6th Sunday after Trinity
2 Samuel 6.1-5, 12b-19; Psalm 24; Ephesians 1.3-14; Mark
6.14-29
Merciful God, you have prepared for those who love you such
good things as pass our understanding: pour into our hearts such
love toward you that we, loving you in all things and above all
things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can
desire; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
DUKE Ellington's first set of Sacred Concerts had its inaugural
performance in the new Grace Cathedral in San Francisco in 1965.
The final track is an ecstatic act of celebration entitled "David
danced before the Lord".
Anyone lucky enough to have been at performances in Durham and
Ely Cathedrals in the 1990s will remember the tap dancer who
brought to life the riotous joy of the entry of the Ark of God into
Jerusalem, after about 20 years of temporary lodging in
Kiriath-jearim (1 Samuel 7.1-2) - Baale-judah in 2 Samuel 6.2
refers to the same place. During that time, Saul's throne had
passed to David, who, having defeated the Philistines, saw the
opportunity to establish the significance of his new capital city
around the sacred presence of the Ark (2 Samuel 6.1-2).
Among all who celebrated, there was one dissenter -- David's
wife, Michal, the daughter of Saul -- offended by the indecent
spectacle of the king dancing in a linen tunic meant for more
sedate purposes. Michal had loved David, facilitated his escape
from one of her father's rages, and put up with being married off
to someone else and then returned to David (1 Samuel 18.20-25;
19.8-17; 25.44; 2 Samuel 3.13-14). Her reaction signals a final
severance between David's house and Saul's, underscored if we look
beyond the set passage to 2 Samuel 6.23, which tells that she had
"no child to the day of her death".
The dangerous ambiguity in dancing emerges confrontationally in
Mark's narration of the death of John the Baptist, curiously framed
by the departure and return of the Twelve on their first mission.
Commentators note that Mark's account diverges from that of the
Jewish historian, Josephus. Dennis Nineham pointed out features of
folk tale (the feast, the dance of the king's daughter, the fatal
promise).* Some suggest that it is interpolated in the mission
because the Gospel-writer had no information about that. But it is
a highly crafted interlude and unlikely to be merely a
distraction.
The Gospel has reached the point at which Jesus's work is about
to expand towards the Gentile regions. What John foretold has come
to pass (Mark 1.1-8). He has been consigned to prison, though no
reason is offered (Mark 1.14). He must now be removed entirely from
the scene (cf.John 3.30),and Mark expertly creates a pretext for
completing the story of John by mentioning Herod's superstitious
terror at Jesus's astonishing works (Mark 6.14).
Herod was pressed on all sides: criticised for marrying his
brother's wife (who was already connected by marriage to another of
his brothers); threatened by the kin of the wife he had rejected;
keen to maintain relations with Rome; eager to placate Herodias,
who hated John for speaking against her; and yet mesmerised by the
teaching of the "holy man" who puzzled and challenged him (Mark
6.19-21).
The circumstances that precipitated John's death were culturally
irregular; for a princess should not have danced to entertain an
all-male dinner party, though Nineham remarks that the domestic
life of the Herods was an exception to most rules. They also
deprived Herod neatly of any control over events. He could not
renege on a promise in front of guests who might have thought that
he was even weaker than they suspected already. But the enormity of
what he had done evidently haunted him, as the skilful opening of
the scene makes clear: "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised"
(Mark 6.16). That is a further stage in the Gospel's question, "Who
is Jesus?" He is not John or Elijah. He is emerging as a
distinctive figure (Mark 6.15-16).
This distinctiveness is taken up in an eschatological sense in
the opening prayer of the Letter to the Ephesians. There are
numerous uncertainties surrounding the authorship, dating, and
audience of this letter, all of which are set out in detail in John
Muddiman's invaluable commentary.** The writer of the letter
invites readers into a beautiful verbal dance, praising God for the
gifts of redemption in Christ. This celebration continues what
began with John the Baptist (Mark 1.8) beyond the limits of time,
taking the "seal of the promised Holy Spirit" (probably a baptismal
reference) as "the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as
God's own people, to the praise of his glory" (Ephesians
1.13-14).
* D.E. Nineham, St Mark (SPCK, 1963)
** John Muddiman, The Epistle to the Ephesians (Continuum,
2006)
