Second Sunday in Lent; 25 February 2024; Lent 2B (RCL); Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Psalm 22:22-30; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38.
In our Old Testament readings this Lent, we seem to be on a march through stories of various covenants between God and God’s creation. Last week, it was the covenant with Noah and all living creatures of all flesh on the earth. This week, it is a restatement, or renewal, or revision of the covenant between God and Abram, first established in Genesis 15. Here God renames Abraham, and in verses we don’t read, requires circumcision. Abram means something like revered ancestor. Abraham something like ancestor of many nations (or so the narrative tells us). This will happen through Sarai, now Sarah, not through Hagar.
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