26th March. Thursday in 5th Week of Lent

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1st Reading: Genesis 17:3-9

Abraham clings to God’s promises, despite long delays and disappointments.

Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.”

God said to Abraam, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.”

Gospel: John 8:51-59

Link between Jesus and Abraham, who looked forward to the age of the Messiah.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whomyou say, ‘He is our God,’ though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

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Abraham’s Legacy: Think Big

The promises to Abraham reach into the future, possibly even to many centuries beyond our present age. In his vocational encounter with God, the patriarch had foretaste of a time when all the nations of the world will be united as though they were blood-relatives, all linked as the offspring of one selected forefather. Of course, the different races of planet earth and the various ethnic groups cannot claim a common bloodline of descent. This promised bond can happen only by sharing the same spirit of faith — and that means faith in a land promised equally to all, faith in a way of salvation where no single group is marginalised or travels alone, faith in a common sharing of earth’s riches and in the divine dignity of all human beings.

When compared to the later exodus from Egypt under Moses, Abraham’s exodus from his native land has a more universal sweep. It prefigures the kingdom of David when the Israelites opened up lively diplomatic ties on an international scale and absorbed many customs and values of their neighbours — all with God’s blessing. The promises to Abraham advise us to think big, to respond openly, to seek and dream the divine ideal of one world, one people.

While Abraham looks ahead with hope, the words of Jesus reach back not only to the age of the patriarch (1850 B.C.?) but even behind that first day in history, the eternal day before creation. “Before Abraham came to be, I AM.” Jesus identifies himself with Yahweh, and this special name for God, very sacred to Israel, means in the Hebrew language “He who is always there.” Jesus claims to be more than the fulfillment of Abraham’s faith and hopes; He is one with the God who planned our destiny before the world was created, directed world history so that Abraham would focus the hopes of all people, then led Israel’s history forward till this eternal Word became incarnate as the son of Mary. In this magnificent theology expressed by St. John, Jesus is the Lord of our history. His hopes and plans will remain unfulfilled until all men and women are at one. We are reminded of St. Paul’s statement: “All of you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with him. There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free person, male or female; for all are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, you are the descendants of Abraham, which means you inherit all that was promised. (Gal 3:27-29) The work of Jesus, now entrusted to his followers, goes on in the project of evangelisation and in this Year of Faith.

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Greater than Abraham

The Jews ask Jesus, “Are you greater than our father, Abraham?” It was inconceivable to them that anyone could be greater than Abraham, or greater than Moses for that matter. In the course of his reply Jesus says, “I tell you solemnly, before Abraham ever was, I am.” Jesus claims to have existed before Abraham. That brings us back to the opening sentence of John’s gospel, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God.” The evangelist was aware that such an extraordinary claim could not be made of anyone else, not even Abraham. We look to Jesus as the one who was with God before the creation of the world, who was God, and who became flesh for our sakes, and in becoming flesh, became obedient unto death. That is the extraordinary paradox at the heart of our faith, that the crucified one is none other than the Word who was with God in the beginning, before Abraham was.

Jesus makes many great promises in the gospel of John and we find one of them in today’s gospel, “whoever keeps my word will never know the taste of death.” His words are the source of life, and if we listen to his word and try to live by it then we will share in God’s own life, here and now and even more fully after our death. Elsewhere Peter says to Jesus, “you have the words of eternal life.” In today’s gospel, Jesus declares that he faithfully keeps his Father’s word. Our calling is to faithfully keep Jesus’ word. Our relationship with Jesus is to be modelled on his relationship with the Father. If we faithfully keep Jesus’ word, as he faithfully kept his Father’s word, then we will know its life-giving power in our lives. [Martin Hogan]

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