Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22
The Renewal of the Covenant: Abram's Name is Changed
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[1] When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.
[9] And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. [10] This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
Abahram Will Have a Son by Sarah
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[15] And God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. [16] I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her; I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her." [17] Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" [18] And Abraham said to God, "O that Ishmael might live in thy sight!" [19] God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. [20] As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. [21] But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year." [22] When he had finished taking with him, God went up from Abraham.
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Commentary:
17:1-27. If previously, in chapter 15, the text stressed the way the promise was linked to God's covenant with Abraham, it now shows the duties it placed on the patriarchs and their descendants -- to be holy, to acknowledge the one true God and to practise the rite of circumcision. The covenant, as we have seen, had its origin in an initiative on God's part, but it also commits man. In Abraham’s case this commitment involves in accepting circumcision as a commandment from God to himself and his descendants.
17:1. "El-Shaddai” is the name the patriarchs often gave to God (cf 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25), because the name "Yahweh” had not yet been revealed (cf. Ex 3:13-14). Following the earliest Greek version (the Septuagint) it is usually translated as "God Almighty” (which is the RSV practice), although it could also mean ‘‘God of the mountains’’ or "God of abundance”. By recording the names the patriarchs used when referring to God or invoking him, the Bible is, on the one hand, identifying the God the patriarchs worshipped with Yahweh, the God of the Sinai Covenant; and on the other hand, it is showing the way God reveals himself gradually over the course of time.
God asks Abraham to live in his presence and to be perfect. The two things are closely connected: "This is the only way to avoid falling.’’ Clement of Alexandria points out: "being conscious that God is always at our side” (Paedagogus, 3, 33, 3). This is the first time in the Bible that God tells a human being to be perfect, "blameless”. This call, here addressed to Abraham, will be extended by Jesus to all mankind (cf. Mt 5:48).
17:5. Abraham is the first person in biblical history to have his name changed by God. By doing this God is conferring a new personality and a new mission, as can be seen from the meaning of his new name, ‘‘father of a multitude of nations’’.
This name, therefore, is linked to the promise attached to the Covenant; from now on, the entire personality of the patriarch stems from the Covenant and is subservient to it. Abraham is the "father of the Covenant”; in the light of New Testament revelation St Paul will interpret this new name of Abraham as having a connexion with Gentiles converted to Christianity (cf. Rom 4:17). This name, "father of a multitude of nations" becomes, therefore, a prophetic announcement of the fact that the non-Jewish world will in due course become part of the people of the New Covenant, the Church.
17:10-14. Circumcision, which consists in a circular cutting of part of the foreskin, may originally have been a sexual and marriage initiation rite of a type widespread in the ancient Near East. Reasons of hygiene may have played a part in its use. The people of Israel regarded it as a divine commandment involved in the Covenant, and as a distinguishing mark to show membership of the people of God. It is easy to see why Christian tradition regards circumcision as prefiguring Baptism. "Jesus 'circumcision', on the eighth day after his birth (cf. Lk 2:21), is the sign of his incorporation into Abraham’s descendants, into the people of the covenant. It is the sign of his submission to the Law (cf. Gal 4:4) and his deputation to Israel’s worship, in which he will participate throughout his life. This sign prefigures that ‘circumcision of Christ’ which is Baptism (Col 2:11-13)" "(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 527)". In the new economy of salvation that sign would no longer serve any purpose: ‘For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love" (Gal 5:6).
17:15-22. The carrying into effect of God’s plan (cf. the promise in chap. 15) is going to exceed Abraham's expectations. True, he already does have a son, lshmael, by the slave-girl Hagar according to the customs of the time, that is, in accord with human laws and recourses. But it is not through this son that God is going to keep his promise, but through a son to be born of Sarah, and whose birth will clearly reveal the power of God.
Sarah, Abraham's wife, is also going to have a direct involvement in the way the promise is fulfilled. And so she too is going to be given a new name, to show the new personality she acquires by sharing directly in God's designs through her motherhood. This is what Abraham is now told.
Abraham ‘s laugh (as also Sarah’s in the next chapter: cf. 18:12-14) conveys the astonishment the announcement causes (it seems unbelievable); it is also connected with the name of the child who will he born -- Isaac (cf. the note on 21: 1-7). However, Abraham keeps on thinking in terms of the son he already has, lshmael. He too will be the recipient of divine blessings: he will become the father of a great nation, the lshmaelites, or Arabs. But the patriarch is now asked for a new act of faith in God despite the fact that they are both old, to expect Sarah to give birth to a son, who will be the protagonist in the Covenant, just like his father. God's actions, in effect, surpass man's expectations.
The Curing of a Leper
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[1] When He (Jesus) came down from the mountain, great crowds followed Him; [2] and behold, a leper came to Him and knelt before Him, saying, "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean." [3] And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. [4] And Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.
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Commentary:
Chapters 8 and 9 of St. Matthew deal with a series of miracles worked by our Lord. The first Christians had vivid experience of the fact that the glorified Jesus was still present in His Church, confirming its teaching by signs, by miracles (Mark 16:20; Acts 14:3).
And so, St. Matthew, after giving the nucleus of Jesus' public teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Chapters 5-7), goes on now to gather a number of miracles to support our Lord's words. Some commentators call this section--Chapters 8 and 9--"the works of the Messiah", paralleling what they called "the words of the Messiah" (the Discourse on the Mount). In Chapters 5-7 we see Jesus as the supreme lawgiver and master who teaches with divine authority, a unique authority superior to that held by Moses and the prophets. Now, in Chapters 8 and 9, He is shown as endowed with divine authority over disease, death, the elements and evil spirits. These miracles worked by Jesus Christ accredit the divine authority of His teaching.
1. The Gospel draws attention, for the third time, to the huge crowds that flocked to Jesus: literally, "many multitudes followed Him". This shows the popularity He had achieved: He was so popular that the Sanhedrin (the great council of the Jewish nation) dared not arrest Him for fear of what the people would do (cf. Matthew 21:46; 26:5; Mark 14:2). Later on, they would accuse Him before Pilate of stirring up the whole country from Judea to Galilee. And we will see Herod Antipas' eagerness to meet Jesus, of whom he has heard so much (cf. Matthew 14:1). In contrast to this huge popularity, we find the elders opposing Him and deceiving the people into calling for Jesus' execution (cf. Matthew 27:20-22).
2. The Fathers have taken the following meaning from this cure: leprosy is a vivid image of sin: it is ugly, disgusting, very contagious and difficult to cure. We are all sinners and we are all in need of God's forgiveness and grace (cf. Romans 3:23-24). The leper in the Gospel knelt down before Jesus, in all humility and trust, begging to be made clean. If we have recourse to our Savior with that kind of faith, we can be sure than He will cure the wretchedness of our souls. We should often address Christ with this short prayer, borrowed from the leper: "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean."
4. According to the Law of Moses (Leviticus 14), if a leper is cured of his disease, he should present himself to a priest, who will register the cure and give him a certificate which he needs to be reintegrated into the civil and religious life of Israel. Leviticus also prescribes the purifications and sacrifice he should offer. Jesus' instruction to the leper is, then, in keeping with the normal way of fulfilling what the laws laid down.