Thank You for the Blood sermon

2 Samuel 9

And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? 2 And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he. 3 And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet (see 1 Sam 20:14). 4 And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar (without bread). 5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar.

 6 Now when Mephiboshetha, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant!  7 And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. 8

·        Mephibosheth was afraid because custom at the time said that it was within David’s rights as king to kill every member of Saul’s family

·        David showed Mephibosheth kindness because of a covenant he had made w/ his Daddy Jonathan in 1 Sam 20:15-16

·        Because of the contract the king had w/ the father, he restored back all the inheritance that was lost

 And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?

9 Then the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master’s son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. 10 Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master’s son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master’s son shall eat bread alway at my table.

·        David didn’t just give him back the land as provision but he gave him servants to make sure he prospered

 Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons. 12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king’s table; and was lame on both his feet.

·        Although lame in both feet and needing care for all his days, Mephibosheth was taken in as one of the King’s own sons w/ all the rights and priviledges of sitting at the King’s banquet table.

I can imagine that Mephibosheth would have been thanking David daily for his love and kindness.  And, just as he thanked King David for sitting at his table, we should thank God daily for the opportunity to sit at His table.  But, the meal that God prepared comes at a heavy price.

Ill – expensive $100 a plate social affairs.

The price for sitting at this table is too high for any of us to pay.  But thank God, that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ payed the price in His own blood on Cavalry which gives us access to the Master’s table. 

Just as King David sought out Mephibosheth in Lodebar (the place of no bread), King Jesus came and sought us out to give us that spiritual bread so that we could never hunger again.   Because of His blood that was shed, there’s no more need of killing bulls and goats.  Because of His blood we have direct access to God. 

But one thing that David could not do for Mephibosheth was to forgive him of his sins.  Moses couldn’t do it, Elijah couldn’t do it, Jeremiah couldn’t do it.  Only Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.

Only the blood of Jesus Christ  can cleanse us from all sin. 1 Jn 1:7  and without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sin.

Its been a lot of years since I’ve been in school but if there’s one thing I know is that I don’t celebrate thanksgiving because I came over on the Nina the Pinta or the Santa Maria.  I celebrate and give thanks to My God who paid the price for me to get on board the ship of salvation and sail across this sea of sin and make it to the shores of glory.

So on this week, when you sit down to YOUR table to eat that Turkey and dressing, before you pour on the Giblet gravy and spoon some hot macaroni and cheese onto your plate.  Before you slice the tomato and put it on top of the greens or carve out that perfect piece of ham, take some time out; grab your family members by the hands, close your eyes and say, ‘Dear Lord, thank you for the blood.’  

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a Mephibosheth: also called Meribbaal