The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.

The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.

Genesis 25:19-34

Reading

19 These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean.21 Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is to be this way, why do I live?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.”

24 When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they named him Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau, because he was fond of game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 30 Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!” (Therefore he was called Edom.) 31 Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Commentary

The word “Genesis” means “origin” and the Book of Genesis starts with the Creation Stories and concludes with the death of Joseph (Jacob’s son) in Egypt.

The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, and these sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.

Today’s reading comes after the burial of Abraham by his sons Ishmael and Isaac (25:10), and a list of the 12 tribes descended from Ishmael residing in the deserts on both sides of the Red Sea (25:13-15).

The birth of Jacob and Esau is an etiology, a story of origins (in Greek, “etio” means a beginning and “logo” is a story). An anthropomorphic (humanlike) YHWH tells Rebekah she has two nations in her womb (v.23). Jacob (whose name means “supplanter”) will become the father of the 12 tribes of Israel, and Esau (whose name means “red”) will be the father of the Edomites, traditional enemies of Israel. Esau is described as “hairy” (v.25), and the Hebrew word for hairy is a play on the word “Seir” – a region in Edom.

In the story, the younger son Jacob buys Esau’s “birthright” (blessing, family leadership and a double share of inheritance when Isaac dies) for a bowl of stew. Esau is presented as dull-witted, willing to give up his birthright because he is temporarily famished. This is a slap at the Edomites whom Israel dominated during the reigns of David and Solomon (1005-930 BCE), and who pillaged Jerusalem during the middle years of the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE).

Isaiah 55:10-13

Reading

10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12 For you shall go out in joy and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Commentary

The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.

Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 30 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to the Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile had ended.

Today’s reading is the closing verses of Second Isaiah. It emphasizes the effectiveness of YHWH’s word (v.11) and the joy the people would experience (v.12) when the Exile ends when Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered the Babylonians in 539 BCE and allowed the Judeans to return to Jerusalem.

Romans 8:1-11

Reading

1 There is [therefore] no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law– indeed it cannot, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Commentary

Paul’s letter to the Romans is his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) – about ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written.

Today’s reading continues Paul’s extended discussion of law, sin, the flesh, and the Spirit. For Paul, “the flesh” is not our bodies as such, but our human tendency towards self-centeredness and self-interest. “Sin” for Paul is our personal egoism that leads to “death,” both spiritual and physical (v.6). (Paul takes literally the story of Adam’s disobedience as the cause of human mortality.)

Life in the Spirit leads to wholeness and Eternal Life (v.10). Paul uses “law” in diverse ways – in some places, it means the Jewish Law (v.3), but in other contexts it means a “way of living” as in “the law of the Spirit in the life of Christ Jesus” (v.2) and “the law of sin and death” (v.2).

The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.

The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

Reading

34 The servant said to Laban, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. 36 And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and he has given him all that he has. 37 My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; 38 but you shall go to my father’s house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.’

42 “I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now you will only make successful the way I am going! 43 I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” 44 and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also” —let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.’

45 “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ 46 She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels. 47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. 48 Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to obtain the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. 49 Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn either to the right hand or to the left.”

58 And they called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will.” 59 So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, become thousands of myriads; may your offspring gain possession of the gates of their foes.” 61 Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. 62 Now Isaac had come from Beer-lahai-roi and was settled in the Negeb. 63 Isaac went out in the evening to walk in the field; and looking up, he saw camels coming. 64 And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel, 65 and said to the servant, “Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. 66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Commentary

Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation Stories to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical. The Abraham stories are set around 1750 BCE.

The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, and these sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.

Today’s reading is the conclusion of the story of how Abraham’s servant – not named in Chapter 24, but thought to be Eliezer of Damascus (Gen. 15:2) – obtained a wife for Isaac by going back to Haran, the land from which Abraham came.

Because of the emphasis on Isaac’s not taking a wife from the Canaanites (v.37) and the references to God as YHWH (“LORD” in the NRSV), the story is attributed to the Deuteronomic writers (650 to 550 BCE).

Abraham’s servant did what everyone looking for a wife does – he went to a well where women draw water. (Jacob and Moses also met their wives this way.) He encountered Rebekah, who was Isaac’s first cousin, once removed. (Her father, Bethuel, was Isaac’s first cousin.)

Rebekah’s brother, Laban, met with Eliezer (vv. 31-49) who recounted his conversation with Rebekah in which she answered Eliezer’s questions satisfactorily (v.46). Laban and Bethuel gave her to Eliezer to be Isaac’s wife (v.51) and Eliezer brought her to Isaac (v.67).

In future readings, Rebekah will give birth to twin brothers, Esau and Jacob.

Zechariah 9:9-12

Reading

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.

Commentary

The Book of Zechariah is the longest and most obscure of the “Minor” Prophets (so called because their books are much shorter than the three “Major Prophets” – Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel). The Book has 14 chapters, and Chapters 9 to 14 are referred to as “Second Zechariah” or “An Oracle” – the superscription at the beginning of Chapter 9. First Zechariah is dated to about 525 to 500 BCE and Second Zechariah is dated to about 400 to 300 BCE.

Today’s reading is one of the many (sometimes contradictory) descriptions of the anticipated Messiah found in the Hebrew Bible. The image presented here is a king who brings peace and rides on a donkey (v.9) rather than on a war-horse. The king’s dominion is not only over Israel, but is from sea to sea, from “the River” (the Euphrates in northern Syria) to the ends of the earth (v.10).

The Hebrew Bible contains many parallelisms, and the description of the king “on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (v.9) was intended to describe one animal. The Gospel of Matthew (unlike Mark and Luke) treated the phrase as describing two animals (Matt.21.5).

This peace-bringing king cuts off the instruments of war from “Ephraim” which was pre-Exilic Northern Israel, named for its most powerful tribe, and Jerusalem (v.10), the capital of Judea.

Romans 7:15-25a

Reading

15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 19 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Commentary

Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among other messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.

The Roman Emperor Claudius had expelled the Jews from Rome in 49 CE. His successor, Nero (54-68 CE), allowed Jews (including Jewish Jesus Followers) to return to Rome, and this created tensions about leadership and worship within the Jesus Follower Community.

Paul was a Jew who became a Jesus Follower and who saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism. As such, he continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ. The term “Christian” had not been invented in his lifetime.

Today’s reading is part of Paul’s extended discussion of the law, sin, the flesh, and the Spirit. As a First Century Jew, Paul was ambivalent regarding the Law. He saw the Jewish Law as “spiritual” (v.14), but as a Jesus Follower, he recognized that mere obedience to the Law would not lead to wholeness/salvation.

Without the Spirit, Paul asserted, even outward obedience to the Law could be a manifestation of “the flesh” (our human tendency towards self-centeredness and self-interest) that is grounded in sin (our personal egoism). Paul said it is through the Spirit that we can be rescued from “this body of death” (v.24).

The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.

The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks. 

Genesis 22:1-14

Reading

1 God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

Commentary

Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek.  Genesis covers the period from Creation Stories to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical. The Abraham stories are set around 1750 BCE.

The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, and these sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.

At Sarah’s insistence, Abraham gave up his firstborn son, Ishmael, in the prior chapter, and the reader is told (v.1) that God then tested Abraham by asking him to give up his promised heir, Isaac.  Just as Abraham was asked by God in Chapter 12 to “go from your country,” in today’s reading he is asked to “go to the land of Moriah” to sacrifice his “only” (v.2) son, the son whom he loves.

It is difficult to know how old Isaac is in the story.  He is old enough to carry the wood for the burnt offering (v.6) and to ask about the lamb for the sacrifice (v.7).

The location of Moriah is not known, but 2 Chronicles 3:1 (written around 450 BCE) identified it as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a tradition that continues to today.

Although the Binding of Isaac (as the story is known in Jewish tradition) has been understood by some as a condemnation of child sacrifice, most scholars reject the idea that there was a general practice of child sacrifice in Ancient Israel, particularly because of the large number of verses in the Bible that condemn the practice as Canaanite idol worship.

Based on Surah 37 of the Quran, most Muslims believe that the son whom Abraham was asked to sacrifice is Ishmael.

Jeremiah 28:5-9

Reading

5 The prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD; 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD fulfill the words that you have prophesied and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles. 7 But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet.”

Commentary

After the righteous and reforming King Josiah was killed in battle at Megiddo (from which we get the Greek word Armageddon) in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.

The Babylonians deported most of the Judean leaders to Babylon in 597 and took most of the treasures from the Temple. In 586, the Babylonians deported a larger number (the beginning of the Babylonian Exile) and destroyed the Temple.  Jeremiah’s prophesy (i.e. speaking for YHWH) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.

Most Bible scholars agree that the Book of Jeremiah underwent substantial revisions between the time of Jeremiah (627 to 586 BCE) and the First Century. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there were different versions of the Book of Jeremiah.  The Ancient Greek Septuagint Translation (the LXX – dating from 300 to 200 BCE) has some chapters that are not in the Hebrew versions.

Jeremiah is largely a prophet of doom and gloom, and the English word “jeremiad” means a long, mournful complaint or lamentation, a list of woes.

Sections in the book that are in “poetry style” are generally attributed to the prophet, and parts in “prose style” were likely added later by writers whose theological outlook was closely aligned with the Deuteronomists. (In fact, Chapter 52 in Jeremiah is virtually word-for-word with 2 Kings 24:18 to 25:30 written by the Deuteronomists after the Exile.)

Today’s reading is in prose style and is set in the period from 597 to 594 BCE. A false prophet, Hananiah, prophesied that the treasures from the Temple that were taken as spoils by the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, would be returned soon (v.3) – even though Judah had not repented and Babylon was as strong as ever.

In today’s verses and the ones that follow, Jeremiah said he hoped Hananiah’s prophesies would come true (v.6), but then denied that Hananiah has a commission from God and asserted that the Babylonians would enslave the Judeans.

Romans 6:12-23 

Reading

12 Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace.

15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, 18 and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Commentary

Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among other messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.

The Roman Emperor Claudius had expelled the Jews from Rome in 49 CE. His successor, Nero (54-68 CE), allowed Jews (including Jewish Jesus Followers) to return to Rome, and this created tensions about leadership and worship within the Jesus Follower Community.

Paul was a Jew who became a Jesus Follower and who saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism. As such, he continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ.  The term “Christian” had not been invented in his lifetime.

Today’s reading continues Paul’s discussion of the effects of Baptism (which joins us in the death of Christ Jesus and unites us with him in overcoming death through resurrection).

In speaking of “sin” (rather than “sins”), Paul was referring to the human propensity to assert our own ego and power rather than living as “instruments of righteousness” (v.13) i.e. living in right relationships with God and others.

When Paul referred negatively to “the law” (v.14), he expressed the view that mere obedience to rules will not bring about human wholeness or salvation or righteousness or Eternal Life, terms which Paul uses interchangeably.

Genesis 28:10-19a

Today’s story occurred after Jacob (with Rebekah’s connivance) tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing that should have gone to Jacob’s older twin brother, Esau. Jacob and Esau parted company, and Isaac directed Jacob to go to Haran (where Abraham came from) to find a suitable (i.e. non-Canaanite) wife.

Enroute, Jacob dreamt of a ladder (or stairway) with angels descending and ascending from heaven to earth. In Jacob’s dream, YHWH stood beside Jacob and reaffirmed the promise of extensive lands and many offspring that was made to Abraham in various forms in Genesis 12.

When Jacob awoke, he said this was a holy place and the “house of God” (v.19). He named the place “Bethel” because in Hebrew, “Beth” means house (as in “Bethlehem” – house of bread), and “el” is the most ancient name for God. The suffix “el” appears in many names that have meanings “of God” such as Gabriel (God is my strength), Daniel (God is my judge) and the like.

Isaiah 44:6-8

The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Israel’s history. Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and were written by “Isaiah of Jerusalem” in the 20 years before Jerusalem was under direct siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55 and brings hope to the Judeans during the time of the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they have suffered enough and will return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 and gives encouragement to the Judeans who returned to Jerusalem after the Exile.

Today’s reading is part of Second Isaiah in which the prophet speaks for YHWH to the Judeans in Exile and reassures them that YHWH is “first and last” (v.6), unique (v.7) and the “rock” upon which they can rely (v.8).

Romans 8:12-25

Paul’s letter to the Romans is his longest, last, and theologically most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) – about ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written.

Today’s reading continues Paul’s extended discussion of sin, the flesh, and the Spirit. For Paul, “the flesh” is our human tendency towards self-centeredness and self-interest. “Sin” is our personal egoism that leads to “death” (both spiritual and physical). Life in the Spirit of God (or the Spirit of Christ Jesus) leads to wholeness and life. Paul emphasizes that as children of God, we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – if we suffer with him. This suffering can take many forms, including rejection by those who embrace the values of the world/the flesh. Paul also introduces the sense of “now, but not yet” in terms of the glory to be revealed, and that God’s purposes for us are greater than the present time would indicate.

Genesis 25:19-34

Today’s reading comes after the burial of Abraham by his sons Ishmael and Isaac, and a list of the 12 tribes descended from Ishmael residing in the deserts on both sides of the Red Sea.

The birth of Jacob and Esau is an etiology, a story of origins (in Greek, “etio” means a beginning and “logo” is a story). An anthropomorphic (humanlike) YHWH tells Rebekah she has two nations in her womb (v.23). Jacob (whose name means “supplanter”) will become the father of the 12 tribes of Israel, and Esau (whose name means “red”) will be the father of the Edomites, traditional enemies of Israel.

In the story, the younger son Jacob buys Esau’s “birthright” (blessing, family leadership and a double share of inheritance when Isaac dies) for a bowl of stew. Esau is presented as dull-witted, willing to give up his birthright because he is hungry. This is a slap at the Edomites whom Israel dominated during the reigns of David and Solomon (1005-930 BCE), and who pillaged Jerusalem during the middle years of the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE).

Isaiah 55:10-13

The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Israel’s history. Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and were written by “Isaiah of Jerusalem” in the 20 years before Jerusalem was under direct siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55 and brings hope to the Judeans during the time of the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they have suffered enough and will return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 and gives encouragement to the Judeans who returned to Jerusalem after the Exile.

Today’s reading is the closing verses of Second Isaiah. It emphasizes the effectiveness of YHWH’s word (v.11) and the joy the people will experience (v.12) when the Exile ends with the conquest of the Babylonians by Cyrus the Great of Persia in 539 BCE and the Return to Jerusalem.

Romans 8:1-11

Paul’s letter to the Romans is his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) – about ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written.

Today’s reading continues Paul’s extended discussion of law, sin, the flesh, and the Spirit. For Paul, “the flesh” is our human tendency towards self-centeredness and self-interest. “Sin” is our personal egoism that leads to “death” (both spiritual and physical). (Paul takes literally the story of Adam’s disobedience as the cause of human mortality.) Life in the Spirit leads to wholeness and Eternal Life. Paul uses “law” in diverse ways – in some places, it means the Jewish Law, but in other contexts it means a “way of living” as in “the law of the Spirit in the life of Christ Jesus” and “the law of sin and death” (v.2).

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

Today’s reading is the conclusion of the story of how Abraham’s servant – not named in Chapter 24, but thought to be Eliezer of Damascus (Gen. 15:2) – obtained a wife for Isaac by going back to Haran, the land from which Abraham came.

Because of the emphasis on Isaac’s not taking a wife from the Canaanites (v.37) and the references to God as YHWH (“LORD” in the NRSV), the story is attributed to the Deuteronomic writers (650 to 550 BCE).

Abraham’s servant did what everyone looking for a wife does – he went to a well where women draw water. (Jacob and Moses also met their wives this way.) He encountered Rebekah, who was Isaac’s first cousin, once removed. (Her father, Bethuel, was Isaac’s first cousin.) Rebekah answered Eliezer’s questions satisfactorily (v.46) and he brought her to Isaac to be his wife (v.67).

Zechariah 9:9-12

The Book of Zechariah is the longest and most obscure of the “Minor Prophets” (so called because their books are much shorter than the three “Major Prophets” – Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It has 14 chapters, and Chapters 9 to 14 are referred to as “An Oracle” – the superscription at the beginning of Chapter 9.

Today’s reading is one of the many (sometimes contradictory) descriptions of the anticipated Messiah found in the Hebrew Bible. The image here is a king who brings peace and rides on a donkey rather than on a war-horse. The king’s dominion is not only over Israel, but is from sea to sea, from “the River” (the Euphrates in northern Syria) to the ends of the earth (v.10).

The Hebrew Bible contains many parallelisms, and the description of the king “on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (v.9) is intended to describe one animal. The Gospel of Matthew (unlike Mark and Luke) treats the phrase as describing two animals (Matt.21.5).

Romans 7:15-25a

Paul’s letter to the Romans is his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) – about ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written.

Today’s reading is part of Paul’s extended discussion of the law, sin, the flesh, and the Spirit. As a First Century Jew, Paul saw the Jewish Law as “spiritual” (v.14). But as a Jesus Follower, he recognized that mere obedience to the Law would not lead to wholeness/salvation. Without the Spirit, even outward obedience to the Law could be a manifestation of “the flesh” (our human tendency towards self-centeredness and self-interest) that is grounded in sin (our personal egoism). Paul says it is through the Spirit that we can be rescued from “this body of death” (v.24).

Genesis 22:1-14

Today’s reading is the story of the Near Sacrifice of Isaac, known to Jews as the Akedah (the Binding – based on verse 9). In the Quran, the same story appears, but the son whom Abraham was called to sacrifice was Ishmael, not Isaac.

Isaac’s age is not known. He is old enough to carry the wood (v.6) and discuss what will be sacrificed (v. 7). In some translations, he is called Abraham’s “only” son (vv.2 and 12), but in other translations, the word “only” is omitted and Isaac is referred to as Abraham’s “beloved” son. This recognizes that Abraham had another son, Ishmael, by Hagar (Sarah’s servant).

Abraham is described as having the “fear of God” (v.12). In the Hebrew Scriptures, this is generally understood as active obedience to the will of God (as one best discerns God’s will).

Jeremiah 28:5-9

After the righteous King Josiah was killed in battle in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Babylonians deported some Judean leaders in 597 and a larger number of them in 586 (the beginning of the Babylonian Exile). Jeremiah’s prophesying (i.e. speaking for Yahweh) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.

Today’s reading is set in the period from 597 to 594 BCE. A false prophet, Hananiah, prophesied that the treasures from the Temple that were taken as spoils by the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, would be returned soon – even though Judah had not repented and Babylon was as strong as ever. In today’s verses and the ones that follow, Jeremiah says he hopes Hananiah’s prophesies would come true, but then denies that Hananiah has a commission from God and asserts that the Babylonians will enslave the Judeans.

Romans 6:12-23

Paul’s letter to the Romans is his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) – about ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written.

Today’s reading continues Paul’s discussion of the effects of Baptism (which joins us in the death of Christ Jesus and unites us with him in overcoming death through resurrection). In speaking of “sin” (rather than “sins”), Paul is referring to the human propensity to assert our own ego and power rather than living as “instruments of righteousness” (v.13) i.e. living in right relationships with God and others. When Paul refers negatively to “the law,” he expresses the view that mere obedience to rules will not bring about human wholeness or salvation or righteousness or Eternal Life, terms which Paul uses interchangeably.

Genesis 21:8-21

The word “Genesis” means “origin” and the Book of Genesis starts with Creation and concludes with the death of Joseph (Jacob’s son) in Egypt. The Book is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some as late as 450 BCE.

The verses before today’s reading tell of the conception of Isaac by the 90+ year old Sarah and his birth. (Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave, bore Abraham’s first son, Ishmael, 13 years earlier.)

Today’s account is part of an “etiology” – a story of origins – of non-Jewish Semitic peoples who claim their ancestral fatherhood through Ishmael. In the story, God says, “I will make a great nation of him” to Abraham (v. 13) and to Hagar (v.18).

Even though God urges Abraham to acquiesce to Sarah’s demand that he cast out the slave woman and her 15-year old son (v. 10), God hears Hagar’s lament (“Ishmael” means “God hears”) and protects both Hagar and Ishmael.

Muslims, based on the Quran, trace their religious roots to Abraham through Ishmael.

Jeremiah 20:7-13

After the righteous King Josiah was killed in battle in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Babylonians deported some Judeans in 597 and a larger number in 586 (the beginning of the Babylonian Exile). Jeremiah’s prophesy (i.e. speaking for Yahweh) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.

Today’s reading is one of Jeremiah’s laments in which he claims YHWH exerts such irresistible power over him that he cannot help but proclaim the unpopular message that unless the king and people reform, they will be overcome by Babylon and be in captivity. Notwithstanding his lament, Jeremiah expresses confidence in God’s protection for those who rely on YHWH (v. 13).

Romans 6:1b-11

Paul’s letter to the Romans is his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) – about ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written.

Today’s reading is a discussion by Paul of the effects of Baptism. In Baptism, we are united with Christ Jesus in his death, we will be united with him in resurrection (v. 5), and we should consider ourselves “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v.11). For Paul, “sin” (as contrasted with “sins”) can be understood as our human propensity to put ourselves and our egos in first place rather than (as Jesus did) having the good of others as our primary focus.

Genesis 18:1-15

The word “Genesis” means “origin” and the Book of Genesis starts with Creation and concludes with the death of Joseph (Jacob’s son) in Egypt. The Book is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some as late as 450 BCE.

Today’s reading is the account of three “men” (also identified as YHWH in verse 13) who came to Abraham’s tent at Mamre (whose oaks were regarded as oracles). They predicted that Sarah (who was over 90 years old) would have a son in a year. Sarah’s laughed. This anticipated the name of her son, Isaac (which means “he laughs”). Abraham’s hospitality to the three sacred figures was overwhelming: an entire calf and three “measures” of flour (about 63 quarts of flour).

Exodus 19:2-8a

Exodus, the second book of the Bible, covers the slavery in Egypt under Pharaoh (around 1250 BCE, if the account is historical), the Exodus itself, and early months in the Wilderness.

Today’s reading is from the Priestly writer – shown by the emphasis on precise dates. The events occurred “on the very day” of the third new moon after leaving Egypt, the day the Israelites reached Sinai. (The holy mountain is called “Horeb” by other writers – for example, Ex. 3:1.)

YHWH proposed a conditional covenant to Moses and the Israelites (“If you obey my voice” v.5), and all the people responded that they would do all that YHWH had spoken (v.8). This event is the basis in Judaism for the Feast of Pentecost (Ex. 23.16).

Romans 5:1-8

Paul’s letter to the Romans is his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) – about ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written.

Paul uses some words that are difficult for us. He says we are “justified” in verse 1. This means living in “righteousness” or in a right relationship with God and others – being “justified” as a page of type is “justified” when the margins are square on both the left and the right.

Paul’s use of “faith” (v.1) is better understood as “faithfulness” because the Greek word has an active aspect. Today, “Faith” is often understood as intellectual assent to one or more propositions. “Faithfulness” is active living into one’s beliefs through grace and trust in God.

Paul was a Jew who became a Jesus Follower (the term “Christian” hadn’t been invented in his lifetime). All during Paul’s life, animal sacrifices at the Jerusalem Temple were a way Jews were reconciled to YHWH. This continued until the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE – after Paul’s death. It is therefore not surprising that Paul uses “sacrifice” language to interpret the meaning of the Crucifixion: “Christ died for us” (v.8); we are “justified by his blood” (v. 9).