea shore. In both cases he is approached by his court prophet with God's rebuke. In both cases David accepts the correction and the ensuing penance. 

In the Gospel (Mark 6:14-29) we read about Herod who is hearing reports about Jesus and all his miracles. Some are saying he is a prophet, others is that he is one of the ancient prophets come back from the dead. Herod, who had had John the Baptist executed, is convinced that it is his nemesis returned from the grave to haunt him. John had warned the king that he was living in sin by taking his sister-in-law as his wife while his brother still lived.  John's inconvenient message made Herodias, the offending partner, angry to the point of wanting the prophet dead.
We know the story well; Herod is throwing a birthday party and Herodias' daughter dances for him, and he is so pleased that he offers her anything she wants.  At her mother's prompting she asks for John's head on a platter. Not wanting to go back on his word in front of his guests he reluctantly acquiesces to the girl's request.  It was an act of cowardice more than of cruelty.  In his heart he knew that John was right, and his preaching captivated him. But Herod was too comfortable in his sin, too mindful of his guests' opinions, at the root of it all too prideful to allow those words to change his heart.

David, on the other hand, while weak, had a basic humility about him that allowed him to listen to correction and return to the right path when he strayed. He knew even before his predecessor Saul was dead that he would assume the throne, but never grasped for it. While Saul was seeking his life, and often times falling into traps that could have lead to his own death, David never harmed him. He was God's anointed king, even if David was God's chosen heir. He would never assume to harm the king, and he would punish severely anyone else who did, whatever the motive.  This sense of respect to others, even those who persecuted him, and deep well of love is what allowed David to respond positively to God's call for repentance, unlike his successor Herod.

Scripture is very open about David's sins, but still exalts his greatness.  In contrast another Old Testament giant, Moses, was not allowed to enter the Promised Land for some transgression, the nature of which remains ambiguous. It's as if the Scriptures are trying to help Moses save face. But David's sin is always before us. In the Gospel genealogies Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, is not referred to by name. She is always called "the wife of Uriah the Hittite," as a reminder of David's double sin. Yet David received the promise from God that one of his descendants would sit on the throne of Israel forever, an assurance God never turned back from. This promise is fulfilled in the King of kings, Jesus Christ.

This fact gives me hope. Not that we should imitate David's sin, but that we should know that God does not abandon us when we fall. We are called to a high standard of holiness. But God is not going to throw us away if we have a hard time living up to it. For our own part we need humility. This will allow us to listen to the Lord when he speaks to us through family, friends, teachers, religious and priests who try to correct us when we are going the wrong way.  We're not to be like Herod, who was so caught up in preserving his own comfort and status that he was unwilling to listen to the Baptist's call to repentance and readily gave in to the unreasonable demands of those around him. We are called to be more like David who was strong, to be sure, but also humble in the face of God and of his own failures.  This allowed him to respond to the grace of repentance and return to the right path through the preaching of the prophets. More than killing Goliath or uniting the Tribes, this is what made David great, and worthy of remembering today.