Daily Lectionary | Genesis 9 & John 5:1-25
Genesis 9
Summary
Like the command given to Adam and Eve, the Lord tells Noah and his sons, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” Just as humanity was the pinnacle of creation on day 6 in Genesis 1, placed over the animal kingdom, the same is true in this new creation. But there’s something new: now every moving thing shall be food (Gen. 9:3). The only requirement in this now carnivorous situation is that they do not eat raw flesh with its blood (Gen. 9:4). In this new situation where animal life may be taken, so also may man’s life be taken for just purposes: “And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will remit and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of a man” (Gen. 9:5). If someone sheds blood, justice requires his blood be shed “for God made man in his image.”
The Lord unpacks the covenant, first mentioned in Gen. 6:18, with Noah and his family. The Lord gives a covenant promise: “Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Gen. 9:10), and a covenant sign, a bow in the clouds. When the Lord sees this bow, he will “remember” his covenant promise. This covenant promise and sign has a wider application: it’s for everyone. “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between men and all flesh that is on earth” (Gen. 9:17). Everyone will be under this covenant promise and sign.
Wine is associated with Sabbath rest and kingly rule. Noah plants a vineyard (like a new Garden of Eden!) and enjoys the fruit of vine. Noah has laid aside his garments and relaxes in privacy. Enjoying the fruit of the vine, he is “naked and unashamed.” But Ham, like the serpent in the original garden, is up to no good. Perhaps he sees an opportunity for a coup and seizes upon his father’s vulnerable state in an attempt to take his rule. He, of course, is rebuked, and his brothers put the robe (representing his authority and rule) on Noah in a way that doesn’t bring shame.
Reflection Questions
1. The Lord has just brought judgment on the world, and now he gives permission for all animal life to be food for man and for capital punishment. Why does the Lord command this now?
2. Think about the rainbow (or “war bow”) as a sign of God’s covenant promise. How do covenant signs work? What does it mea for God to “remember’ his covenant promises? What covenant signs do we have by which God remembers his promises to us?
John 5:1-25
The creation week in Genesis 1 concludes with a Sabbath rest. In John, the Word is agent a new creation the Lord is bringing about in the world—we should suspect the Word will bring a true Sabbath to the world. But on a particularly, Sabbath, Jesus “works” by healing a lame man. This infuriates the Jews. Jesus makes them even more furious by claiming that he is working in accordance with his Father’s will. The Jews understood clearly that Jesus was claiming equality with God. Jesus is merely performing the works of the Father, and all who believe Jesus’ word believes in his Father. There will be even greater works to come!
1. How does Jesus bring true Sabbath in this passage?
2. How does Jesus describe his relationship with his Father?