GENESIS 18:20-32
The Lord said:
– The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.
The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.
Then Abraham approached and said:
– Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?
The Lord said:
– If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.
Abraham replied:
– Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?
The Lord answered:
– If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.
Abraham spoke up again:
– What if only forty are found there?
– For the sake of forty, I will not do it.
Then he said:
– May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?
– If I find thirty there, I will not do it.
Abraham said:
– Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?
The Lord answered:
– For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.
Then he said:
– May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. What if only ten are found there?
The Lord answered:
– For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.
An exciting “story,” part of the precious saga of Abraham’s personal friendship with God. Genesis presents Abraham as “the friend of the Lord,” and wonderfully stages that relationship.
In this account, Abraham intercedes for the city of Sodom because his nephew Lot lives there. The city will ultimately be destroyed as punishment for the depravity of its inhabitants, but in the meantime, it shows how the Lord listens to the prayer of his friend Abraham.
The account cannot be more picturesque or more primitive. It shows the servant’s respect for the Lord and, at the same time, his audacity in bargaining. Abraham seems more merciful than God, who appears rather as justice. When reading the account, many questions arise: if God is going to forgive the whole city to avoid injustice with ten, will it not be unjust if the punishment falls on a single righteous person? Is this the same God who “does not want the death of the sinner but that he convert and live”? Does God need the intercession of someone more compassionate than He, who seems to be just but not as merciful as Abraham?
And it is that we take the text out of its context. The general lesson that the author is trying to offer with this text is twofold: on the one hand, the seriousness of sin, the cause of human misfortunes; to this end, a terrible event, undoubtedly happened, the destruction of the cities of the lake, is used, presenting it as punishment from God for sins. It is a typical preacher’s theme, who, in the face of a disaster, proclaims “punishment of God!”, in the same way that the traditions of the universal flood are used penitentially. On the other hand, the text extols Abraham and emphasizes his goodness and intimacy with God, as part of that legendary and aggrandized history, which is the “religious biography” of the Father of the People.
The text is attracted to this Sunday because it is an example of the effectiveness of prayer: God listens to his friends. The relationship is undoubtedly distant and the theme is marginal within the Genesis narrative.
COLOSSIANS 2:12-14
Brothers, through baptism you were buried with Christ and have been raised with him because you believed in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. You were dead in your sins, because you were not circumcised, but God gave you life in Christ, forgiving all your sins. He erased the record that stood against us with its legal demands; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
The text, completely detached from the other two readings, briefly alludes to Pauline baptismal theology: baptized with Christ, that is, immersed with him in death and resurrection, by the power of God.
Pauline baptismal theology is rich in symbolism, all of which indicate incorporation into the crucified Christ: crucified to the world and alive by the Spirit. In baptism, our old way of life (according to the flesh) is crucified, and our new self (according to the Spirit) is raised.
The text includes expressions directed at those who are differentiated by being or not being circumcised, which are very far from our vital and religious situation.
José Enrique Galarreta