The story of Mefi-Boschets

One story in the Old Testament particularly fascinates me. The main actor is called Mefi-Boscheth. The people of Israel, the Israelites are in battle with their archenemy, the Philistines. In this particular situation they were defeated. Their King Saul and his son Jonathan died. The news reaches the capital, Jerusalem. Panic and chaos break out in the palace because it is known that if the king is killed, his family members could also be executed to ensure that there is no future uprising. It so happened that at the moment of general chaos, the nurse of the five-year-old Mefi-Boscheth took him with her and escaped from the palace. In the hustle and bustle that prevailed in the place, she lets him fall. He remained paralyzed for the rest of his life.

“Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when news of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse had picked him up and fled. While she was fleeing, he fell and was lame from then on. His name was Mephibosheth.” (2. Sam 4,4).
Remember, he was royal and the day before, like any five-year-old boy, he was walking around the palace with no worries. But on this day his whole fate changes suddenly. His father and grandfather were killed. He himself is dropped and for the rest of his days is paralyzed and dependent on help from other people. With his pain, he will live in a dreary, isolated place for the next 20 years. This is the Mefi-Boscheth drama.

Our story

What does the story of Mephibosheth have to do with you and me? Like him, we are more handicapped than we realize. Your feet may not be paralyzed, but perhaps your minds are. Your legs may not be broken, but, as the Bible says, your spiritual condition is. When Paul speaks of our desolate state, he goes beyond simply being paralyzed: “You also were dead in your trespasses and sins.” (Eph 2,1)Paul says, "We are helpless, whether you can confirm this, believe it, or not." The Bible says that unless you are in a close relationship with Jesus Christ, your situation is that of a spiritually dead person.

“For Christ died for us ungodly while we were still weak. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Röm 5,6 and 8).

There is absolutely nothing you can do to fix the problem. It doesn't help to try harder or get better. We are completely disabled, more than we think. The plan of King David, a shepherd boy who tended the sheep, is now on the throne as King of Israel in Jerusalem. He was Jonatan's best friend, Mefi-Boscheth's father. David not only accepted the royal throne, but also won the hearts of the people. He expanded the kingdom from 15.500 km2 to 155.000 km2. The people of Israel lived in peace, the economy was good, and tax revenues were high. Life couldn't have been better.

I imagine David getting up earlier that morning than anyone else in the palace. He strolled leisurely out into the courtyard, letting his thoughts wander in the cool morning air before the pressures of the day fully occupied his mind. His thoughts drifted back to the time when he spent many hours with his faithful friend Jonathan, whom he hadn't seen in a long time because Jonathan had been killed in battle. Then, out of the blue sky, David remembered a conversation with him. At that moment, David was overwhelmed by God's goodness and grace. For without Jonathan, none of this would have been possible. He recalled a conversation they had when they made a pact. In it, they promised each other that each would look after the other's family, no matter where life's journey might lead them. At that moment, David turned back, went back to his palace, and said, "Is there anyone left of Saul's house that I may show them mercy for Jonathan's sake?" (2. Sam 9,1)Now there was a servant from Saul's house named Ziba, whom they summoned to David. Ziba said to the king, “There is another son of Jonathan, lame in the feet.” (2. Sam 9,3).

David doesn't ask, "Is there anyone else worthy?" David simply asks, "Is there anyone?" This question is an expression of kindness. Ziba's answer reveals, "I'm not sure he possesses royal qualities." "The king said to him, 'Where is he?' Ziba said to the king, 'Look, he is in Lo-Dabar, in the house of Machir son of Ammiel.'" (2. Sam 9,4)The name literally means "no pastureland".

The perfect, the holy, the righteous, the almighty, the infinitely wise God, the Creator of the whole universe, runs after me and runs after you. We speak of searching people, people on a spiritual journey to discover spiritual realities. In reality, God is the seeker. We see this in all of the Scriptures. At the beginning of the Bible begins the story of Adam and Eve, where they hid from God. In the cool of the evening God comes and looks for Adam and Eve and asks: Where are you? After Moses made the tragic mistake of killing an Egyptian, he had to fear for his life for 40 years and fled into the desert. There God looks for him in the form of a burning bush and arranges a meeting with him. In the New Testament we see Jesus meeting twelve men and patting them on the shoulder and saying: Would you like to join my cause?

“For in him he chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight, having predestined us through Jesus Christ according to his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” (Eph 1,4-6)

Our relationship with Jesus Christ, salvation, is given to us by God. It is controlled by God and initiated by God. It was created by God. Back to our story. David has now sent a group of men to Lo-Dabar on the barren outskirts of Gilead to look for Mefi-Boscheth. He lives in isolation and anonymity and did not want to be found. But he was discovered. They put Mefi-Boscheth in the car and drive him back to the capital, to the palace. The Bible tells us little or nothing about this chariot ride. But I'm sure we can all imagine what it would be like to sit down on the floor of the car. What emotions Mefi-Boscheth must have felt on this trip, fear, panic, uncertainty. The car drives in front of the palace. The soldiers carry him in and place him in the middle of the room. He kind of struggles with his feet and David walks in.

The encounter with grace

“When Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he fell on his face and worshiped him. David said, ‘Mephibosheth! He said, “Here I am, your servant.”’ David said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, for I will show you compassion on behalf of your father Jonathan and will restore to you all the property of your father Saul; and you shall eat at my table every day.’ But he fell down and said, ‘Who am I, your servant, that you should turn to a dead dog like me?’” (2. Samuel 9,6-8).

He understands that he is a cripple. He has nothing to offer David. But that's what grace is about. The character, the nature of God, is the tendency and disposition to give kind and good things to unworthy people. But let's be honest. This is not the world most of us live in. We live in a world that says: I demand my rights and give people what they deserve. Most kings would have executed a potential heir to the throne. In sparing his life, David showed mercy. He showed him mercy by showing him mercy.

We are loved more than we think

Having been accepted by God through faith, we now have peace with God. This we owe to Jesus Christ, our Lord. He opened for us the way of trust and thus access to God's grace, in which we now have a firm footing. (Röm 5,1-2).

Like Mephibosheth, we have nothing to offer God except gratitude: “To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has bestowed upon us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” (Eph1,6-7).

All of the guilt is forgiven. So God showed us the riches of His grace. How great and rich is the grace of God. You either haven't heard the word yet or you refuse to believe it's true. It is the truth because you are loved and God has followed you. As believers, we had a grace encounter. Our lives changed through the love of Jesus and we fell in love with Him. We didn't deserve it. We weren't worth it. But Christ offered us this most wonderful gift of life. That's why our life is different now. The story of Mefi-Boscheth could end right here, and it would be a great story.

A place on the board

For twenty years, the same boy had to live in exile as a refugee. His fate has undergone a radical change. David said to Mephibosheth: "Eat at my table like one of the king's sons." (2. Samuel 9,11).

Mefi-Boscheth is now part of the family. I like the way the story ends because it seems like the writer put a little postscript at the end of the story. We are talking about how Mefi-Boscheth experienced this grace and is now supposed to live with the king and that he is allowed to eat at the king's table.

Imagine the following scene years later. The bell rings in the king's palace and David comes to the main table and sits down. Shortly afterwards, the cunning, cunning Amnon sits down on David's left side. Then Tamar, a beautiful and friendly young woman, appears and sits down next to Amnon. On the other hand, precocious, brilliant, lost in thought Solomon slowly emerges from his study. Absalom with flowing, shoulder-length hair takes a seat. That evening Joab, the brave warrior and troop commander, was invited to dinner. However, one seat is still vacant and everyone is waiting. You hear shuffling feet and the rhythmic sound of crutches. It is Mefi-Boscheth who is slowly making his way to the table. He slips into his seat, the tablecloth covers his feet. Do you think Mefi-Boscheth understood what grace is?

You know, that describes a future scene when the whole family of God will gather in heaven around a great banquet table. On this day the tablecloth of God's grace covers all of our needs. You see, the way we come into the family is by grace. Every day is a gift of His grace.

“Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in him, rooted and grounded in him and established in the faith as you were taught, and full of thanksgiving.” (Kol 2,6-7)You received Jesus through grace. Since you are now part of the family, you are also part of it through grace. Some of us think that once we have become Christians through grace, we have to work especially hard and do everything right to please God to ensure that he continues to like and love us. But nothing could be further from the truth.

New mission in life

God not only gave you Jesus so that you could enter into his family, but he is now giving you everything you need to live a life of grace once you are in the family. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Röm 8,31-32).

How do you react when you are aware of this fact? What is your response to God's grace? What can you contribute? The Apostle Paul speaks of his own experience: "But by the grace of God I am what I am. And his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—not I, but the grace of God that was with me." (1. Kor 15,10).

Do we, who know the Lord, lead lives that reflect grace? What are some of the characteristics that indicate I am living a life of grace? Paul answers this question: “But I consider my life not worth mentioning, if only I finish the course and fulfill the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Apg 20,24)This is a life's mission.

Like Mefi Boscheth, you and I have been broken spiritually and dead spiritually. But like him, we have been followed because the King of the Universe loves us and wants us to be in his family. He wants us to share the good news of His grace through our lives.

by Lance Witt