Scripture Study for

This week’s Genesis narrative contains two notable elements. The first has to do with the hospitality that Abraham and Sarah show to the three visitors. Since it will become clear soon enough that two of these visitors are angels and the third is the Lord himself, the elderly couple find themselves “entertaining angels” without even knowing it (Hebrews 13:2). Hospitality was a serious social expectation in ancient Israel, and the couple exemplify this virtue even toward God.  The second notable element is the announcement that, at long last,  the divine promise to give a child to the elderly and infertile couple is to be fulfilled. Often in the most mysterious ways, and under the most unlikely conditions, God is faithful in bringing forth life. 

Paul’s comment that he is making up in his own sufferings “what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ” seems, at first glance, to suggest that Christ’s redemptive suffering was somehow insufficient. This, of course, is not what Paul means. The Colossians are part of the Gentile mission, in which the gospel is spread throughout the known world. Paul has suffered much in his work of preaching the gospel,  an extension of the work of Christ, as he has labored to bring “to  completion . . . the word of God.” In this context, the “afflictions of  Christ” appear to mean the suffering experienced as one continues  Christ’s mission. Paul’s work has been to reveal the hidden mystery to the Gentiles, the mystery of what God is doing for the whole cosmos in and through Christ. 

In this scene from Luke’s Gospel, Mary’s posture is that of a disciple, which would have normally—according to the social expectations of the time—been limited to males. Mary’s action,  therefore, violates a social boundary, which is not particularly surprising in the Gospels in general, and certainly not in Luke’s Gospel, which pays such positive attention to women. It is perhaps because of the social incongruity and potential controversy of  Mary’s position that Jesus assures her that “the better part” will not be taken away from her. The scene takes place immediately after last week’s story of the good Samaritan, in which Jesus illustrated what it means to love one’s neighbor. This scene complements that one, in that Mary illustrates what it means to love the Lord with all one’s heart, by sitting devotedly and attentively at the feet of Christ.