Abraham isn\u2019t asked to do anything, to promise anything, to enact anything. It is all God. Which is exactly like that \u201cnew covenant\u201d that comes up so much later. Which is to suggest that God has known all along that people weren\u2019t particularly dependable covenantal partners, and God has been working to make things good for us anyway \u2013 all along.<\/p>\n
I think this also leaves space for us to work alongside God, an idea I find important in faith, but it does give us a little space to remember that God is God and we are not and God can make good things happen with or without us and is going to do so! Which I find a bit of a relief.<\/p>\n
Quite a while passes between Genesis and Luke. In the meantime Abraham does end up with descendants, and they do become quite numerous, and they do enter the promised land \u2013 and lose it \u2013 and get it back again. In the time of Luke the \u201cpromised land\u201d is occupied by the descendants of Abraham but overseen by Rome which is rather complicated. And the center of the promised land is Jerusalem, the capital, and the center of the capital is the temple, Jesus is a faithful Jewish man who sees the holiness of the land, the capital, the temple, and sees the temple as the center of the world. And Luke, whoever he was, writes after the destruction of the temple and the capital, with grief for the Jerusalem massacre present in his words.<\/p>\n
So when we hear Jesus lamenting, \u201cJerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!\u201d we can hear it in it Luke\u2019s grief and a wish for the Jerusalem of old. It fits, as well, that while Jerusalem was the center of Jesus\u2019s world, Jesus knew that it was corrupted by the influence of the empire, and he grieved what the city should have been!<\/p>\n
But, I think the most interesting piece of this Luke passage is the part about the Pharisees. In Disciple we\u2019ve been reading Matthew for two weeks and boy oh boy does Matthew like to diss on the pharisees. But Luke isn\u2019t presenting them as a problem here. In fact, he is presenting them as allies. They give Jesus a real warning, one that they didn\u2019t have to offer. The Pharisees were NOT a part of the power-sharing arrangement with Rome, like Jesus they didn\u2019t approve of it. Jesus knew Herod was dangerous, he didn\u2019t need to be told, but he probably appreciated that they cared.2<\/a><\/p>\n Biblical Scholar Richard Swanson summarizes the conversation they have this way:<\/p>\n \u201cAfter you go,\u201d says Jesus, \u201ctell that fox I\u2019m a little busy right now.\u201d The scene plays best if the allies laugh. \u201cOkay, we\u2019ll do that very thing,\u201d they say, \u201cas soon as we see Old Foxy Pants. Which will be, ummm, never.\u201d\u00a03<\/a><\/p>\n The Pharisees joined Jesus in his lament of Jerusalem, they were actually his allies. Swanson concludes, \u201cThe Messiah has more allies than you might imagine. So do you. Recognizing that is how you prepare to welcome the one coming in the Name of the God Whose Name Is Mercy.\u201d4<\/a><\/p>\n Which is to say, Genesis tells us that God is on our side.<\/p>\n Luke tells us that expected allies are with us.<\/p>\n They both remind us that we\u2019re not alone, we\u2019re not solely responsible for bringing the kindom, that we are able to rely on God and others along the way. And I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m on board with those reminders. We are not alone. We have allies who care. We are in God\u2019s care. God, who is working for good.<\/p>\n So much that is out in the world is meant to divide us, but God is here to unite us, and remind us that we\u2019re in this together. Thanks be to God. Amen<\/p>\n <\/p>\n photo by David Allan Baker<\/p>\n 1<\/a>Wisdom here from https:\/\/www.workingpreacher.org\/commentaries\/revised-common-lectionary\/second-sunday-in-lent-3\/commentary-on-genesis-151-12-17-18-6<\/a><\/p>\n 2<\/a>Wisdom here from: https:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts\/?y=384&z=l&d=26<\/a><\/p>\n 3<\/a>Ibid.<\/p>\n 4<\/a>Ibid.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n March 16, 2025<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rev. Sara E. Baron\u00a0 <\/p>\n First United Methodist Church of Schenectady\u00a0 <\/p>\n 603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305\u00a0 <\/p>\n Pronouns: she\/her\/hers\u00a0 <\/p>\n http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/\u00a0<\/a> <\/p>\n https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![](\"https:\/\/64.media.tumblr.com\/b063d2f62a0b4922c44b687e385a9170\/dec503a4e638ca8e-ef\/s640x960\/9f2359ad81032018e9f6581dc3503d7700843bdf.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n