Luke 20:1-26
Jesus goes through questioning the week between the Triumphal Entry and His crucifixion. The hatred from his enemies was only growing. Time was getting close for His death.
In the middle of this difficult week, Jesus continued with His mission. His focus remained the same. He taught, healed, and delivered the people who were open to receive from His ministry. We should do the same – keep our focus on the ones who will receive and let go of those who reject us and our message. This doesn’t mean we should reject those who rejected us. Jesus never lets us go, and I think we should always be hopeful and loving with people, hoping relationships can be mended and ministries restored. Let’s remember how Jesus reached out to love Peter after Peter’s denial. He never gives up on us!
2 Samuel 13-14
We see David’s family as a dysfunctional one. David himself has multiple wives and concubines, which was never God’s plan for anyone. In Genesis, God made it clear that one man was to have a marriage covenant with one woman. This is another law that David had broken, causing a very dysfunctional family, raising children to be dysfunctional. He also sinned with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, and his children saw his example.
One of David’s sons, Ammon, rapes his half-sister, Tamar. According to the law, Ammon should have been stoned to death. King David should have brough justice. However, Absalom takes matters into his own hands and murders Ammon. Absalom withdrawals from his dysfunctional family after murdering a half-brother.
Absalom returns, but David does not want to see him. Absalom did not see his father for two years. He was afraid of his reaction to murdering one of David’s sons. Absalom felt rejection after Joab refused his calls, so he set Joab’s field on fire to get his attention. He requested to see his father, and David forgave Absalom.
If children are raised around sin and dysfunction, they often will repeat dysfunctional and sinful behavior. God has asked us to raise our children to know Him, and to train them to follow His commandments. We can raise our children to know the Lord and His Word, but it is still up to each person to choose how they live. If a child grows up and chooses to rebel against God and their upbringing, that is their choice. As parents, we can only do our part to love and to lead.
If a parent sins or if there is a broken home, we ask God for His mercy and restoration for our family. God has made some very beautiful things out of our mistakes. One of the greatest lessons we can teach our children is the lesson of grace and forgiveness.
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