Taking up the mantle and crossing over

James Cathcart July 01, 2025 3 2

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2 Kings 2: 1-14 (NIVUK)

1 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.’

But Elisha said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.’ So they went down to Bethel.

3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, ‘Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?’

‘Yes, I know,’ Elisha replied, ‘so be quiet.’

4 Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.’

And he replied, ‘As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.’ So they went to Jericho.

5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, ‘Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?’

‘Yes, I know,’ he replied, ‘so be quiet.’

6 Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.’

And he replied, ‘As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.’ So the two of them walked on.

7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?’

‘Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,’ Elisha replied.

10 ‘You have asked a difficult thing,’ Elijah said, ‘yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours – otherwise, it will not.’

11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, ‘My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!’ And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.

13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. ‘Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?’ he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

Elijah has one last lesson for Elisha. 

Insatiable edge-of-his-seat-Elisha who wants more, double, seconds, extra, is tense. He know his mentor is leaving soon, in fact he can’t forget it as whenever it might slip his mind a company of prophets pops up to remind him. 

“Yes, I know,” he snaps, “so be quiet.”

Once again we come face to face with how simultaneously weird and relatable the Bible can be. On the one hand you’ve got a bunch of prophets bickering in a world we can hardly imagine  — people are striking rivers as a matter of course — but on the other hand we’ve all had cause to snap at smart-alecks, indeed sometimes when they’re needling us about some inevitable event on the horizon.

With the water parted and crossed, mentor and protégée have a moment to themselves and Elijah at last acknowledges that’s he’s leaving. What would eager Elisha like? A portion of his teacher’s spirit? No, he wants a double portion. He doesn’t just want Elijah’s legacy, he wants extra legacy please.

Throughout all this Elisha’s eyes have been fixed on Elijah, not on God, refusing to leave his side. So Elijah sets Elisha a kind of ridiculous task. Imagine Elijah saying, “You’ve been stuck to me like glue for days, eyeing up my mantle, let’s see just how closely you can follow me…” before he casually swings up on to a chariot OF FIRE.

Yup Elisha, the stakes have been raised. How much do you want that double portion now eh? 

And Elisha tries, he wants to get that last glimpse of Elijah but of course there’s too many flames and wheels and hooves. It’s not happening. It was a pointless exercise. And so he finds himself, literally and metaphorically stranded on the other side of the water. 

All he can fall back on is God.

“Where is God now?"

And God, not Elijah, provides his way forward.

All mentors slip through our fingers

whether their feet are made of clay

or strong oak roots.

People struggle to be Gods,

they always make poor ones,

and wisdom is knowing this.

Prayer:

Help us God to be shaped and guided by the mentors you have given us,

but to fall back only on your tireless strength

tireless imagination

tireless love.

Amen.