Bible Study: Lent 2 (C) – March 16, 2025

RCL: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:31-35

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

This passage from Genesis is part of the origin story of the people of the ancient tribes of Israel. In ancient times, when this was part of an oral tradition and then later written down, it served to tell the people how they came to live in and possess the land. It is also a spiritual origin story, telling the ancient Israelites how they came to be in relationship with their God. For thousands of years, this story has been part of how people of the Abrahamic faiths have understood the beginnings of their respective covenantal relationships with God.

Abram was anxious about how the future that God promised him would come to pass. In his anxiety, he doubted whether the blessings of God would really be given to him. In this moment of fear, God asked Abram to make a sacrifice. In response to Abram’s sacrifice, God blessed Abram and his unborn descendants. While those of us who are Christians living in the United States may not have much of a relationship with the land spoken of in the Scriptures, we are still in the line of covenantal relationships that started with Abram. As heirs of his spiritual lineage, God’s promise of mercy is extended to us as an inheritance. And like Abram, we are asked by God to offer what we hold dear, even in those moments of our anxiety and doubt, to give back to the one who has given us everything, in recognition of our dependence upon his mercy and grace. He will continue to bless us in ways that we may find hard to imagine or understand.

• In this season of Lent, what is God asking you to sacrifice so that you might be blessed and be a blessing to others?
• In your own life, when you were anxious about the future, how did God bless you in unexpected ways?

Psalm 27

In the Psalms, we find the expression of almost every human emotion. In this psalm, we hear the author expressing his confidence that the Lord will save him from those who seek to do him harm. Beneath this confidence, we also hear the fear of one who is surrounded by his enemies, one living through war. The psalmist has been let down or betrayed by his closest family and he pleads with God not to turn away from him in his time of trouble. He expresses his trust in God to save him, he glorifies God and asks God to be present for him. There is a tension here between his faith in God and his almost overwhelming fear of the outcome if God does not save him. He seems to be speaking as much to comfort his own spirit that trembles within him as he is to God, to remind himself of his faith in the face of his fear.

• What times of adversity have you experienced during which you have found strength in your relationship with God?
• How have you experienced the emotions expressed by the psalmist?

Philippians 3:17-4:1

In this part of his letter, St. Paul is encouraging the people of the Church in Philippi to live lives worthy of the calling that they have heard to follow the Gospel, the way of Jesus Christ. Elsewhere in this letter, Paul describes the way of the cross as living with humility, doing nothing selfish, and instead considering the needs of others. Here he is warning the church not to live as many around them do, as slaves to their own desires for earthly things, as though “their god is the belly.” Paul could very well be speaking to us, living in a consumer culture, where we are enticed endlessly to follow every desire, to crave more, and to fulfill those cravings with what is being marketed to us. Lent in particular is a good time to reflect on whether we are living as citizens of the Kingdom of God, conforming our wills to the way that God has taught us to live through the Gospel of Christ, or whether we are conforming ourselves to the standards of our own culture, where bigger is better, too much is never enough, and the accumulation of material things is the highest good.

• During this season of Lent, how is your relationship with earthly things being transformed?
• What do you think Paul is referring to by “the example you have in us?”

Luke 13:31-35

In this part of Luke’s gospel, we hear Jesus accept that his prophetic ministry will lead to his own death. In this exchange with the Pharisees, his words are both prophetic and poetic. The hen attempts to gather her chicks beneath her wings, while the fox seeks to devour both the chicks and the hen. Herod may be plotting to execute Jesus, but Herod is also killing the people of Israel through political and economic oppression. Jesus knows that he is headed toward Jerusalem, and like many prophets before him, he will die at the hands of those in power. He will be killed by those who refuse to hear the message from God to turn back from following their own ways, wielding power unjustly, oppressing the people, and neglecting the poor, the widows, and the orphans. There are those in power and those made complicit by going along with them rather than turning to follow the prophet.

Jesus quotes from Psalm 118:26, saying “And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Psalm 118 is a song of victory and salvation for those who put their trust in God rather than mortals. It is the song of one asking God to open the gates of righteousness, one who finds their salvation in God. He quotes verse 22 elsewhere: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” He knows that he will be rejected by Herod, the chief priests, and the scribes, and sent to the cross, but he also knows that “on the third day [he will finish his] work.” Through the cross and the resurrection, he will bring salvation for all who seek God’s righteousness.

• Are there times when Jesus was trying to gather you under his wings, but you were unwilling to turn and follow him?
• In preparation for Easter, how are you asking God to open the gates of righteousness and salvation in your life?

Matthew Sanaker is a seminarian at Bexley Seabury Seminary.

This page is available in: Español