Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7)
Lectionary Reading: Proper 6 Year A RCL
The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”
[The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” 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.”]
Abraham And Sarah, The New Adam And Eve
I read this passage more than once and it makes more sense to assume that “The Lord” is not one of the three men. But I think that the “three men” may have been angels that were going on to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. So I picture it to be like Abraham is aware of the Lord’s presence and realizes that these three men are not ordinary sojourners. He figures out that they are angels of the Lord. And as all that is transpiring during their stay, Abraham is aware of the Lord like a ghost that only he can see and hear. In verse 13 it reads that the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh…” the Lord is talking to Abraham and not Sarah because Abraham is the one who hears the Lord.
Now these “three men” may have also been more than just angels. They may have been Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I wonder that because of the significance of what is happening here. A promise and a covenant are being re-instated. Abraham and Sarah are the new Adam and Eve. They are the chosen couple for God to re-establish His line. God’s chosen people, a people to represent to the world what life lived in faith and the presence of God is like. Male and female and community living a life of trusting in the Lord and receiving His blessings.
Sarah’s conception of Issac is no less miraculous than Mary’s conception of Jesus. Just trying to imagine the news of a woman close to 100 years old who never bore a child, hasn’t had a period in over 50 years, has given birth to a son and is nursing him?!!! That is the kind of news that is on the front page of the National Enquirer! We all would assume it’s fake. Issac who becomes the father of Jacob who is then the father of Judah and also of the twelve tribes of Israel, correlates with Christ and the twelve apostles. Joseph, Mary’s husband is genealogically traced to Abraham (Matthew 1:1-17)
God was not just showing off here. This is God continuing to be true to His promises, His nature and His plan for mankind. This is not God showing favoritism to one people over another. This is God choosing one man and one woman to become a great nation showing mankind how to live in community with one another trusting in the Lord, loving as He loves, accepting His generous provision as all that we need. God does not give up on his plan for us despite how we rebel against Him. His plan for mankind finds its fulfillment in Christ and we, His church, His followers represent to all of mankind that same life of faith that has been the plan from the beginning. Male and female, made in the image of God, living in a garden, trusting in God to provide all that we need as we tend to all that He has created, seeing in His creation the goodness of the Creator and loving Him as we love one another.