Legacy of Love

Week One

December 2, 2022

Legacy of Love

Acts 13:16–25

…God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised… Acts 13:23

In Antioch of Pisidia, Paul (Saul’s newly-mentioned Gentile moniker) and Barnabas sit down in the synagogue on the sabbath day. After the Torah and the Prophets are read, Paul is asked to share a word of exhortation. He outlines the history of God’s covenantal actions: from the exodus to the wilderness to the Promise Land to the judges and the prophets to the kings. Paul recounts how God has provided for God’s people up to and including John and Jesus.

This is not supersessionism, but it foreshadows his image as a leader in the Gentile integration movement. Paul extends the faith tradition in light of “The Way” which John proclaimed through baptisms and Jesus modeled through his life and death. God extends continuity of care from Israel to Jesus through the Pauline church and eventually to the ends of the earth. Even to us on this day and in this place. 

By remembering our history as God’s people, we recognize God’s investment in us and acknowledge those who remain enslaved and displaced. The traditions of Torah and Gospel draw our attention to God’s ever-expanding love for humankind and our responsibility to help bring about the good that God intends.

We are, after all, part of the same covenantal system in which God proclaimed “all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen 12:3). During the Advent season of watching and waiting, let us not only have hope that this legacy will carry us forward, let us act in ways that make it so.

Traci Gardner

Student Senate Member, MA(SJ) Student 

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