Being Reckoned as Righteous

The Second Sunday after Pentecost (Year A)

Scripture (semicontinuous)

Old Testament: Genesis 12:1-9

Psalter: Psalm 33:1-12

Epistle: Romans 4:13-25

Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

Scripture (complementary)

Old Testament: Hosea 5:15—6:6

Psalter: Psalm 50:7-15

Epistle: Romans 4:13-25

Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

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Prayer

Beckoning God,  you promise long journeys and new names.  Call us out to risk holy adventure  with unusual table companions.  Linger with us  so that we may be faithful disciples,  touching the fringe of your healing  on behalf of all your children. Amen.

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Reflection

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there transgression.

For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace, so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (who is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”), in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore “it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over for our trespasses and was raised for our justification (Romans 4:13-25).

In Romans, Paul references a passage from the Old Testament (Genesis 15:6) and states, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

When Paul says that Abraham’s faith was reckoned as righteousness, he is emphasizing that Abraham's faith in God was credited to him as righteousness in the eyes of God. In other words, Abraham’s trust and reliance on God’s promises were counted as righteousness, or a right standing before God. This declaration of righteousness was not based on Abraham’s own merit or works but on his faith in God.

Paul uses this example to illustrate the nature of justification by faith, which is a central theme in his letter to the Romans. He argues that both Jews and Gentiles are justified before God not by observing certain practices of the law that marked Jews out as God’s people, but through faith in Jesus Christ. Abraham, as the father of the Jewish people, serves as a prime example of someone who was declared righteous by God solely on the basis of faith.

By pointing to Abraham’s faith being reckoned as righteousness, Paul demonstrates that the same principle of justification by faith applies to all believers, regardless of their ethnic or religious background. He highlights the fact that righteousness comes through faith in Christ achieved by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.

We live by faith in the promises of God. Our faithfulness to those promises demonstrates a genuine faith.

PRAYER: O God, as the showers renew the earth,  bathe us in your healing power.   Stretch out your hand, that we may live  and know that you alone are God,  in whose faithfulness we have life all our days. Amen.

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