Jesus: The Prequel

I Read: 2 Kings 2-4

Suddenly in the middle of reading about Elisha I was struck with some serious deja vu. Something about a widow taking in the prophet and her son dying and the prophet laying on him and healing him? Waitaminute . . . I just read that same story about Elijah a few days ago!

But then I realized something else. We have a resurrection. And who is the most famous resurrector/reusrrectee combo ever? Jesus and Lazarus of course! But way back when, Elijah did it with the widow's son and then in the next couple of years, Elijah was doing it too.

And then Elisha does something else a little bit curious: a guy brings him 20 fresh loaves and he tells his disciples to split it amongst themselves. They say there isn't going to be enough but, miraculously, there is! Sound familiar? Of course, Jesus feeding the 5,000 by similar means.

What's the significance of all this? I'm not sure exactly. For me it just might be that I never knew those stories before. There is now a certain harmony I can see between the OT and the NT though. And when Jesus ask the question, "Who do they say I am?" and Peter responds, "Elijah," that doesn't seem as random as it does at first blush.

Oh yeah, the other little nugget in tonight's reading comes from 2:23-25. Elisha is out doing his thing when a bunch of little kids make fun of him for being bald so he curses them and a bear eats them. That's enough to ruin your day. The point of that story? May hair might be receding and thinning but mention it and you will be eaten.