16th March 2025
Reflection with readings below
Abram is worried about his future – or perhaps not so much his future as the future of his lifeline. It seems as if there will be no blood relatives, no direct offspring who will carry on his line, to be the continuation of the house of Abram – no ongoing heritage. But God reassures him. Not only will he have a direct descendant, but of the generations that will come after and call Abram their forebear, they will be more numerous than the stars in the sky. It is perhaps not a big leap to suggest that this allusion indicates that all the peoples of the earth may be seen as Abram’s children. Jesus himself suggests that even stones and rocks can become children of Abraham if God so wills (Matthew 3:9) and later Jesus will say that even if the people are silenced the stones themselves will shout out. (Luke 19:40) Anyone and everyone can be God’s.
The curious event where the burning torch passes between the cut halves of the animals that Abram has sacrificed, is the physical sign of the covenant that is being established by God with Abram and his descendants. Maybe just as after the flood, where God reassures Noah that the world will not be destroyed again in such a manner, so here God is reassuring Abram – and us too – that all generations can and will be God’s people.
Paul in his letter explains our relationship with God as being citizens of heaven, which contrasts with the Gospel which presents Jerusalem as being the identifying locus of God’s people. Paul’s is a post Easter understanding whereas the Gospel reflects a pre Easter view. Then Jerusalem and its temple was the focus of the people’s faith and their identity, the place to which they went physically – if able and if not then spiritually – for the great feasts. This was where God’s presence was ultimately located, where God was worshipped, and from where salvation would come. The messiah – when he came – would declare his identity here. When the resurrection happened (for those who believed – ie not the Sadducees) it was from Jerusalem that the first of the dead would rise.
Is Jesus the messiah? The Pharisees in this passage see Jesus perhaps as a rabbi, someone of sufficient importance that they don’t want to see him killed by Herod. But Jesus tells them something different. He describes what he is doing as in terms of vanquishing and on the third completing – consummating – his work mission. He is declaring that at the very least he is a prophet, someone doing the will of God. The psalm he quotes from, Psalm 118, is one of the messianic psalms that looks forward to the coming of the messiah. Yet it is also a psalm that acknowledges that God’s chosen one even will have to overcome – by God’s help – rejection and opposition.
Jesus is going to to Jerusalem to complete his work to establish the new – and as we now understand – universal covenant between God and all people.
Genesis 15:1-12,17-18
The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.”
Psalm 27
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom then shall I fear? *
the Lord is the strength of my life;
of whom then shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers came upon me to eat up my flesh, *
it was they, my foes and my adversaries, who
stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army should encamp against me, *
yet my heart shall not be afraid;
4 And though war should rise up against me, *
yet will I put my trust in him.
5 One thing have I asked of the Lord;
one thing I seek; *
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life;
6 To behold the fair beauty of the Lord *
and to seek him in his temple.
7 For in the day of trouble he shall keep me safe
in his shelter; *
he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling
and set me high upon a rock.
8 Even now he lifts up my head *
above my enemies round about me.
9 Therefore I will offer in his dwelling an oblation
with sounds of great gladness; *
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
10 Hearken to my voice, O Lord, when I call; *
have mercy on me and answer me.
11 You speak in my heart and say, “Seek my face.” *
Your face, Lord, will I seek.
12 Hide not your face from me, *
nor turn away your servant in displeasure.
13 You have been my helper;
cast me not away; *
do not forsake me, O God of my salvation.
14 Though my father and my mother forsake me, *
the Lord will sustain me.
15 Show me your way, O Lord; *
lead me on a level path, because of my enemies.
16 Deliver me not into the hand of my adversaries, *
for false witnesses have risen up against me,
and also those who speak malice.
17 What if I had not believed
that I should see the goodness of the Lord *
in the land of the living!
18 O tarry and await the Lord’s pleasure;
be strong, and he shall comfort your heart; *
wait patiently for the Lord.
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
Luke 13:31-35
Some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, 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! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'”
The Green Tau 