He will drink from a brook along the way, and so he will lift his head high. – Psalm 110:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 13, 2019): Psalm 110

I have a Diet Coke addiction. I know, everyone tells me how bad it is for me, and yet I still look for my next fix. This is especially true when I am on the road. Often I stop someplace to buy my soft drink of choice before I leave on a trip, but I will also pause “on the way.” I have periodically given up on my drink of choice for a period of time, but I keep returning, maybe especially when I am on a trip.

Psalm 110 is widely considered to be Messianic in nature. But biblical experts point to the closing words of the Psalm with a bit of confusion. For most, the words are a reference to the humiliation of Jesus. The idea is that even though Jesus bent his head in humiliation, or as the Psalmist indicates to “drink from a brook,” he would eventually be glorified, and his head would be lifted high in victory. Others aren’t quite sure. They point to the similarity of the phrasing in this passage with Gideon’s pausing at a brook as he pursued his enemy. The soldiers drank from the brook but then continued on toward victory over the enemies of Israel and of God.

If I had to choose between the two, I would probably go with the latter explanation. But, for me, I think I would phrase it a little differently. The Gospel of Mark presents an image of Jesus who was on the move. He was active, always going somewhere and always on the move. He had a purpose, and he was engaged in fulfilling that purpose. In this, he was maybe different from some of the other religious leaders of his time who had centered their activities around Jerusalem. But Jesus was always “on the go.” He was always “along the way” talking to people, healing, and teaching wherever the opportunity arose. In story after story, the significant moments of his ministry happened while Jesus was headed someplace else. For example, consider the story of Jairus and his daughter. According to Mark, Jairus was part of a crowd that Jesus met as he was returning from healing the demon-possessed man in the region of Gerasenes. He no sooner gets out of the boat when Jairus asks him to heal his sick daughter. Jesus goes with Jairus to the place where his daughter lay sick, and “along the way” Jesus met a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. He heals her and then continues on to deal with Jairus’s daughter.

Somewhere, I am sure he stopped for a drink from a brook before he lifted his head high with purpose and headed on to the next person who needed him, or the next teaching moment of which he could take advantage. He did his ministry on the way. And maybe it is just me, but I am sure that I would have been looking for my next Diet Coke somewhere “along the way.”

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 122 & 123