Author: Charlotte Vaughan Coyle

As you read this week, consider that – unlike the stories of origins from the first 11 chapters of Genesis – the stories of the Patriarchs are set within a historical context.  These stories would have been told generation after generation as a part of the oral histories of this ancient people, however they probably weren’t written until the time of the Babylonian Captivity 1500 years later.

This is probably the era when the Genesis stories were actually gathered and edited, penned and preserved for posterity. Consider the meaning these stories would have had for the nation of Israel exiled in Babylon.

As you read Genesis 21-26, remember that God had called Abraham and promised him descendants like the stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5). In the ancient world and even among some peoples today, having descendants that continue on beyond your life is a kind of immortality as it were. This was the way Abraham believed his life could extend beyond his one lifetime.

But if Abraham followed this call of God to sacrifice his son, if he consented to give up the long awaited son of promise, the future God had promised him would disappear. His life would have no meaning and Abraham himself would become as if he had never existed.

As you read this week, you might consider the fact that Abraham was not a Jew. Is that a startling statement? The people known as “Jews” didn’t come into being until much, much later than the time of the Patriarchs. Abraham is highly honored in the traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam because all three monotheistic religions see him as one who shaped the understanding of these faiths in deep ways. See Charlotte’s blog on Abraham for more reflection on how ALL people of faith (even those without “religion”) can appropriately see themselves as “children of Abraham.”

As you read Genesis 12-20 and as you read all of these stories about the Patriarchs in Genesis, see the numerous descriptions of ancient Middle Eastern culture within the story. For example, the common practice of polygamy, producing children with several wives, concubines and slaves. And also the cultural understanding of the role of women who were subservient to the male head of the household and whose “value” was measured by their ability to produce sons. (In light of this, consider how unwise it is for modern societies to use the Bible as a template for “biblical family values.”)

While there is significant “covenant” language in the story of Noah (God covenants with the earth and promises its continued existence, marked with the sign of the rainbow), in the Abraham story, covenant is personal and more specific. God chooses, calls, guides, protects this one man and creates covenant with him and his descendants. Covenant is always God’s initiative and God’s sustaining grace.

From Abraham, the story will persistently narrow. It is his son, Isaac who continues this particular covenant relationship with God, not Ishmael. It is Jacob who continues The Story, not Esau. Jacob’s twelve sons become the tribal people of Israel who eventually become the political nation of Israel.

There are countless stories of other people and nations who lived during the time of the stories of the Patriarchs and Israel, but they either are not mentioned at all or are mentioned in a kind of footnote. The Hebrew Scriptures are the story of one particular people. It is Israel’s witness of their experience with the one true God; the good, the bad and the ugly of their human experience. Their mistakes, misunderstandings, foolishness and violence are documented with startling honesty.

As you read Psalms 23 and 25,  consider the nomadic life of Abraham, a shepherd of his time, dependent upon the land and the seasons. Watch for the affirmation of the covenant recognized both in relationship with God and relationship to the land.

As you read John 13-17, you will see the beginning of John’s Passion Story. The washing of the disciples’ feet, the final discourse/teaching, the Lord’s prayer for his followers – watch how John’s Jesus is confident and unshaken by the coming event of the cross. This Jesus is always in charge, always in control.

You also might want to look back at John 8 while you are reading the Abraham story this week. There is an important conversation between Jesus and “the Jews” that discusses the meaning of Abraham for the people of Israel as understood by John. (Remember “the Jews” does not mean all Jewish people; it was John’s designation for those who did not accept Jesus as Messiah and were in constant opposition to the new Jesus movement.)

“Abraham is our father” … these opponents insist.

“If Abraham were truly your father, you would do what Abraham did” … Jesus responds.

“We have one father, God himself” … they counter.

“You are from your father, the devil” … Jesus accuses.

“You are a half-breed, possessed by a demon” … the dialogue heats up.

“Your ancestor Abraham saw my day and rejoiced” … Jesus tantalizes.

“YOU have seen Abraham?!?!” … they mock.

“Amen. Amen. I tell you: before Abraham was, I AM.”

So they picked up stones to stone him…

As John’s Jesus has spoken so often in this gospel, here again he proclaims: “I AM.” It’s a theologically brazen claim; a Christology that conflates the being of Jesus with the being of God. Consider how difficult it would be for faithful monotheists to hear this.

In the journey of faith, remember how crucial it is to “begin with faith.” John demonstrates what it can look like when religion is not actually grounded in faith; when the forms and doctrines become more important than a foundational trust in God. God will not live in our boxes nor jump through our hoops. “Trust” means we trust anyway even when we do not understand.

As you read Romans 4-8, see how the apostle Paul hearkens back to the Abraham story to make his crucial arguments for the inclusion of Gentiles within the new Christian community.  Abraham is the father of ALL the faithful, he insists, not just those who are circumcised (a crucial symbolic act for all faithful Jewish males.) “Circumcision of the heart” is the sign of unity within the Christian community.

A person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal.

Romans 2:29

Abraham’s faith was “reckoned to him as righteousness” before he participated in the sign of circumcision. This is huge for Paul. It’s not the obeying of the Law that produces righteousness but rather the living in faithfulness, living with trust.

Paul uses Abraham as an example: the way Abraham believed in the promise and trusted in God’s word that he would have a son even when his body was as good as “dead.” Acceptable relationship with God doesn’t come about by our human efforts; relationship (covenant, promise) is God’s divine grace to us.

Just as Abraham experienced grace – with all his mistakes and stumbles, with his “dead” body – so we too experience God’s gift in our weaknesses, in our sinfulness, in our estrangement.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death (8:1-2).

If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness (8:10).

Paul’s letter to the Romans is considered a masterpiece of theological reflection by a master theologian. Romans played a crucial role in the thinking of Martin Luther and was a catalyst for the Protestant Reformation.

Photo (Chris D): This icon representing the embracing of Jewish & Gentile Christians can be found in the St Peter and St Paul Orthodox Church, Antakya, Turkey (formerly Syrian Antioch). Peter was the apostle to the Jews and Paul the apostle to the gentiles.

As You Read this week, you might recall how some preachers or talk show hosts or protesters at funerals will talk about sin. “Some particular kind of people sinned some particular kind of sin and that’s why this hurricane roared through New Orleans or Houston or Indonesia or wherever.”

Religious communities have never had a shortage of people who will hurt our ears with their self-righteous judgments about other people’s sins and their consequences.

As You Read Genesis 3-11, you will notice how these stories seem to be set out of time. When we start with Abraham and the Patriarchs next week, we will see geographies and genealogies and will recognize that the telling of those stories are more history-like. But the opening chapters of Genesis tell us primeval mythological stories of origins.

“Mythological” is not a put down. Myth is one way to speak about things that are deeply true even if they are not factual or historical. Consider this description from Britannica:

Myth has existed in every society. Indeed, it would seem to be a basic constituent of human culture … A people’s myths reflect, express, and explore the people’s self-image. The study of myth is thus of central importance in the study both of individual societies and of human culture as a whole.

In recent years, Joseph Campbell has taught and written extensively about the power of myth. Myths are the stories we tell that help us to understand where we come from and what is the meaning of our existence. All of our religions include this type of narrative as a way to point toward deep truth that is unspeakable and unknowable.

“Every religion is true one way or another. It is true when understood metaphorically.  But when it gets stuck in its own metaphors, interpreting them as facts, then you are in trouble.”

Modern American Christianity has its own special kind of challenges when it comes to getting “stuck” in metaphor. When we allow ourselves to get unstuck, to break free from literal, concrete thinking, then we begin to discover truth that is wider, deeper and higher than simple facts. If you are interested, you might spend some time watching Bill Moyers’ interview of Joseph Campbell.

As You Read Psalms 5, 10, 14 and compare these Psalms to the opening chapters of Romans, you will recognize how Paul’s treatise on sin echoes the Psalmist’s powerful descriptions. Also note that the consequences of the sins of some people will always infect and influence the lives of other people. We who are bound together within this human community live in a complex inter-dependence that has very real consequences in lives other than our own.

As You Read Romans 1-3, understand that Paul is re-telling the story of humanity. See how he alludes to good creation and a generous Creator. Then he considers how sin twisted and bent this goodness into something ugly and hopeless. In the background of Romans 1-3 hovers the Genesis 3 story. Paul was immersed in The Story and writes the letter to the Romans in order to explore and explain how God – through the Christ – is in the process of redeeming the brokenness and hopelessness of all creation.

Paul cites the Psalms and Prophets freely, mixing and matching their colorful phrases with his own understanding of sin and its consequences. He pounds the pagan Gentiles for their immoral, unethical, idolatrous culture. But then he turns and pounds the Jews for their self-righteousness and hypocrisy. All of us are sinners, Paul announces. Each of us individually and all of us together. Naming, recognizing, owning up to this hopeless dilemma is the only way for us to truly appreciate the radical grace of the gospel made known in Jesus Christ.

As You Read John 9-12, you may already know that those little chapter and verse numbers were added to our Bibles many years after the authors wrote. But what you may not know is that the New Testament writers penned their gospels and letters without any punctuation marks. So when we read the Greek text, we do the best we can to translate and interpret where the sentences and paragraphs ought to begin and end.

John 9:3-4 shows us how significant this challenge is. “Who sinned?” the disciples ask and Jesus answers: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him; we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day…” That’s the way the translators of the New Revised Standard Version place the markings (the markings, remember, that are not really there.)

Now – read these same words this way as an alternative: Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. He was born blind. (period) So that God’s works might be revealed in him, (comma) we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day…”

What a significant shift in meaning can happen when periods and commas are used one way or another!

We all live in The Story that tells of blindness, brokenness and sorrow. But we must never lose sight of the deeper truth: The Story of God’s presence in the world gives witness to the unfailing, unending work of light, redemption and grace. Each of us individually and all of us together are called to participate in that divine work.

Satellite photo by NASA via Getty Images

Greek text above cites John 3:16.