his bed

January 22, 2019

Go through the roof (Lk 5:19-5:19)

“But they found

No way

To bring him in,

Because of the crowd.

They went up

On the roof.

They let him down,

With his bed,

Through the tiles

Into the middle

Of the crowd,

In front of Jesus.”

 

καὶ μὴ εὑρόντες ποίας εἰσενέγκωσιν αὐτὸν διὰ τὸν ὄχλον, ἀναβάντες ἐπὶ τὸ δῶμα διὰ τῶν κεράμων καθῆκαν αὐτὸν σὺν τῷ κλινιδίῳ εἰς τὸ μέσον ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ.

 

Luke said that these men could not find a way to bring him into the house (καὶ μὴ εὑρόντες ποίας εἰσενέγκωσιν αὐτὸν), because of the crowd (διὰ τὸν ὄχλον).  Thus, they went up on the roof housetop (ἀναβάντες ἐπὶ τὸ δῶμα).  They let the paralyzed man down (καθῆκαν αὐτὸν), still on his bed (σὺν τῷ κλινιδίῳ), through the tiles (διὰ τῶν κεράμων) in the middle of the crowd (εἰς τὸ μέσον), in front of Jesus (ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ).  Although Matthew, chapter 9:2, never mentioned this roof opening, Mark, chapter 2:4, said that they were not able to bring this paralytic to Jesus.  Thus, they dug through or gouged out a hole in the roof, so that they let down the paralyzed man lying on his bed through this hole in the roof.  This large crowd of people would have this paralyzed man on a bed come through the roof in the middle of the house.  What a sight!  As a little kid, this story really struck me.  The story in Luke had a tile roof, while in Mark, it was like a mud roof.

August 27, 2017

Daniel’s dream (Dan 7:1-7:1)

“In the first year

Of King Belshazzar,

King of Babylon,

Daniel

Had a dream.

He had visions

In his head

As he lay in his bed.

Then he wrote down

The dream.”

The second half of this book has a series of visions by Daniel. This is one of Daniel’s own dreams, even though there have many other dreams mentioned already. This dream seemed parallel to the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 2. This took place during the first year of King Belshazzar. That would put this dream around 554 BCE, the first year that this king was the viceroy with his father, King Nabonidus (556-539 BCE). Strangely enough, there is hardly any mention of King Nabonidus, the father of King Belshazzar, in this Book of Daniel. This time, Daniel had this vision at night as was laying in his bed. The difference, of course, is that he wrote the dream down.

August 15, 2017

The king’s dream about the big beautiful tree (Dan 4:10-4:12)

“Upon my bed,

This what I saw.

There was a tree

At the center

Of the earth.

Its height was great.

The tree grew.

It became strong.

Its top reached

To heaven.

It was visible

To the ends

Of the whole earth.

Its foliage was beautiful.

Its fruit was abundant.

It provided food

For all.

The animals of the field

Found shade under it.

The birds of the air

Nested in its branches.

All living beings

Were fed from it.”

The king was laying in his bed when he saw a great big strong tree in the center of the earth. It was so tall that it reached to heaven and could be seen from the ends of the earth with beautiful leaves and lots of fruit. This tree provided food for everyone. Animals found shade under it, while birds built nests in its branches. This was quite a wonderful tree.

August 3, 2017

God had revealed the answer to Daniel (Dan 2:28-2:28)

“But there is a God in heaven

Who reveals mysteries.

He has disclosed

To King Nebuchadnezzar

What will happen

At the end of days.

Your dream

With the visions

Of your head

Came

As you lay in bed.”

Daniel seemed to be a favorite of the God in heaven. Daniel received many of these visions with interpretations about the end of days, the end times, the end of the world. Only God could reveal this mystery to Daniel. This same God had revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar what was going to happen, as he was laying in his bed. Thus, Daniel made the king feel important.

August 11, 2015

The crying eyes of David (Ps 6:6-6:7)

“I am weary with my moaning.

Every night I flood my bed with tears.

I drench my couch with my weeping.

My eyes waste away because of grief.

They grow weak because of all my foes.”

David is weary with all his moaning. Every night his bed is full of tears. He drenches his couch in the day with tears. His eyes are wasting away because of grief. He was growing weak because of his enemies.