Abraham does not believe.
He doesn't believe that either he or Sarah are capable of having a child
and why should he believe that? He
doesn't believe so much that he implores the Lord to bless Ishmael. (It was probably a good thing Sarah didn't
hear that exchange.) The Lord says no to
that particular request, He will bless Ishmael and make him a great nation but
the covenant will not be through Ishmael it will be through a son whom Sarah
will bear and his name is to be called Isaac, he laughs. Abraham had laughed at the idea of this child
and Isaac would be a reminder of this day but more than that he will be the one
to bring laughter and joy to Abraham and Sarah.
That day Abraham took all the men in his company, and we were just told
that there at least 318 of them, and circumcised them all in keeping with the
covenant. They all didn't, however,
participate fully in the covenant did they?
Not if it was passed through Isaac.
Under the Law that would come through Moses we will see that there was
always one law in the land for both Jews and foreigners dwelling among
them. That is the situation here with
circumcision, if you want to live among covenant people, you must share in
obedience to it.
In contrast to the Pharisees and Sadducees we saw yesterday
who would not believe, today there is a large multitude, apparently headed to
Jerusalem for Passover, who are following Jesus because of the signs they saw
Him doing on the sick. They are believing
because of what they see. No one,
however, not even the disciples, believes Jesus can do anything to feed this
crowd. All He does is take what they
have, offer it to the Lord, and a miraculous sign happens, everyone is fed. The people see the sign and interpret the
sign to mean that the Prophet who is to come into the world is here. Again, that Prophet was the one like Moses
that Moses said would come and to whom they were to listen. He has fed them just as Moses did in the
wilderness, but they have seen signs in healing the sick that didn't fit
completely with Moses, He is more than that Prophet. Because they want to make Him king, Jesus
slips away, His time has not come and He will not be king for this work.
In what way did Jesus' sacrifice take away sins that was not
possible for animal sacrifice? I think
there are two ways possible, one of which we don't fully appreciate. The writer points to Pentecost as one of the
ways, we have been given a new heart through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
a heart on which is written God's law, not simply to prick our consciences when
we transgress but also to direct and guide us to do the right things, to keep
the law. The second way is appreciated
only if you understand the sacrificial system.
For a person to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin is a shock to the
system. You can grow accustomed to
offering animals, it is a relatively impersonal transaction, but human
sacrifice is something quite different.
If the person who did so were known to you, a friend, who took your
crimes and died in your place, it gets real in a hurry. He is king, but His earthly throne is a cross
and His crown is a crown of thorns. He
is what draws us together in faith, what He has done for us. He has made our lives an offering and a
sacrifice to God and we can lay them down in the sure and certain hope of
eternal life because of His resurrection from the dead.