Daily Lectionary | Genesis 26 & John 14:1-14
Genesis 26
Summary
For the third time in Genesis, we have a story of a husband telling his wife to say she is his sister as they journey in a foreign land. Like the first event in Genesis 12, the situation in Genesis 26 comes about because there was a famine in the land. Whereas Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 12 went to Egypt, here the Lord tells Isaac not to go into Egypt. In Genesis 20, Abraham comes into the territory of Gerar and meets Abimelech. Now, in Genesis 26, Isaac is in the territory of Gerar again and encounters a new Abimelech.
As in the two previous episodes, the wife takes the role of sister in a deceptive ploy to protect both husband and wife, and thus preserve the covenant line.
The Lord reiterates his covenant promise to Isaac twice in the chapter (Gen. 26:2-4; 23-24).
Each time the patriarch calls his wife his sister, and thus protects the bride, he comes out of the situation with God’s blessings, richer than before in material wealth. Isaac becomes very wealthy in Gerar.
Isaac faces challenges in the land of the Philistines, however, as they keep plugging up his wells. Wells, as we’ve seen, take us back to the watery springs of Eden and speak to fertility and blessing. If Abraham is known for building altars, then Isaac is known for building wells.
Isaac builds a well and calls it Rehoboth, a name which indicates he now has room in the land.
Abimelech continues to see Isaac’s prosperity makes a covenant with Isaac: he sees that Isaac is blessed of Yaweh. They confirm their covenant of peace with meal, and Isaac departs in peace.
The prosperity continues at the end of the chapter with Isaac discovering another well called Shibah, and it became the site for the city of Beersheba.
Reflection Questions
Consider the theme of wells in this chapter. Why are they important? What do they symbolize?
John 14:1-14
Summary
John 14 continues the dialogue with Jesus and his disciples that started in chapter 13. At the end of chapter 13, Peter asks Jesus where he is going.
Now, Jesus tells the disciples he is going to prepare a place for his followers: “That where I am you may also be” (Jn 14:4). Jesus is going to his Father’s house. John uses the term Father’s house one other time in John 2:16 to refer to the temple. Jesus has tied his mission directly to the temple and its fate. Jesus is the true temple, the dwelling place of Yaweh, the intersection of heaven and earth. And Jesus says that he will build a new kind of temple (Jn. 2:19). He goes to prepare this dwelling, and it will come by way of his cross and resurrection.
Jesus is paving the way for his disciples to follow him. His Father’s house that he is preparing, this new temple dwelling place, will be open only for those who follow him--he is the “way, the truth, and the life.” No one gets to dwell in the Father’s house except through Jesus.
The temple was the dwelling place of Yaweh, but Jesus replaces that, and what’s more: he’s the full and final revelation of Yaweh. Philip says, “Show us the Father.” Jesus says that if you’ve seen Jesus you’ve seen the Father. The Father dwells in Jesus just as the Father dwelled in the temple.
Reflection Questions
What does Jesus ask us to believe in this chapter?
How does Jesus show himself to be the way, the truth, and the life--the only way to the Father (Jn. 14:6)?