Archive for the ‘Absalom’ Category

Satan Prefigures Absalom

April 26, 2013

Satan was among the angels, called the “sons of God.” (Job 1:6)
Absalom is one of King David’s sons. (2 Sam 3:3)

Satan was called “the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
Absalom proves false to his name, which means “father of peace.”

Satan was “a murderer form the beginning.” (John 8:44)
The first Bible story about Absalom has him arranging his brother’s murder. (2 Sam 13:28)

Satan afflicts the world to gain attention and achieve his ends. (Job 2:7)
Absalom sets fire to a field to get the attention of Joab, who is ignoring his requests. (2 Sam 14:30)

Satan lied to tempt humanity away from loyalty to God. (Gen 3:4-5)
Absalom sits at the city gates hearing legal cases, flattering all that they are right, and lamenting that he is not in power to help; thereby stealing loyalties away from the king. (2 Sam 15:2-6)

Satan inspired the betrayal of Jesus at the Mount of Olives, where he felt sorrow and distress. (Luke 22:39)
Absalom’s betrayal leads David to flee by way of the Mount of Olives, where he cries aloud. (2 Sam 15:30)

Satan plotted against Jesus using Caiaphas, who said, “It is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” (John 11:50)
Absalom’s advisor Ahithophel counsels, ‘Let me choose twelve thousand men and be off in pursuit of David tonight. When all the people with him flee, I shall strike down the king alone. It is the death of only one man you are seeking; then all the people will be at peace.’ (2 Sam 17:1-3)

Once Satan was finished using the betrayer, Judas went away and hanged himself. (Matt 27:5)
Once Absalom’s advisor sees his counsel is ignored, Ahithophel leaves and hangs himself. (2 Sam 17:23)

Satan, called “Lucifer,” was radiant like the morning star. (Isa 14:12)
“In all Israel there was not a man who could so be praised for his beauty as Absalom, who was without blemish from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” (2 Sam 14:25)

Satan was a proud creature. (1 Tim 3:6)
Absalom shaves his hair every year—because it grows too heavy—and has the clippings weighted. (2 Sam 14:26)

Satan’s pride led to his downfall. (Isa 14:14-15)
Absalom is killed after his hair gets tangled in the branches of a tree. (2 Sam 18:9)

Satan, despite his unrepentance, is still loved by God. (Wis 11:24-12:1)
Absalom, despite his wickedness, is inconsolably mourned by his father, David. (2 Sam 19:1)

Posted in Absalom, Reflection, Satan, Typology | Leave a Comment »

Absalom and Satan — Monday, 4th Week in Ordinary Time—Year II

February 1, 2010

Absalom was one of David’s very own, but Absalom would betray him. Absalom’s name means “Father of Peace,” but he far closer resembles the “Father of Lies.”

In almost our earliest story about him, Absalom arranged his brother’s murder. He’s a murderer from the beginning.

We read that Absalom, like Satan, had a radiant beauty. “In all Israel there was not a man who could so be praised for his beauty as Absalom, who was without blemish from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.”

Like the devil, Absalom’s glory was equaled by his vanity. At the end of every year, when his long hair grew too heavy, he would have it shaved and weighed it according to the royal standard.

Absalom was willing do havoc to attract another’s attention, as when he set fire to the field of a person ignoring him.

Like the serpent, Absalom was cunning and he would readily lie to serve his purposes. Absalom would sit at the city gates, listen to peoples’ (legal) grievances, and assure each one that they were right and entitled. Then he would manipulatively muse on how much better their lives would be if only he had the power.

Finally, Absalom sought to overthrow and kill his king. Absalom’s best advisor would counsel him, ‘Please let me choose twelve thousand men, and be off in pursuit of David tonight. When all the people with him flee, I shall strike down the king alone. It is the death of only one man you are seeking; then all the people will be at peace.’ This plan was agreeable to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.

In our first reading we see David weeping on the Mount of Olives as he flees from Absalom. 1,000 years later, a descendant of David would be troubled in spirit on that same hill overlooking Jerusalem. Unlike David, Jesus did not flee His pursuers and was dead within a day. Jesus and the Sanhedrin agreed on this: it was better that one man should die, so that the whole nation may not perish.

David would flee and survive, but Absalom would die, thrust through with spears, hanging from a tree, entangled by his long, glorious hair.  But after this comes an episode which is a window into God’s incredible love for us. When news of the villainous betrayer’s death reaches King David, he mourns inconsolably at the loss of his beloved.

Likewise, and amazingly, despite Satan’s great and intractable wickedness; his betrayals, violence, and lies; the Lord still loves him. As the Book of Wisdom affirms, “[Lord,] you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned. And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?”

There is a great encouragement in this for each one of us. If the Lord loves Satan, like David loved Absalom, then how could we ever doubt that the Lord will always love us, or imagine that He rejects us whenever we turn to Him?

Posted in Absalom, David, Homily, Jesus Christ, Love, O.T. Figures, Satan, St. John the Baptist Parish, Typology, Weekday Homilies | Leave a Comment »