Day 8 – September 9, 2025: Genesis 25-28 and John 14-16

There is a clear overlap with both of these Scriptures, but it can seem somewhat elusive. God clearly blesses His people both with what happens with Isaac and with what Jesus promises his disciples. The story of Esau and Jacob can be disturbing because Jacob, who later becomes Israel, receives his blessing through hook and crook. But that was predicted earlier. The wealth of Isaac is highlighted and the assumption in the blessing of Jacob is that he would inherit that which his father had accumulated.

When Jesus in John 14 promises the counselor he expands on that in the following chapters. We often use John 14 in funerals to describe the blessing that is promised us when Jesus is no longer on this earth. The Holy Spirit comes and strengthens us even in the absence of the Son. Besides the presence of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, which is a fulfillment of this promise here in these chapters, these verses are perfectly suited to understand what the gift of the Holy Spirit is all about.

Thomas and Philip both ask questions that could be seen as fair questions and ones that we might ask: “Lord, we do not know the way.” “Lord, show us the Father.” Jesus responds to Thomas by saying that he was the way, the truth, and the life, no one gets to the Father except through him. The Father is manifested perfectly in Jesus , especially later on in chapter 17 when Jesus prays that the disciples would be one just as Jesus and the Father are one.