Friday 16^th Jan — “Give Us a King”

Today’s readings expose a temptation that never goes away.

The temptation is not atheism.
It is wanting God on our terms.

In the first reading, the elders of Israel come to Samuel with a request.

“Give us a king to rule us, like all the other nations.”

At first glance, this sounds reasonable.

Samuel is old.
His sons are corrupt.
The future feels uncertain.

But God tells Samuel the truth:

“It is not you they have rejected;
they have rejected me as their king.”

That line matters.

Israel is not rejecting God outright.
They still want religion.
They still want blessing.

What they want is control.

A visible king.
A predictable system.
Something they can manage.

God warns them carefully.
He spells out the cost.

A human king will take their sons,
their daughters,
their land,
their freedom.

But they insist.

“No! We will have a king.”

This is not ignorance.
It is refusal.

This reading is painfully contemporary.

We do not usually reject God openly.
We simply replace Him with something more manageable.

We want:

faith without obedience

religion without authority

blessing without conversion

We say, in effect:

“Let us decide what is reasonable.”
“Let us decide what we can accept.”
“Let us decide what obedience looks like.”

God is not removed —
He is sidelined.

The Gospel shows us another kind of kingship.

A paralysed man is brought to Jesus.

The crowd blocks the way,
so his friends lower him through the roof.

Jesus sees their faith —
and does something unexpected.

He does not heal the man first.

He says:

“My child, your sins are forgiven.”

That shocks everyone.

Only God can forgive sins.

And Jesus knows exactly what He is doing.

The scribes object silently.

Jesus reads their hearts and responds:

“Which is easier — to say,
‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say,
‘Get up and walk’?”

Then He heals the man.

Why?

To show that His authority is not superficial.

Human kings manage behaviour.
Christ heals the heart.

Human power rearranges circumstances.
Divine authority restores the person.

This is the king Israel really needed —
and the one they feared.

Placed side by side, the readings force a question.

Do we want a king who confirms our choices —
or a Lord who saves us?

Israel wanted a king who looked like everyone else’s.

Jesus reveals a kingship that:

forgives sin

demands faith

restores dignity

claims obedience

One kind of authority flatters us.
The other converts us.

This is not abstract.

We face this choice whenever:

we resist Church teaching we find difficult

we avoid Confession but want peace

we ask God to bless decisions we have already made

We want healing —
but not surrender.

We want mercy —
but not repentance.

That is the ancient request repeated:

“Give us a king we can live with.”

Israel demanded a king
and lost their freedom.

The paralysed man trusted Christ
and regained his life.

God does not force His kingship.

But when we refuse it,
we pay the price.

Today, the question is simple:

Do we want a God we can manage —
or a Lord who can save us?

Only one can forgive sins
and make us whole.