Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
March 30, 2023
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Genesis 17:3-9
Today we hear God outlining his relationship with Abraham. Abraham would be father to a host of nations. He would be extremely productive. God would give him the land of Canaan. God would enter into a covenant with Abraham and his descendants.
For the Jews there was nobody like Abraham. He was the father of them all–God’s man par excellence. Abraham gave Israel its identity.
One of the reasons why the leaders of the people wanted to do away with Jesus is because Jesus claimed to be someone more than Abraham–someone who preceded Abraham, someone who brought joy and meaning to Abraham. Claims like these made Jesus totally unacceptable to the leaders of his time. That’s one reason they tried to stone him.
