April 14, 2011
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now staying, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God." God also said to Abraham: "On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages. Genesis 17:8-9
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 8:58-59
Piety
Father, help us to get over ourselves and our limited understanding of time to better understand the power you have in our world and our lives. Jesus, help us to understand the significance of your sacrifice and how it is the daily fulfillment of all time throughout the ages. Holy Spirit, through your presence, give us the peace that reconciles our concept of time to the eternal. Amen.
Study
The Jews keep trying to learn who Jesus is when they have a personal encounter with him. From the woman at the well to those assembled in the temple to hear today’s preaching, they continue to seek context in which to understand who this man really is.
As they seek this understanding, Jesus confuses them with references to how he has seen Abraham and how Abraham has seen Jesus.
Jesus attempts to clarify his meaning and the words he uses here remind us of the opening words of John’s Gospel: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5
The lesson for today is, “Whoever keeps my word will never see death.” We recall the words of the prologue: “All things came to be through him and without him nothing came to be.” If we came to be through Jesus, how will we never see death? Phrases like that in these days before the Resurrection are hard for the people to understand. When Jesus says these things, they think he is mad.
The people also try to reconcile their concept of time with that of Jesus who said, “…before Abraham came to be, I AM.” Even though he is barely over the age of 30, they do not understand how this can possible happen. As people are often tempted to do, they want to rid their minds of anything that upsets their concept of reality. So they once again attempt to get rid of Jesus. Yet again, it is not yet time for that to occur so the Lord passes from them unharmed.
Action
How are you getting a better understanding of Jesus during these days of Lent? We need to balance the extraordinary metaphysical understanding of Jesus as Lord with the ordinary physical narrative of the man from Nazareth who will die on the cross in eight days and rise again for us all on Easter Sunday, in the daily Eucharist and in our community.
What are you reading or observing in your environment to enrich your relationship with God? What are you doing to understand better the gift of God? How do others share Christ with you? How do you share Christ with others?
