Descendants and Covenants

Wednesday, June 28th Gospel Reflection

In the first reading, Abram had a vision from God. God told Abram, “Fear not!” to which Abram returns God’s command with a request for clarification on the specific way in which God would provide his greatest desire – an heir. God responds by showing Abram the stars and telling him, “Just so shall your descendants be.” Abram then put his faith in the LORD, “who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.” (Gen 15:5-6) Not only would Abram have an heir but land would be set aside for him and his descendants specifically.

If one reads through the entirety of the Old Testament, Abram’s people do not have a fairy-tale life. Abram (Abraham) has Isaac who has Jacob and Esau – feuding brothers. Jacob steals his big brother Esau’s birthright at the behest and cunning of his mother, then runs to his uncle Laban’s house to avoid Esau’s wrath. There he finds Rachel and works seven years for his uncle in order to marry her, only to find out that Laban lied and disguised the older sister (Leah) as Rachel on the wedding night. Jacob, understanding the nuances of oldest children and birthright thievery, worked another seven years for Rachel. Between Leah, Rachel’s servant, and Rachel, Jacob bore twelve sons. The same sons who threw the favorite, Joseph - the firstborn of Rachel, into a cistern and then sold him as a slave.

The descendants of these twelve sons would become the slaves of Egypt and also the lineage of Moses . . . and also the lineage of Jesus. Despite the familial drama, God was faithful to His covenant with Abram. Abram’s descendants were as numerous as the stars and the Promised Land was theirs. And in His complete faithfulness, fulfilled an everlasting covenant through His son Jesus. The New Covenant under Jesus no longer required circumcision but baptism of water and the spirit. The fruits of the Abrahamic ancestral line were fulfilled in Christ and opened to the Gentiles. Our lineage now comes directly from the ‘Abba’ Father. The Catechism states: “We can adore the Father because he has caused us to be reborn to his life by adopting us as his children in his only Son: by Baptism, he incorporates us into the Body of his Christ; through the anointing of his Spirit who flows from the head to the members, he makes us other "Christs." (CCC, 2782)

And this is how we will know the false prophets from the true. The other “Christs” will exhibit the fruits. Just as the Israelites knew each other by their ancestral line, Christians know each other by the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Gal 5:22-23) “Grapes are not picked from thornbushes nor figs from thistles. Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit . . . So [FEAR NOT!] by their fruits you will know them.” (Mt 7:16-18; 20) This ancestry with Christ is our New Covenant. And our Promised Land is life with the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen.