Day 1 (Monday)
Genesis 21:1-7 (Birth of Isaac)
Last time, we saw the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah, and how Lot and his family were saved from the judgment that God brought down upon the evil of those cities, even though they were reluctant to leave. Immediately before, God had come to Abraham and Sarah and had promised them that the long-promised son would be born within a year. This time, we will finally see this promise come to pass.
The Birth of Isaac
21 The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. 2 Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” 7 And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that the name Isaac means “laughter,” which refers both to Sarah’s own laughter in amazement that God had promised something so impossible as that, and also the strange reality that she, in her old age, had the joy and laughter of being a new mother. We may say, as well, that this reflects more broadly the truth that God is giving joy and laughter to those who labor and are heavily laden with sorrows in this fallen world, and is bringing restoration and healing through this birth of Isaac, and through the great plan of salvation that He is beginning with Isaac’s birth. It should go without saying that Isaac’s birth very much foreshadows the still more miraculous birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to the Virgin Mary, which we are of course preparing to celebrate at this time.)
2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?
3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?
Day 2 (Wednesday)
St. John Chrysostom on the Birth of Isaac
We have read a fair bit from St. John Chrysostom, and generally he is very down to earth and to the point. When speaking about this story, however, he provides a different perspective, and it is worth hearing this idea and reflecting on what it means.
St. John Chrysostom on the Birth of Isaac
Do you wish to learn the symbolic meaning of Sarah’s sterility? The church was to bring forth the multitude of believers. In order, therefore, that you may not find incredible how one who was childless, fruitless and barren could have given birth, she who by nature was barren went ahead, paving the way for chosen sterility, and Sarah became a type of the church. For just as she gave birth in her old age when she was barren, so too the church, though barren, has given birth for these, the final times.”
Mark Sheridan, ed., Genesis 12–50, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 90.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should communicate that this passage comes from a sermon entitled “Do Not Despair,” in which the saint is urging those who are conscious of their sins to repent in confidence that the Lord will raise them up. Thus he speaks of the Church as being barren, and yet giving life again, because he is preaching TO a church fill of people who recognize themselves to be barren of the virtues, and is assuring them that Sarah provides them with an example of God’s mercy and power, to bring life even out of such barrenness. Thus they should not despair of their sins, but rather repent, and be born anew into life, in a metaphorical way, out of the apparent barrenness of the Church to which St. John was preaching, being full of sinful and broken people. The entire sermon is available online at the following link, and is worth reading for those who have time to benefit from the entirety of St. John exhortation. As a side note, the website that we are linking here has many helpful resources, but also many that can be misleading and over-legalistic, so caution is strongly recommended: http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/homily_stjohnchrysostom1.aspx)
2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?
3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?
Day 3 (Friday)
Matthew 8:1-17 (Jesus Cleanses a Leper, Heals Many)
Last week, we finished the Sermon on the Mount, as Jesus taught His disciples an entirely different way of seeing the world and living their lives. The basic theme of the sermon was that we are created and called to be citizens of the kingdom of God, not of the kingdoms of this world, and that we must therefore seek first the kingdom of God, if we seek to find fulfillment, peace, and everlasting joy. This week, we will see the Lord descend from the mountain, and continue His ministry.
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
8 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; 2 and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.” 3 He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant
5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.” 8 The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.”
10 When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.” And the servant was healed in that hour.
Jesus Heals Many at Peter’s House
14 When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever; 15 he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should note that the leper and the centurion exemplify for us what it looks like to entrust ourselves to the Lord, seeking Him first, above all other things. The leper is more what we would expect of someone transformed by the Lord, as he is poor and sick, an exile from his family and city, and therefore it is easy for him to cast himself at the Lord’s mercy. The centurion is more surprising, as he possesses wealth and power, and yet he comes to the Lord asking for His help, rather than going elsewhere. We see in him a beautiful example of how we should approach the Lord; the centurion does not believe he deserves the Lord’s help, but he asks for it anyway, and entrusts himself to the Lord’s will. And therefore he both receives what he asks, and is praised as an example of faith.)
2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?
3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?