Mephibosheth
God's blessings are perpetual. God's constantly blesses us, often times, in ways that we aren’t even unaware of. One could go through the Bible and find countless examples of where God has blessed those, often times, in need or when afflicted by great pain.
Often, those marginalized by society or affected by handicaps have only known pain. As such, when one sees an act off kindness, they are either afraid or distrustful of that person's motives. One is afraid of the unknown.
Mephibosheth (Ma-she-bo-sheft) is the topic of today's sermon. Why? Because I wanted to base my sermon around a person who's name is very hard to pronounce. I wanted to do a sermon that would require me to use the Google’s text-to-voice software so I can get a general understanding of complicated name pronunciations. This is often a common theme with various Old Testament names. Who is Mephibosheth? Who is this person who's name would fail spell-checkers. Well, Mephibosheth is the son of Jonathan, who is the son of Saul, so Saul was his grandfather. Jonathan was also David's closest friend and often times fought alongside him. He was very loyal to him, even helping him when his own father was after him. Jonathan died in battle. As such, Mephibosheth was on his own now. Their was something else about Mephibosheth; he was lame in both legs. He had a very massive handicap that made it very hard for him to get around.
How did Mephibosheth get this way. It always peeks curiosity to know of the events that played behind the scenes. David and Saul were at war with each other. Saul was trying to constantly kill David. As one can only imagine, war was not a good thing for the general population who had to deal with the hardships of the carnage that was going on. Mephibosheth was five years old when both his father and grandfather died in the Battle of Giboa. Saul killed himself when he learned that Jonathan died in battle. Mephibosheth was only 5 years old at the time. During the confusion and panic that followed the battle, a nurse grabbed Mephibosheth, but accidentally dropped him on his legs, crippling him. Since in ancient time, their wasn't any way to tend to the injury without the advances of modern medicine, Mephibosheth would be crippled for the rest of his life as a result of the injury.
Even now, it's very hard for those with physical and mental handicaps to get around. One will often walk in the opposite way when one sees a person with a recognizable handicap. One could only imagine that it was just as bad, if not even worse, during the time of David.
Conditions that are recognized by medicine and science now were often seen as punishments from God by those who had that massive plank in their eye. This mindset has prevailed into modern thinking as well, where several still ponder this concept. People in the hundreds of thousands have died from Covid in India in a few weeks because there is a lack of immunity to the virus along with lack of access to modern medical care to tend to their needs. Yet some have toyed with the notion that their suffering was afflicted as a punishment from God. Not fair and a very ignorant to say the least. One who’s not in God’s control room can’t pass off their own judgmental speculation as fact.
Given that Mephibosheth was royalty, one wouldn't known if this was case with him. Even in incidents that were afflicted by the hands on others, their affliction is seen as a punishment from God in the eyes of many. Despite, Mephibosheth had a recognized condition that the vast majority would have looked down upon. This is despite the effects of this handicap being beyond his control.
Years after the battle, David wanted to bless the surviving relatives of both Saul and Jonathan. However, reading the scripture, its implied that those working under him were skeptical of his intentions.
He asked one of Saul's royal advisors, Ziba, about the whereabouts of the surviving members of Saul's bloodline. Their is not much known about Ziba, other than the fact that he was a royal servant of Saul. Knowing that his own neck was potentially on the line as well, Ziba responds with "at your service". One could make the safe assumption that Ziba had concerns about his own well-being as well.
Often times throughout history, when their was a change in regimes, heads would often roll, so to say. Many associated with the previous regime would often get the ax, both figuratively, and often times, literally as well.
Often, the new king in power would hunt down those who were related to the previous king because of claims to the royal bloodline. Those who had a bloodline linked to the king could make a valid claim for the throne, and thus, targets as well. Regardless of the personal association or handicap, if that person was part of the royal family, then that person wouldn't have a very good day if you get my drift.
For Ziba, this could have been the case. Their was already another Mephibosheth who was the son of Saul. He was delivered to David to be hanged by the Gibeonites because of a massacre he committed against them. He, along with his brother, Armoni, and 5 others, were hung on a hill by the Gibeonites with their bodies left out for five months. Not an honorable send-off if you ask me.
David dealt with those who brought challenges to him, so he could have been tying up loose ends for all Ziba may know. David said that he wanted to show kindness to the surviving members of Saul's and Jonathan's family. For Ziba, this could have been a euphemism for something else.
Ziba stated that Jonathan had a son, Mephibosheth, who was lame in both legs. Ziba placed emphasis on this probably to build up sympathy for Mephibosheth in case David thought about quote "showing kindness" to him. David asked where is was located.
Ziba had to answer carefully, as any act of deception wouldn't end well with him. However, it's later noted that Ziba was looking out for his own self-interest. It was later revealed that Ziba betrayed both to Mephibosheth and David. First he lied to David about how Mephibosheth sided against him when David’s son, Absalom, led a rebellion against him. Mephibosheth was later vindicated.
How would Mephibosheth respond to David’s kindness? As noted, things were not good for Mephibosheth, who was older by this point. He was crippled in both legs. Not only that, he lost his royal status, and lived in a desolate place called Lo Debar. Mephibosheth had nothing. Despite this, knowing that a king is a king, Mephibosheth bowed down to David. He was probably afraid. Mephibosheth was fully aware of his bloodline.
As such, he had concerns about his own lively-hood. "Don't be afraid", as David responds. David was probably aware of what Mephibosheth was thinking as well. However, Mephibosheth’s fears would be put to rest. David responds with "Son of Jonathan, the Son of Saul". If David had intended on executing him, he wouldn't have bothered with such a declaration.
David declares that he's going to display kindness for the sake of Jonathan. Mephibosheth responded to David’s kindness with “What is your servant that you take an interest in a dead dog like me? ”. Mephibosheth had a very low opinion of himself given how he lost everything, had nothing, and was handicap. However, David was intent on displaying loving embrace because he remembered his friendship with Jonathan, and he wanted to honor that friendship by honoring his surviving bloodline. David was reflecting the love that God has displayed to him on Mephibosheth. Also, while Mephibosheth perceived himself to have nothing, he was valued in his weight in gold in the eyes of God, and now, David as well.
Sometimes, we feel that we aren’t deserving of the blessings that God enriches us with. Sometimes, when acts of kindness are displayed, we feel as if God got the wrong address because why would someone as lowly and pathetic be deserving of something wonderful. However, the love of God transcends beyond self-imposed labels that people applied on themselves.
Redemption enters the picture. God redeemed Mephibosheth. But God just didn’t stop their. He continues to redeem those who are in need of his love, regardless of their handicaps.
Jesus displayed God’s love throughout his ministry. Jesus worked to demonstrate God’s love through the various people marginalized by those in power. Jesus reached out to those with leprosy. Jesus reached out to the poor. Jesus reached out to the starving. Jesus was upholding David’s bloodline as well, and as such, was exercising the kindness that David showed to Mephibosheth as well.
God’s works of love are never-ending. Despite his handicap, Mephibosheth is a child of God. We all are. He loves us, even when we feel that we aren’t deserving of that love.
This is also regardless of Mephibosheth’s handicap. God will project his love onto others, regardless of their circumstances. Mephibosheth would see great blessings. David summoned Ziba.
He instructed him and his sons and servants to care for Mephibosheth. They were also going to tend to and take care for his property, which Mephibosheth inherited from Jonathan and Saul. Royalty owned a lot of land, and many people were needed to care for it. The scripture noted that Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. Meanwhile, Mephibosheth was going to sit with the same table as David.
One of the reasons for the massive amounts of help was because of Mephibosheth’s handicap. He wouldn't have had the resources to handle the estate and all the responsibilities that came along with it. He would have been overtaxed with the burdens of managing all the land.
Mephibosheth would eat at the same table with David as if he was one of his own sons. Mephibosheth also had a younger son name Mika. He ate at the same table as his father and David. David was a man of his word, and Mephibosheth would sit at the same table as him. Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem because of his handicap. Regardless, Mephibosheth found great reward despite his handicap. God blesses those, regardless of whatever circumstances that they are in.
This scripture also highlights other responsibilities as well. We are to display God's love and kindness upon others. We are to help those who are less fortunate. David displayed God's love onto Mephibosheth as Jesus displayed his love for us. We are to take into account those who are suffering because of conditions beyond their control. Even for those who are suffering from conditions that were of their own making, they’re recipients to God's love as well. God’s loving embrace is available for all who seek it.
Mephibosheth (All About God) : https://www.allaboutgod.com/mephibosheth.htm
Mephibosheth (ChrsitianAnswers.Net) : https://christiananswers.net/dictionary/mephibosheth.html
Who is Mephibosheth? | 2 Samuel 4:4 : https://southfellowship.org/who-is-mephibosheth-2-samuel-44/Mephibosheth
Mephibosheth (Wikipedia) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mephibosheth
Who was Mephibosheth? (GotQuestions) : https://www.gotquestions.org/Mephibosheth.html
The Unusual Story of Mephibosheth (SABC) : http://www.sabc.org/uploads/1/2/2/1/12211165/_13-12-29_am_mephibosheth.pdf
Ziba (biblical figure) (Wikipedia) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziba_(biblical_figure)
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