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Gospel: John 8: 51-59
Jesus said to the Jews:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
So the Jews said to him,
“Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?
Or the prophets, who died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;
but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him,
I would be like you a liar.
But I do know him and I keep his word.
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.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Christ understands death differently from the Jews. From their perspective, Abraham and the prophets are dead; they are no longer physically alive on this earth. What they fail to consider is the life that is derived from being in God’s presence.
From Christ’s perspective, death is a comma, not a period. It’s simply the means through which humanity moves closer to God. For Christians, this life – eternal life – begins at baptism, when we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit, which Christ claims is already in Him.
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This leads to the heart of the matter.
“Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?” the authorities ask Jesus. “Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Then the Lord delivers a real zinger.
“Before Abraham was, I am.”
Notice Christ speaks of Abraham in the past tense; he lived and died on this earth. But Christ speaks of himself in the present tense, I am. Meaning, he has always been alive and always will be.
Although the Lord takes on flesh through the womb of the Virgin Mary, he has always been alive because God’s Spirit is within him.
Or, better said, he is God.
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This is what drives the Jews mad. They believed in a single God who existed high in the heavens. As it’s written in the Book of Deuteronomy, “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!”
Thus, how could Christ make such a bold claim? As CS Lewis once said, “Christ is either a lunatic, a liar, or Lord.”
The Jews felt he was both a liar and a lunatic, so they begin devising a plan to put him to death, which would permanently remove him from the scene.
How grateful we are they were wrong.
As we will celebrate on Easter Sunday, Christ is alive! He always has been! But now, he is Risen!
Therefore, in his words, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.” Amen!
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Image credits: (1) The Bible Effect (2) Christ Among the Doctors, Paolo Veronese (3) Christianity.com