Jesus “was calling people to faith in him, ‘Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God,’ not merely in his reputation or his deeds,” commentator Joel Schorn points out in PrepareTheWord’s “Notes on the text” for this Sunday's readings. Hoping to avert a premature strike by Israel on Iran’s nuclear development facilities, President Barack Obama has been working hard to get that country's leadership to have faith that the U.S. “will always have Israel’s back.”

With Israel warning of a possible attack, Obama urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday to give diplomacy and economic sanctions a chance to work before resorting to military action. The meeting, held in a charged atmosphere of election-year politics and a deepening confrontation with Tehran, was nevertheless “friendly, straightforward, and serious,” a White House official said. But it did not resolve basic differences between the two leaders over how to deal with the Iranian threat.

The president also prodded Republicans, especially those on the campaign trail, to tone down their rhetoric on Iran. During a press conference Tuesday Obama criticized Republican critics for “beating the drums of war.” He said it is his belief that there is still a "window of opportunity" to use diplomacy instead of military force to resolve the dispute the over Iran's nuclear program in the Middle East.

Obama said his critics are forgetting the "cost of war" in their rush to punish Iran and defend Israel, which sees a nuclear Iran as a mortal threat in its Mideast neighborhood. Rhetoric on the right is "more about politics than about trying to solve a difficult problem," Obama said. He said he is focused on "crippling sanctions" already imposed on Iran and on international pressure to keep that nation from developing a nuclear weapon.

For his part Netanyahu had an unusual gift for the president: a copy of the biblical Book of Esther. Aides to the Israeli politician referred to it as “background reading” on Iran. The book is read on the Jewish holiday of Purim, which began Wednesday. It tells the story of a plot by Persia (modern-day Iran) to exterminate the Jewish people.

Sources: Articles by Jake Tapper and Alexander Marquart for ABC
News, NBC News, and Mark Landler for the New York Times