Genesis 12: 1-4a
Last week we were in the Garden of Eden with Adam, Eve, and a serpent. The themes were disobedience, temptation, and a fall from the relationship with God. We have jumped to chapter 12 in Genesis, and passed over a lot of interesting biblical events. In this lesson we are struck with the faithful obedience of another OT giant, Abram (Abraham), the name is translated as “Exalted Father, or father of the multitude” (Father of many Nations). Abram lived a long life; he was born in Ur, Mesopotamia. His life and heritage is in four distinct journeys: (1) the calling, (2) promise of a lineal heir & concluding a covenant, (3) establishing a covenant, changing his name to Abraham, and (4) the great trial. In today’s brief passage from the calling, God tells Abram to leave your father (a tribe or clan of nomadic herders) in Haran and go to a land that God will lead Abram, Sarai (Abram’s wife), and Lot (nephew) to. Considering the time, a family-tribe was the social-political unit, the success and well-being of the person was tied to the clan. To leave the clan, head off into the unknown, based on a calling from God, surely was a challenge. Today, the Jews, Muslims, and the Christians look at Abraham as a great spiritual ancestor of these three monotheistic religions. What does God communicate to Abram to motivate him to take this Journey?
Blessings and Curses; "To be blessed" means 'to be favored by God'. Blessings are directly associated with God and come from God. Therefore to express a blessing, is like bestowing a wish on someone that they will experience the favor of God. A curse is the opposite of a blessing. The blessings that God bestows on Abram are considered to be a covenant. God tells Abram that he will bless those that bless Abram; in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Abram will be made a great man, he will found a great nation, and Abram will be a blessing. These words and very big concepts are sufficient to motivate Abram to leave his clan and follow God. Obviously, it was a good decision. To be a blessing is a worthy goal.
Romans 4: 1-5, 13-17
Paul, in this passage presents an argument that deals with Abraham and his worthiness. Paul reports that Abraham did nothing to earn his relationship. God provided for Abraham, there were no laws, edicts, or works in the covenant that Abraham and God entered into. It was a covenant, based on faithfulness of Abraham to follow where God led him. Paul was railing agnist people who said that the route to a relationship with God was based on multiple laws, Paul told them, ditch the laws, it is all about grace.
John: 3: 1-17
It appears in the Lenten season, our Gospel readings are much longer and filled with tons of information. This lesson is a good example. It contains the material about rebirth and 3:16- “For God so Loved the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him may not parish, but may have eternal life.” One of the most quoted NT verses.
The passage starts with dialog between Jesus and a very scholarly Pharisee and temple leader of the archon- Sanhedrin (the high court of the Jews); his name was Nicodemus. As a Pharisee, Nicodemus was bound by oath to follow each and every law found in Talmud- the complexity of this includes 150 pages governing righteous behavior during the Sabbath. Mr. Nicodemus was well versed in Jewish law; perhaps it was all this law and ritual that drove him to interview Jesus. He visited Jesus at night- was he afraid his peers would see him and he would be condemned? A lot of people are somewhat reluctant to be seen openly with Jesus.
Nicodemus says he knows that Jesus is a teacher from God because of the multiple miracles Jesus has been credited with. Jesus perceives that Nicodemus truly is after the way to enter the Kingdom of God. He tells him several times that it has to do with Anothen- a Greek word of special meaning, difficult to translate into English. It can mean three different things in Greek (the language of John’s Gospel): 1: Completely radically, 2: Again 3: From above. Born anew is a fairly good translation. A more comprehensive thought is to undergo such a radical change that it is to have something happen to the soul which is like being born anew. Nicodemus is very befuddled about this. He thinks about going back to the womb. Rebirth was a component of Jewish traditions, it was part of the ritual of a man that came from a different religion (proselyte) and became a Jew (new birth out of heathenism). Another point about being born anew, the fascination of a Pharisee with keeping the Law as the way to the Kingdom is thrown away. The way into the Kingdom is not complicated by hundreds of laws and definitions, the keys to the Kingdom are Love of God and obedience to the will of God. This takes us back to Abraham and his response to God’s will.
We have a serpent here, Jesus talks about the lifting up of a metal serpent? What is this about? See Numbers 21:9- “So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.” During the Exodus, God was protecting the tribes in the wilderness from snake bites by a bronze serpent on a pole. John links Jesus to this OT miracle. But more than survival of snake poison, the person that looks to Jesus lifted up can find eternal life.
Nicodemus goes away, but he will be back with us later.
Much credit to:
John Suhar explanations,
J.R. Dummelow’s and William Barkley’s commentaries.
Submitted by Walt Jaab
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