One must come to equity with clean hands. Absalom is unrepentant, with the blood of his brother on his hands. David has no way to enliven the jurisdiction, as Bruce points out. Equity has a certain way, a procedure of becoming active in a case. It follows themes of repentance and forgiveness, arising from its eccelsiastical origins. Yet there is also the political context of his actions against his brother, with respect to the state. That is to say, even if the verdict and sentence were just according to law, even if Amnon needed to die for justice to prevail, it is unlawful for one who lacks jurisdiction to judge and sentence the son of a king. Absalom took matter out of David's hands, when he took them into his own. He seized the authority of the state. For this damage to his father's authority, and to the consequent instability brought upon the nation of Israel, Absalom offers no repentance. In this way, the house of David lurches forward into a catastrophic set of failures that form an ordered set, as prophesied by Nathan. This ordered set of catastrophe is evidence of the difficulty of learning the lessons of christ. Any person can understand the meaning of the ten commandments, yet the cascading evil that results from unrepentant sin is not easy to perceive. Perhaps "commandments" is the wrong word, and "escape routes" would be closer to the true meaning. In this sense, our lord does not punish. He offers only a lifeline, a way out of the maelstrom of sin, and the ordered set of catastrophe that accompany myopic hatred and animal lust. Perhaps this is why the lord is so oddly welcome in prisons, where the unwanted children of men remain, yet, the beloved children of god. Those who preach in the prisons are worthy people indeed.
One must come to equity with clean hands. Absalom is unrepentant, with the blood of his brother on his hands. David has no way to enliven the jurisdiction, as Bruce points out. Equity has a certain way, a procedure of becoming active in a case. It follows themes of repentance and forgiveness, arising from its eccelsiastical origins.
Yet there is also the political context of his actions against his brother, with respect to the state. That is to say, even if the verdict and sentence were just according to law, even if Amnon needed to die for justice to prevail, it is unlawful for one who lacks jurisdiction to judge and sentence the son of a king. Absalom took matter out of David's hands, when he took them into his own. He seized the authority of the state.
For this damage to his father's authority, and to the consequent instability brought upon the nation of Israel, Absalom offers no repentance.
In this way, the house of David lurches forward into a catastrophic set of failures that form an ordered set, as prophesied by Nathan.
This ordered set of catastrophe is evidence of the difficulty of learning the lessons of christ. Any person can understand the meaning of the ten commandments, yet the cascading evil that results from unrepentant sin is not easy to perceive. Perhaps "commandments" is the wrong word, and "escape routes" would be closer to the true meaning.
In this sense, our lord does not punish. He offers only a lifeline, a way out of the maelstrom of sin, and the ordered set of catastrophe that accompany myopic hatred and animal lust.
Perhaps this is why the lord is so oddly welcome in prisons, where the unwanted children of men remain, yet, the beloved children of god. Those who preach in the prisons are worthy people indeed.