Tag: Jacob and Esau

Through the Bible in a Year – January 13

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The Scheme for January and February can be found here

Genesis 27-28; John 10; Psalm 18:31-50

Once more the rich interplay between the texts reveal the unity of Scripture – that it is of a whole

Firstly though we are warned once more of the significance of the Word. We find the story of Isaac, Jacob and Esau so strange because, to our peril we have lost sight of the Creative word. The idea that Blessings and curses are ‘more than mere words’, is beyond us. The idea that Isaac is Fast Bound by his giving of the blessing to Jacob, even though he has been deceived – even though Lying words have been used to bring forth the blessing, seems to us a nonsense. How infrequently do we now hear in our culture the praise ‘He is a man of his word’. We are often called to promise, but we no longer think a promise binds. Thus we have let go of the building blocks of Life. It is little surprise that we are lost without a Shepherd.

Jacob as he flees Esau is privileged to find ‘The house of God’ – the dwelling place where God is present to humankind once more. This ‘dream’ dimly evokes Eden, but also heralds the Tabernacle, the Temple and The Living Temple – a crescendo of Grace.

So comes the Good Shepherd. It was a difficult task to find adequate artwork for this. All the pictures are highly sentimentalised. It is to our romantic imagination, a ‘nice’ idea. But the Good Shepherd as revealed in John’s entire corpus,  is a figure of the profoundest Mystery. He is the Shepherd, who also is The Lamb of God, slain since the foundation of the world, who is also the Temple.

“For who is God except the LORD? Who is a Rock besides our God?”

Through the Bible in a Year – January 12

theelvesareheadingwestLeave a comment

The Scheme for January and February can be found here

Genesis 25-26; John 9; Psalm 18:1-30

As we have followed the story of the Patriarchs we have also been following in the footsteps of Christ. Here, in this pivotal chapter of John’s gospel,  the ministry of Jesus reveals many of the themes of the Life alluded to in and through the LORD’s relationship with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Primarily that of Faith and Sight. the Pharisees are offended by what they see with their eyes and hear, and that offence drives them to unbelief. Paradoxically it is the blind who see and those who trust to sight are blind.

Some of that seeing we get a sense of if we understand the ‘allegorical’ way of reading scripture – that its true meaning, like the Life revealed in Christ, lies hidden. Note how often Jesus disappears in the gospel of John, only to reveal himself as he chooses. The early church fathers understood this way of reading scripture well. It is no clumsy allegory, where ‘This is That!’ – rather it is a way of recognising the life of God hidden in the deep intertextuality of the Scriptures, of how Christ is made plain, as to those on the Emmaus road, in the Old Testament. We have no need to ‘read between the lines’ of a single text to fill in our own meanings. If we will but read between the lines given us, of the Old and the New, there are many hidden treasures

For more on this approach to Scripture, especially early in our exploring and in the Calendar year, you may wish to consider this blog article by Father Stephen Freeman on The Baptism of Christ.

There are many other things worth pondering in our readings today – but I shall just briefly consider two. Firstly that the theme of God continuing to work in the highly ambiguous details of his children is magnificently portrayed in the story of Jacob and Esau. How is it that even through ‘he who deceives’, God’s story continues?

Secondly we note how there is a repetitive element in the tale. As we shall see, the metaphor of the bride at the well is played out once more in the life of Jacob as it was in Isaac, and here Isaac’s relationship with Abimelech parallels that of Abram’s double deceit regarding his wife. The Patriarchs continually disown their wives out of fear . . . perhaps it is not surprising that when The Groom comes to the Well to offer the Water of Life, he finds one who has no husband . . .

Ambiguity and allegory at play. Playfulness which is a source of Creative Life [cf Proverbs 8:30 in some translations]