Day 1 (Monday)
Genesis 30:25-43; 31:1-21 (Jacob Prospers, Flees from Laban)
Last week we saw Jacob “succeed” in the task his father had given him, and gain a wife from the daughters of Laban, his uncle. In fact, we saw him “gain” two wives, and two concubines, and in the course of time gain 11 sons and 1 daughter, and a great deal of anger and tension between all of them, which will be the source of both much grief and much growth and opportunity for repentance for Jacob, and all his household. But much of that is in the future; for the present, we will see Jacob prosper in his possessions, and finally leave Laban’s “employ,” and begin his return to the Promised Land, the land of his birth.
Jacob Prospers at Laban’s Expense
25 When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know very well the service I have given you.” 27 But Laban said to him, “If you will allow me to say so, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you; 28 name your wages, and I will give it.” 29 Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me. 30 For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly; and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?”
31 He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything; if you will do this for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it: 32 let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. 33 So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.”
34 Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” 35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in charge of his sons; 36 and he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was pasturing the rest of Laban’s flock.
37 Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods. 38 He set the rods that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39 the flocks bred in front of the rods, and so the flocks produced young that were striped, speckled, and spotted.
40 Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and the completely black animals in the flock of Laban; and he put his own droves apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. 41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob laid the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the rods, 42 but for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there; so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. 43 Thus the man grew exceedingly rich, and had large flocks, and male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.
Jacob Flees with Family and Flocks
31 Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s; he has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” 2 And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him as favorably as he did before. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your ancestors and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” 4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was, 5 and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me as favorably as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. 6 You know that I have served your father with all my strength; 7 yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me. 8 If he said, ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore speckled; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. 9 Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father, and given them to me.
10 “During the mating of the flock I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats that leaped upon the flock were striped, speckled, and mottled. 11 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12 And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the goats that leap on the flock are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and return to the land of your birth.’”
14 Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house? 15 Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us. 16 All the property that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you.”
17 So Jacob arose, and set his children and his wives on camels; 18 and he drove away all his livestock, all the property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
19 Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods. 20 And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. 21 So he fled with all that he had; starting out he crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should explain that the deal Jacob offered to Laban is that he will first remove all the striped/speckled animals from the flock, and then continue to care for the solid colored animals only, and that whatever is born striped/speckled FROM THAT POINT ON will be his wages. Jacob offers to go through and remove the striped/speckled animals himself, but Laban, whose mind clearly runs to cheating, does it himself. Jacob is clearly not above some efforts to drive the natural processes toward his own profit, but in stacking the deck against himself, he is in fact entrusting himself to the Lord’s care, and it is notable that, at the end of today’s reading, he gives the glory to God for this, and not to his own techniques. The Leader should also note what Leah and Rachel have to say about their father; they are not impressed by him, and have no remaining loyalty to him. In their voices, and in our own reading of the text, we can see that Laban is unjust, and Jacob has become righteous through patient suffering of injustice, and that God has rewarded him, and is bringing justice to Laban.)
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. Macarius 12 – On Being Poor in Spirit
St. Macarius was an ascetic in the Egyptian desert in the 4th century, and was among the most renowned of those early ascetics of the Church. He is thought to have been a disciple of St. Anthony the Great, and many stories are told of his holiness and wisdom. To him are attributed the Fifty Spiritual Homilies, one of the treasures of the Church on the spiritual life. On an academic and historical basis, this attribution is usually questioned, with the authorship of these homilies being attributed to a Syrian monastic of some decades later, perhaps by the name of Symeon. However, the authority and accuracy of these homilies is beyond dispute in the Church, and they are treasured by all those who seek to walk the path of prayer and repentance. This homily includes a question on how someone who is doing well in the spiritual life can be poor in spirit. St. Makarios’ answer is instructive.
Makarios, Homily 12
“Question: How can anyone be poor in spirit, especially when he is inwardly conscious that he has changed and has made progress and has come to a knowledge and understanding which he did not possess before?
Answer: Until a man acquires these things and makes progress, he is not poor in spirit, but has some opinion of himself.
But when he comes to this understanding and reaches this point of progress, grace itself teaches him to be poor in spirit, which means that a man being righteous and chosen of God does not esteem himself to be anything, but holds his soul in abasement and disregard, as if he knew nothing and had nothing, though indeed he knows and has. This is something like a law of nature imprinted in the mind. Do you not see how our forefather Abraham, elect as he was, described himself as dust and ashes (Gen. 18:27), and David, anointed to be king, had God with him, and yet what does he say? I am a worm and no man, a very scorn of men, and the outcast of the people (Ps. 21:6).
Those therefore who desire to be fellow heirs with such saints as these and to become fellow-citizens of the heavenly city and to be glorified with them ought to have this humility of mind, not thinking themselves to be anything, but always keeping their heart contrite. Though grace works differently in each individual Christian and has a diversity of members, yet all are of one city, of the same mind, of the same tongue, recognizing one another. As there are many members in the body, but one soul is in them all and moves them, so one Spirit works differently in all Christians, but they are of one city and of one way.
All the righteous have walked the straight and narrow way, being persecuted, tormented, reviled, living in goatskins, in dens, and caves of the earth (Heb. 11:37). The apostles likewise say, Even unto this hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and reviled, and have no certain dwelling-place (1 Cor. 4:11).
Some of them were beheaded, some crucified, others afflicted in various ways. And the Lord of the prophets and apostles Himself, did He not live on earth as if He had forgotten His divine glory? He was made an example for us; He wore in mockery a crown of thorns upon His head; He submitted to spitting, buffets, and the Cross.
If God so fared on earth, you ought also to imitate Him.
The apostles and the prophets fared thus, and we, if we would be built upon the foundation of the Lord and of the apostles, ought to copy them. The apostle says by the Holy Spirit, Be ye imitators of me, as I am of Christ (1 Cor. 11:). But if you love to receive glory from men and desire that people bow down to you, and if you seek the pleasures of the flesh, you are on the wrong path. It is to your benefit to be crucified with the Crucified, to suffer with Him that suffered, so that you may be glorified with Him that is glorified. The bride must suffer with the Bridegroom and so become a partner and fellow heir with Christ. Without sufferings and without the rough, straight, narrow way, it is impossible to enter into the city of the saints and be at rest and reign with the King to ages without end.”
A. J. Mason, Fifty Spiritual Homilies of St. Macarius the Egyptian, Translations of Christian Literature: Series I: Greek Texts (London; New York: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; The Macmillan Company, 1921), 90–91.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader, besides reflecting on the obvious importance of humility, poverty, and faithfulness outlined here, might point out the connection to Jacob that we see so far. When he was young, he sought to gain status and power and wealth by trickery. His trickery gained him 20 years of hard service to his father-in-law; in the course of this, finally, he has entrusted himself to the Lord, and now has learned to give glory to God. If even Jacob can learn to be truly poor in spirit, then perhaps we can learn the same.)
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)
John 4:1-15 (Jesus & the Woman of Samaria)
Last week we saw the disciples of John the Baptist complain to him about Jesus’ preaching, and heard once more from the Forerunner as he bore witness to the Lord, the Bridegroom of the Church. In this, although we have hardly seen the Lord begin to preach, we see John affirming that everything has changed completely now that the Savior has come. This time, we will see the Lord leave Judea and go back to Galilee, passing through Samaria as He goes.
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
4 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” 2 —although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized— 3 he left Judea and started back to Galilee. 4 But he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
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 the flow of this story; Jesus begins simply by asking for water. This is a significant thing to do at Jacob’s well, as we have seen and understood in reading the story of Isaac and Rebecca, and then of Jacob and Rachel. To ask for water in this context is to highlight what we will see next week, that this Samaritan woman is at a very different point in life than were either Rebecca or Rachel; either way, it is significant that Jesus is even talking to this woman, simply because He is a Jew, and she is a Samaritan. The hatred between these two peoples goes back to the split between Judah and Israel in the days of King Solomon’s son, and was only heightened by the destruction in ~110 B.C. of the Samaritan Temple on Mt. Gerizim by John Hyrcanus, the nephew of Judas Maccabeus. These points set the context for what will follow next week.)
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?