Word to the Wise
Thursday, March 17, 2016 - 5th Week of Lent - Thurs
[Gen 17:3-9 and John 8:51-59,328]"Abraham, your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad." So the Jews said to him,"You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM." [John]
THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2016 THURSDAY IN THE FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME [St. Patrick's Day]
[Genesis 17:3-9 and John 8:51-59]
"Abraham, your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad." So the Jews said to him,"You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM." [John]
The first scripture for today takes us back to the original covenant between God and Abraham. The gospel scripture takes us back BEFORE Abraham and echoes the "Prologue" to this gospel, "In the beginning was the Word." Jesus makes two very important "Amen, amen, I say to you..." statements in the gospel. The first refers to all who believe in him: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death." The second refers to himself, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM." Faith is a matter of life and death. But here we have one of those "misunderstandings" about what Jesus means by life and death. He is speaking of the eternal life that begins with faith in him. His audience thinks he is speaking about human lifespan. It is only when he speaks of himself as existing before Abraham that the audience wakes up and tries to stone him for blasphemy!
Our faith does not protect us from human death. It protects us from an eternal death - isolation from God. It gives us access to a love beyond all earthly loves. This is why Jesus promises to the person of faith that he/she will never see death. This faith and love are tested by the earthly death of Jesus but vindicated in his resurrection. The later Letters of John spell out this love and its demands. For the days ahead of us the drama of Holy Week will lead us into Jesus' own life, death and resurrection which our baptism makes us a part of. Can we accept the life that Jesus offers? AMEN
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