“The LORD appeared to Abraham by the terebinth of Mamre,

as he sat in the entrance of his tent,

while the day was growing hot. 

Looking up, Abraham saw three men standing nearby.”

The story of the annunciation of Isaac from today’s reading is filled with mystery or ambiguity. The Lord appears to Abraham and he sees three men. Within the narrative, the leader of the three seems to be God, while the other two are identified later as angels. In Jewish tradition, it would be unthinkable for God to appear as a man and, so, it was interpreted that all three were angels, the leader representing God. In Christian tradition, this story has been seen as prefiguring the revelation of the Holy Trinity. This interpretation would not have been in the mind of the author or of the Jewish community, but it gave inspiration to an icon painted in the early 15th century by Russian artist Andrei Rublev entitled alternately The Hospitality of Abraham or, more commonly, The Trinity. A copy of this icon, which is understood to be more than simply a painting, but a window to the divine, hung in the chapel at my seminary and I spent many hours in prayer before it’s image. 

There is too much symbolism to go into in this brief article, but I would like to touch on a few important notes. The three equal persons form a circle in the composition, signifying unity. Their clothing is important. All three wear blue, which is the color of the divine. The Father, to the left, wears a multicolored, almost translucent, and indescribable robe identifying that no one has seen the Father, yet he is seen throughout the universe. The Holy Spirit, to the right, also wear a cloak of green, indicating the earth, creation, and the new creation. Jesus, in the middle, wears a reddish brown garment under his blue cloak, signifying his humanity united to his divinity, with a gold band over his shoulder showing that his humanity has ascended to the divine. Where he has gone, we also will go. They sit around a table, or altar, with a golden bowl, or chalice, containing the head of a lamb, or calf, both sacrifice and meal. Above the Holy Spirit is a mountain, symbolizing the spiritual ascent. Above Jesus is a tree (the terebinth of Mamre), which is the cross of Christ become the tree of life. Above the Father is a house, the dwelling place of God and our destiny in heaven. Notice the window for the Father to look out, searching for any prodigal to return. We, as the viewer, are invited to enter the circle, to take a seat at the table, to join in communion with the Holy Trinity, to enter the journey up the mountain, through the cross, to resurrection and eternal life.