This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see what’s
happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

David’s family is falling apart.

After abusing Bathsheba and
murdering her husband, we learn that

David’s sons are not so different
from their father.

Amnon, David’s firstborn and the crown prince, sees his
beautiful sister Tamar from a distance and “loves” her.

Like his father, Amnon gives in to his lust and
rapes his half-sister with the help of his cousin.

Exhausting his so-called love, Amnon hates
Tamar and consigns her to a desolated life.

David, hearing his own son is just like
him, does nothing.

But Tamar’s brother Absalom (who is next in line
to the throne) silently nurses revenge for two years.

Cunningly, Absalom conspires and murders
the man who blocks his path to the throne

under the thin disguise of
defending his sister’s dignity.

He even takes a page out of his father’s
playbook with Uriah and gets Amnon drunk first.

Again, David hears that his son is just like him and
does nothing to enact justice or repair the kingdom.

Because by judging either Amnon or Absalom, he would be
condemning his sons for sins he committed himself.

But to forgive Absaolm’s murder
would also be a miscarriage of justice.

So, David allows Absalom to run away.

Seeing David’s inability to act, Joab takes
a page out of Nathan the prophet’s book.

He hires a woman to tell a story
remarkably similar to David’s life.

And Joab hopes he can rouse David to
repair his relationship with the crown prince.

And just like with Nathan,
David’s judgment in the case brought before him
is really an indictment of his own leadership.

So, David invites Absalom back to
Jerusalem, but still refuses to see him.

It will take another two years and an act
of arson to force a tense reconciliation.

[music]

Nathan’s prophecy has come true; the
sword is not far from David’s house.

And the violence David began will only
deepen throughout the rest of Samuel.

The prayerful waiting and decisive action
that marked David’s earlier years is gone.

Amnon’s lust, Tamar’s rape, and Absalom’s murder
go unchecked. David’s sin haunt and paralyze him.

But Jesus is not like these sons of David.

Despite being tempted, Jesus has never
abused his people or abdicated his power.

David’s reign was marked by passivity
and injustice, but Jesus’ reign begins

with a decisive judgment
against lust, rape, and violence.

Jesus willingly died the way
Amnon and Absalom deserved.

God’s judgment of Jesus shows us that he is a
decisive ruler. He will not tolerate the
rape of his daughters.

He will not allow his sons’
lust for power to go unpunished.

Jesus’ death proves that God
will by no means clear the guilty.

And God’s death in Jesus proves there
are no limits of judgment for those

who reject Jesus as King by
their abuse of power and rape.

If you have been abused, if you are
the victim of other’s lust for power,

if you feel desolate over the inaction
of those you thought you could trust,

if you’re oppressed by those in power—
Jesus’ death is good news for you.

It is God’s decisive judgment against those
who would harm his daughters and sons.

If God’s Son did not escape God’s judgment, how
little hope do your oppressors have?

And if God’s Son has been raised from the dead, what
power can your abusers wield over his coming justice?

God’s decisive judgment against
evil on the cross is good news

for those who have watched
abuse be swept under the rug.

Nothing is hidden from God's eyes.

And God will bring decisive justice.

May the Holy Spirit open your eyes to
see the God who decisively judges evil.

And may you see Jesus’ death as proof
that no evil will ever be left unjudged.