Abraham (Genesis 18:1-15)

By Mary Jane Chaignot

Categories: Patriarchs

God visited Abraham, who will epitomize the virtuous host.
Yet, this appearance was in the form of three men. Readers are told it was the Lord; Abraham saw three men.
He saw the men in the heat of the day.
He ran to them and bowed to the ground – a warm and respectful greeting.
"If I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant." This was very polite.
He offered water for their feet, rest, and a "morsel" to eat. (If he had told them what he was planning, they might have declined, thinking they were imposing upon him.)
As soon as they accepted, Abraham went into high gear.
He hurried into the tent, told Sarah to make bread quickly, dashed out to find a young calf, and told a lad to hurry to dress it.
All this rushing around was happening in midday heat.
Abraham turned that "morsel" into a feast.
Then, he did the serving himself.
Everything Abraham did was unknowingly appropriate.
After the meal, the visitors asked where Sarah was.
As a married woman, Sarah would have been expected to stay out of sight. Yet they knew her name.
This was Abraham's first hint that these were no ordinary strangers.
He answered that she was in the tent.
The visitors announced that they would return in about a year and that Sarah would have a son.
Even though Sarah was not present, she was listening intently, perhaps ready to be of assistance in whatever way she could.
She overheard the announcement of Isaac's impending birth. Her response was very similar to Abraham's just a short time ago.
She laughed, silently, within herself, asking, "After I am worn out, and my husband is old, shall I have this pleasure?" It was too much to even think about.
She was ninety years old; Abraham was a hundred.
She was long past the age of childbearing.
No one had ever told her that she would be part of God's promise.
The prospect overwhelmed her. She laughed to herself, laughter edged with irony, joy, and disbelief.
One of the men asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I bear a child even though I'm so old?' "
They could not possibly have seen her and her response made no noise, yet they knew. And they knew everything.
Then they asked the most wonderful question, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" The only possible response, of course, would be, "No."
The phrase suggests that nothing can be too wonderful, too marvelous, or too extraordinary for God.
It called into question everything Abraham and Sarah had thought for decades; it challenged their plans, hopes, and activities. It pushed them beyond the point of reason, wisdom, and common sense.
It insisted that God alone is omnipotent and omniscient. Then, the promise was repeated.
Sarah heard this comment, too, but by now she was afraid; she denied that she had laughed.
The Lord replied, "No, you did laugh."
In all instances, the word "laugh" is a form of the word, "Isaac."
Sarah confirmed the divine promise, and the Lord's response clinched the discussion.
The fulfillment of God's promise did not depend on Abraham and Sarah's readiness to accept it. God is God.

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