21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant. (NIV)
Both chapters 18 and 19 end with a sacrifice. In chapter 18, Elijah’s sacrifice is spectacular and is the absolute contrast to the non-sacrifice of the prophets of Baal. This sacrifice at the end of chapter 19 is also in contrast to what didn’t happen with the prophets of Baal. Clearly Elisha and his parents were among those seven thousand pairs of knees that hadn’t bowed down to Baal. Elisha immediately killed his oxen and chopped up his plow to show that he was ending his old way of life and beginning his life as a prophet. There is a parallel between Elisha’s steak dinner party and the dinner that Matthew (Levi) held after he left his lucrative tax collecting franchise to follow Christ. Both Matthew (Mark 2:15) and Elisha were giving up a comfortable life to follow a prophet who would always be in the crosshairs (perhaps “Hairshirt and Crosshairs” suggests a sermon theme), and the meal was a way of celebrating and publishing the change.
But there is another contrast. Earlier in the book, we saw the transition from David to Solomon, Israel’s greatest kings. The transition was filled with jealousy, murder and attempted murder, and many outside forces trying to disrupt God’s plan. But it was ultimately Solomon’s heart softened by sin that caused the kingship to crumble. Here, the transition from Elijah to Elisha—two of Israel’s greatest prophets—will also be affected by outside influences and the murderous intentions of Ahab and Jezebel. But Elisha shows his hand instantly. His heart is fully dedicated to the Lord. Whereas the bones of David and Solomon were laid to rest with their fathers (1 Kings 2:10, 11:43), Elijah would be assumed into heaven leaving no bones behind at all (2 Kings 2:11) and God would use Elisha’s bones to bring a dead man back to life (2 Kings 13:21). What happened to the bodies of the kings reminds us of our sins and the consequences of sin. What happened to the bodies of the prophets reminds us of our savior and the certainty of the resurrection and eternal life in heaven.
The call and commissioning of Elisha would have been a spectacle that human minds would have planned and draped with all sorts of pageantry. We would expect to hear music, and for the solemn ceremony of the passing of the mantle to be a liturgical masterpiece, followed by a lavish meal. The day might have been marked for its significance. But God’s plans don’t always involve pomp. Elisha’s call happened out in a field in the middle of a workday (but it was followed by a pretty good meal).
My own ordination had a lot of ceremony and pomp. Twelve pastors laid hands on me, including a district president and my seminary president; my godfather was there and my father-in-law, and from outside our synod, a pastor from our sister church the ELS was there; all of them took part in the ceremony in the hot summer of 1999. The call to public ministry is different from the call to private ministry that all Christians have, but all ministry, whether in the pulpit or at the kitchen table or beside the cradle, is centered around the same gospel of Jesus Christ and the promise of the resurrection. That’s the real headline: Christ, crucified for our sins. It is the sacrifice of the Lamb and not the oxen that we should remember most. That’s the message that changes hearts, creates faith, and shows us the hands of God on our own shoulders. His love endures forever.
Note: Plowing in Israel takes place after the long dry summer is over, just after the early autumn rains soften the ground in September-October, so we can say with confidence that the date of Elisha’s call was also noticed and remembered.
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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