Genesis 23:1-20; Hebrews 11:32-12:2; John 6:60-71

Our father Abraham was dumb like a fox. He was living as a sojourner in a strange land. When our mother Sarah died, he lacked a place to bury her. Although he was offered a free burial in Canaan, he insisted on paying for the land, which meant that when the Hebrews came back in great numbers, they already had a claim on the land.

Sarah and Abraham were the first of the great crowd of witnesses, which continues to our own day.

This Gospel text offers a counterpoint to the growth of the people of God. It is a story about people, perhaps even his disciples, abandoning Jesus. He challenges them and us. “Will you also go away?” Simon Peter speaks for us: “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

So we are triply anchored: in the people of God who reach back to Abraham and Sarah, in its great expansion among Jews and Gentiles, and in the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord God, keep us faithful to your people and to your Son. Amen.

Today’s devotion was written by Ben Arlen Johnson Pastor at Leaf Mountain Lutheran Church, Clitherall, MN.

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