Scripture Daily

Context No. 1197 of 4322 · 2 Samuel

Context · Reflection

2 Samuel 18:28-33: in context

28Ahimaaz called, and said to the king, “All is well.” He bowed himself before the king with his face to the earth, and said, “Blessed is the LORD your God, who has delivered up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king!” 29The king said, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king’s servant, even me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I don’t know what it was.” 30The king said, “Come and stand here.” He came and stood still. 31Behold, the Cushite came. The Cushite said, “Good news for my lord the king, for the LORD has avenged you today of all those who rose up against you.” 32The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” The Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you to do you harm, be as that young man is.” 33The king was much moved, and went up to the room over the gate and wept. As he went, he said, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! I wish I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!”

The battle is over, and Absalom, David's rebel son who tried to seize the throne and kill him, is dead. Two runners bring the news. David's only question, twice, is not about the victory but about his son: is it well with the young man Absalom? When the second messenger's careful words make plain that Absalom is dead, David is undone. He goes up to the chamber over the gate, weeping, and cries out the words that echo through the ages: O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son.

David's grief is overwhelming and, from a political standpoint, incomprehensible. Absalom had betrayed him, driven him from his throne, publicly disgraced him, and marched an army to kill him; his death was David's deliverance. And yet the father does not celebrate; he weeps as though his own heart has died, wishing he could have died in his son's place. Would I had died instead of you. It is one of the piercing cries of paternal love in scripture, a father grieving a son who had done everything to destroy him, longing to take his place in death. And it points beyond itself. David could only wish he had died for his rebellious son; he could not actually do it. But there is a Father whose rebellious children were also under a death they had earned by their revolt, and who did not merely wish but sent his own Son to die in their place. David's helpless cry, would I had died instead of you, becomes, in the gospel, the thing God actually did. The father's love that longs to die for the rebel son is a shadow of the love that did.

David could only wish he had died for his rebel son; can I grasp that God actually did what David only longed to do, giving his Son to die in the place of rebels like me?

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