Word to the Wise
Thursday, March 22, 2018 - 5th Week of Lent - Thurs
[Gen 17:3-9 and John 8:51-59,]When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him: "My covenant with you is this: you are to become the father of a host of nations. No longer shall you be called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a host of nations." [Genesis] "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." So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area. [John]
The debate and discourse that have filled the eighth chapter of John now shifts to another statement by Jesus. Every "Amen, amen..." statement in the Gospel According to John is important. This time the debate begins with "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death." The argument takes place on at least two levels. There is the argument about what is meant by "dying." Jesus' adversaries are speaking about ordinary aging and death. Jesus is speaking about what the Prologue to this gospel says, "In the beginning was the Word...." At the end of today's passage, the two strands of understanding come together in a climactic statement: "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be I AM." This statement brings together not only Jesus' eternal being but also the voice of God speaking to Moses in the burning bush in Exodus 3: "I am who I am." This statement strikes Jesus' Jewish listeners (and later Jewish listeners who were expelling Christians from synagogues) as blasphemy. This is why they pick up stones to throw.
This scene and the dramatic scenes of the healing of the man born blind and the raising of Lazarus from the tomb are part of a building tension that will erupt in the next few days after Jesus enters Jerusalem. I recommend the effort to follow the debates and reactions from the beginning of chapter eight through the end of chapter twelves. These chapters reflect the growing revelation of Jesus as the one whom God as sent. This revelation will come to its climax with Jesus being "lifted up." By making this effort, the whole experience of Holy Week can take on a new meaning, and won't be just the end of Lent and the celebration of Easter Sunday. AMEN