The crowds treated David like a hero in today’s first reading for mass, and they certainly treated Jesus like a hero in the gospel today too. Jesus descended from King David’s lineage by the way. What an awesome human heritage Jesus had. Perhaps God had this in mind when He hand picked David to be the ruler of His people, knowing that Jesus would be born from his lineage.
However, having a superstar status is not always a good thing. David’s “fans” came out to greet him with dancing, tambourines and songs that made the existing king jealous. Didn’t they realize how that would sound to their king? Didn’t they know this song would hurt their king’s feelings?
“Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”
Hero worship is not always a good thing. David’s “fans” nearly cost him his life. If it wasn’t for Jonathan, king Saul almost killed David. Jonathan talked some sense into him, and he was the true hero in today’s first reading for mass. Jonathan is an example for all of us in just how important it is to talk to someone that is getting ready to commit a serious sin. Jonathan reasoned with king Saul, “Let not your majesty sin against his servant David, for he has committed no offense against you.” We also have an obligation to go to a person who is thinking about committing a serious sin and try to talk some sense into them. We may fail to do so, but it is our responsibility to try. Because of Jonathan’s efforts to talk king Saul into doing the right thing, Jesus was eventually born through David’s royal lineage.
Jesus had a lot of “fans” in today’s gospel too. The crowds came from everywhere. Jesus knew the crowds could get out of hand so he ordered his disciples to have a boat ready for him to get into, so they wouldn’t crush him. Some things never change. Rock stars, famous sports figures and movie stars have fans flock to them as well, but this is not always a good thing.
It’s pretty amazing, that all the people in the crowds were pressing in just to touch Jesus. They believed in him so much that they thought just by touching him, Jesus’ healing power would go out from him and cure their illnesses. The gospel doesn’t end talking about their physical illnesses though. It ends by telling us that whenever unclean spirits saw Jesus they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” The demons especially knew they were in the presence of God.
King Saul must have also recognized the goodness, or the Holy Spirit inside his son Jonathan in the first reading for mass, because he listened to him and changed his mind from killing David. For all king Saul’s faults and sinful tendencies, we do need to give him credit for listening to Jonathan and doing the right thing. He recognized goodness and right judgement in his son’s words.
Have you ever stood next to someone with a high degree of holiness? A priest or lay person that seemed to almost glow with goodness, love and integrity? There are two things that can happen to you when you come into physical contact with a very holy person. You can either become intensely aware of your own sins and imperfections and recoil from this person, or their presence can help you to heal, and change you into a better person because they increase your awareness of what genuine holiness is. The light of genuine holiness illuminates the sins and imperfections in ourselves, and that can either make us feel bad about ourselves and we recoil from this person, or else we decide that we would like to become more like them.
Genuine holiness is never neutral. It is a two edged sword that cuts both ways. If it is painful to be near a person who is genuinely holy, then like king Saul and the unclean spirits in today’s readings for mass, we should acknowledge those sins or sinful inclinations within us and get rid of them. Perhaps we did not know these negative things existed within us until we come into the presence of a genuinely holy person. Their light can help us to heal what is wrong inside of us, if we let them.
Today, let us have the humility to acknowledge the dark things within our souls that smother our holiness, or our ability to grow in holiness. King Saul did this in today’s first reading for mass, and the unclean spirits also revealed themselves in Christ’s presence in the gospel as well. Darkness always recognizes the light. May the darkness recede within us, through the help of God’s grace.
