We have here a picture of the old generation in contact with the new. We see the old testing the new and teaching the new.
I. If we were to measure the hopes of Joash's life from the attitude which he holds towards the old man, we must admit that everything promises well. Here is one in whose heart and mind the instinct of hero-worship is very strong. But the old prophet is not satisfied. He would fain test this young man's ardour, and see of what mettle he was. In the scene before us we have the test. After letting fly the arrow of the Lord's deliverance, he was to strike upon the ground. Having struck thrice, he stayed, with a hesitating self-consciousness, waiting for some gesture or directions from the prophet, and the old man was wroth. He had applied the test, and the king had failed to bear it, and he saw weakness written there. Joash lacks the two qualities which make up greatness: (1) the spirit of thoroughness, and (2) the glorious power of imagination. A man cannot achieve practical work unless he has the prosaic instinct that does not shrink from the drudgery of it. This Joash has not. He strikes feebly thrice, and then looks round for instructions. Self-consciousness, a weak dependence upon others, the eye askance to see how far he may go, a feebleness within the mind, are his, and he has no power of living by individual heroism and devotion.
II. The prophet is not merely one to test, but also one to teach. He teaches the king to realise himself and to realise God. He sets before him these two things: the insight to see the power of God and action to discharge the duties of life. As one of our own prophets has taught us, what is wanted to make a hero is, not a great soul, but simply a God-begotten soul that is true to its own origin. The heroes and the saints of old were great, but we must remember that the power which made them great was the spirit which was within.
Bishop Boyd-Carpenter, Oxford Review,May 6th, 1885.
References: 2 Kings 13:17. Homiletic Magazine,vol. viii., p. 65. 2 Kings 13:18; 2 Kings 13:19. Clergyman's Magazine,vol. xiii., p. 79. 2 Kings 13:19. J. Baines, Sermons,p. 255; Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. x., No. 569; R. C. Trench, Brief Thoughts and Meditations,p. 109.