Genesis 28:10-19a

The lectionary skipped over some more coniving by Jacob, with the help of Rebekah. In Chapter 27, An old and blind Isaac calls his son Esau to prepare to take his blessing. First he must prepare a feast. And again Esau is off hunting and Jacob plays trickster and receives the blessing. Words had magical powers, so even when Esau returned and told his father what had happened, it couldn't be undone. He has to give him a lesser blessing, one that includes serving his decietful brother, but also something about at some point "throwing his yoke from off your neck". With some reminders to be prejudiced of other tribes, Jacob flees in fear of his brother's wrath.

And in this week's lection, we find out the prophecies and the blessings for Jacob are in line with God's plan. God has no comment on Jacob's behaviors or values regarding family. Jacob awakes and proclaims his surprise that he's received the very thing he ruined his relationship with his brother to get. In a Jewish midrash, Jacob attempts to climb the ladder (which might be more like stairs depending the translation) but they are never ending, he tires and never gets to heaven. For Christians, some say John 1:51 is claiming Jesus is the one who can ascend and descend this mythical ladder.

Clearly, Jacob has found the land he was promised, and it's right near a gate to heaven. The half verse, "and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and your offspring" leaves some ambiguity. Will his offspring become the only families of the earth, or will they be in charge of the other famlies? If other families are "blessed" by his, does that make them like good parents or as masters over slaves? Given how Jacob has treated his own family, I'm not too optimistic about this. His final act here is an ancient ritual of anointing a stone to mark the spot. This seems like some sort of idol to me, but I guess he gets a pass since the 10 commandments haven't come down yet.

Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19

Despite the title, this was not written by Solomon, at least according to the Catholic Enyclopedia. It is sometimes called the Book of Wisdom. Your Bible might not even contain this book. Its content indicates it was written during the Hellenistic period, 2nd or 1st century BC. But it was not written by Greeks, it was Jews living within the Greek world. In this passage, they are trying to figure out why God would leave them in this subordinate position.

The answer is a God that, as from the beginning, is in charge of everything. That includes the sinners and unbelievers and those not descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Those other people are "spared". He judges, but with "mildness", and never forget He can wield his power whenever he wants. He gives repentance, but you're still a sinner. This is such a fine line. If you are truly in a position of strength, there is a responsibility to use that strength with wisdom, to not strike unless absolutely necessary and to be careful not to show weakness. If you are leading with fairness and justice, then your strength will be supported. In this case however, these people are not in that position. Their threats are hollow. For a number of reasons, they are not in charge, righteous or not. These words sound more like a tough guy who has yet to beat the tougher guy. They sound like people who might have some good ideas, but haven't proven themselves yet.

Romans 8:12-25

It's certainly possible to put a positive spin on this, but I don't know how you could without ignoring the definition of "hope" that Paul is giving you here. You're going to be set free, redeemed, glorified, those sound good. But to do that, you have to get rid of that pesky flesh. Whatever you see now, whatever you are suffering, can't compare to what you're going to get. He gets you on the edge of your seat with anticipation, "groaning in labor pains", but ends with a call for patience. He says you can't see what you are hoping for and asks rhetorically, "For who hopes for what is seen?" If he is simply saying that; if you can see it, then you can strive for that, you can also see the path to it, so that's not hope, that's work, that's setting a goal. But he's not talking about something that is beyond the horizon, or something you've only heard of, or something you have imagined that is within the normal frame of the possible. He's talking about something that has been promised for thousands of years in stories and has absolutely no solid evidence for existing or possibly existing.

He's not suggesting any normal manner of taking steps toward improving your current situation, he's saying you have to die to get it. The "put to death the deeds of the body" phrase could be a symbolic death, but later he says all of creation is going to decay to obtain this feedom he speaks of. Our bodies seem to be in the way of this Spirit, not some sort of vessel or instrument to achieve an end. We don't have a life to live, to enjoy, to sow then harvest fruits, instead, we are "subjected to futility". Sure, life is hard, then you die. In between birth and death, there is possibility. Paul had some kind of problem with his body and Christianity has suffered for it.

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Evil, the devil, and a place where you go to be punished are not explicitly mentioned in the Old Testament. You'll find snakes and evil people, but this is some Greek symbolism getting worked in to a Jewish story. Burning in hell is not explicitly mentioned in the New Testament, that will come centuries later, but you can see where they got it. The symbolism of weeds and separating needs no explanation, especially since Jesus himself clarifies it for you. This can apply to last weeks parable about planting too.

The only positive thing I can get from this, and many Christians do see it this way, is that Jesus is telling us that we are not the ones who should be "collecting" these "children of the evil one". If we try, we might get it wrong, as anyone who has tried weeding their garden too early and accidentally pulled up their vegetables knows.