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The Rights of an Accused in Canonical Penal Procedures
IS THERE A CURSE? [I Samuel 17:21-31]
Because of the Opportunities, There is a Curse: In the evil of war, the opportunity to subdue a nation through hatred and violence brings with it the curse of the aggressor, the Philistines. The fear that descended among the Israelites from the menacing presence of the monstrous Goliath of Gath (The Jerusalem Bible OT365; v. 24) broke the stronghold of faith in God among those who supposed to be soldiers of God. However, God’s opportunities are never curses. To David, whose heart responded with indignity upon the unfaithful Israelites, the opportunity that God used to call him for an important mission was a channel of divine blessings, the most significant of which was becoming the king of God’s people, the warrior king of Israel.
Because of the Opposition, There is a Cause: It is inherent to the survival of a man to learn the lessons of fighting to survive. The Israelites had to defend their people from the aggressive opposition from the Philistines (v. 21), galvanizing them into an army with a cause to defend their lives and those of their families against an aggressor that will not hesitate to destroy them in the name of dominion. Opposition is the progenitor of a cause. A cause seldom emerges in people’s minds in the absence of opposition. Only opposition can bring people together. Only the convergence of people of common objectives can establish a cause.
Because of the Outcome, There is a Cause: It is in the order of nature that no outcome results without a cause. The fear of the Israelite army emerged from the sight of the monstrosity in Goliath (v. 24). Perhaps it is not because of outcome that a cause appears. It is from a cause that an outcome emanates.
A QUESTION OF HOW?
The Concerns about Life [Mark 10:17-18]: To the man who approached Jesus, the main concern of a mortal life is the attainment of eternal life. To him, eternal life is an inheritance (NT79; v. 17), a bequest from parents much like any material assets that were passed down by patriarchs from generations to generations. To him, eternal life is to be inherited from whom he apparently did not know; thus, sought Jesus for an answer, perhaps an answer that only the good can have the faculty to know.
The Confrontation with Death [Mark 10:19-20]: The way to survive the confrontation with death is to have nothing to do with death. Thou shalt not kill (NT79; v. 19).This survival, however, is not about survival from physical death, which the saints of the ancient Christian Church welcomed as their way of following the footsteps of the Lord. The body was no longer built not to die. However, taking the role of the instrument of physical death will earn a man the death of his chances to go back to the Holy Presence of God. By taking a life, his life too will be forfeited. Thus, by not taking life (v. 20), the young has wisely learned will earn him his life.
The Crossroads of Life and Death [Deuteronomy 30:15-19]: The crossroads of life and death is governed by choice, human choice (OT255; v. 19). Moses knew very well that God respects the free of choice in His people. However, it is a choice with its own consequence. Every person, not just the Israelites, must make the correct choice: will it be Life or will it be Death? The crossroads visit every person many times each day. And, whatever the person’s choice is, God will let him have it.
WHY SHOULD THE WORK CEASE? [Nehemiah 6:3]
The Burdens: The Israelites suffered in the hands of the governors before Nehemiah’s time for their insistence to demand taxes from the people who already faced hardships during the famine (OT586; Nehemiah 5:3). Then they lent the people money, which they could not repay. And when they cannot, the governors sold them to slavery (v. 5). Nehemiah saw this oppression of the people. Thus, his administration became a work that must continue to protect these people through the completion of the walls of Jerusalem, his legacy (7:1-2). The work ceased only when he finished it. “A great undertaking” (6:3) must continue until finished.
The Battles: Not all battles unfold in the battlefield. In Nehemiah’s time, then former governors who chose to be his enemies plotted to destroy his name and even kill him. They attempted to cause him fear. But no one succeeded. Amidst these weaponless battles, he persisted in keeping the work going until he succeeded in building the walls of Jerusalem. These battles must be fought until the “great undertaking” ended.
This Is the Sending of a Revival – The Preaching: Nehemiah was sent to lead Jerusalem as its governor to revive the spirit of God’s people who were wounded from the oppression by their own. He secured the people by building the walls of Jerusalem (v. 3) to ward off personalities plotting for regaining their power and revive their abuses of the Israelites. Nehemiah took the cudgel of his call to build a protective wall around them and then revive through good governance.
WILT THOU NOT REVIVE US AGAIN? [Psalm 85:6]
The Season of Revival: With peace comes the season of revival. Peace is the time when the wrath of God is withdrawn against mankind while forgiving them from all transgressions (OT869; v. 2-3). Only through forgiveness that peace descends. That’s exactly the reason why Psalm 85 is called the ‘prayer for peace’. The prayer for peace is the prayer for the season of revival to come upon the Israelites. The Psalmists described the season of revival as the season when God showers blessings to his people; forgive them from their sins and cleanse them from their guilt (v. 1-2).
The Source of Revival: There is no other source of revival than God through the peace He brings to mankind. Only God can renew life, revive it (v. 6). Thus, the prayer for peace was the prayer to the Source of revival, the Source of life itself, the fountain of unending life, unending peace, and unending rejoicings.
The Satisfaction of Revival: It is in the reclaiming of the country by God as His own (v. 1) that the satisfaction of revival emanates. All the rejoicings, the peace, the blotting of sins and guilt, and even the new life itself, these conditions flow from God’s life itself. The God who brought back from captivity Jacob (v. 1).
Works Cited
The Jerusalem Bible. London: Darton, Longman, & Todd, 1966. Print.
