Other comments on this day's readings can be found here.
Reading 1 - Exo 17:12
"When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it
under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up -- one on one side,
one on the other -- so that his hands remained steady till sunset" (Exo
17:12).
"It is far easier to fight with sin in public, than to pray
against it in private. It is remarked that Joshua never grew weary in the
fighting, but Moses did grow weary in the praying; the more spiritual an
exercise, the more difficult it is for flesh and blood to maintain it. Let us
cry, then, for special strength, and may the Spirit of God, which helps our
infirmities, as He allowed help to Moses, enable us like Moses to continue with
our hands steady 'until the going down of the sun'; till the evening of life is
over; till we shall come to the rising of a better sun in the land where prayer
is swallowed up in praise" (CHS).
Reading 2 - Psa 72:10
"The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring
tribute to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts" (Psa
72:10).
Kings from many and distant places will pay tribute the great
King when he is enthroned in Jerusalem, and ruling over God's Kingdom. That view
is evident and straightforward.
Not so obvious, but profound nonetheless, is the thought that
this verse found its initial fulfillment shortly after the birth of our Lord,
when "wise men" from the east brought tribute and gifts to his home in
Bethlehem.
"Kings of Sheba" here -- together with Isa 60:6,7 (about the
Arabian peoples, bringing gifts the enthroned Messiah) -- suggests that the
"wise men" of the east who brought presents to the child Jesus (Mat 2:1-12) were
not from Babylon or Persia, but from Edom and Arabia. Popular opinion has
generally favored those regions further east, where "magi" or wise men were
well-known; but the Scriptural evidence all points in another direction. One
cannot refrain from musing that wise men from the same areas today would bring
the precious gift (at least to the industrialized world) of oil. On further
reflection, such a thought might not be so far-fetched after all. History could
well repeat itself in the twenty-first century, when the King of the Jews
returns to Israel.
Both Psa 72 and Isa 60 mention that the Gentiles were kings.
In this case, the common Christmas tradition ("we three kings") has some basis
in Scripture.
Reading 3 - Mark 5:13
"He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and
went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the
steep bank into the lake and were drowned" (Mar 5:13).
Consider the parallel between the man Legion and the whole
nation of Israel at the time of the Exodus: Legion, like Israel of old, was
"naked", destitute, and miserable, dwelling among the tombs (the pyramids --
monumental "tombs" -- in Egypt!), but now he sees the bodies of his enemies (the
pigs corresponding to Pharaoh's army), perished and floating in the
sea.
The evident madness of the man was transferred to the swine,
but this does not prove the existence of literal demons, any more than the fact
that the leprosy of Naaman cleaved to Gehazi implies that leprosy is caused by
demons (2Ki 5:27).
Notice also: the unchosen uncleanness of the madman evoked
mercy from Jesus, but the willful uncleanness of the swinekeeper called forth
wrath.
AND WENT INTO THE PIGS: Possibly, this means that "the unclean
spirits attacked the swine." What could have happened was this: the man himself
rushed into the herd, stampeding them over the cliff, while at that very moment
being healed himself of his illness. This seems to be the most natural
explanation of the event.
The pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were
drowned. Thus is illustrated what might be called the Gadarene Swine Law:
"Merely because the group is moving together in formation does not mean that the
group is on the right course!"