Thursday
2nd April 2020. Read Genesis 17:3-9, Psalm 105 and John 8:51-59.
_“You are
not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them,
‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’” *(John
8:57-58.)*_
In John 6,
Jesus told us: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone
eats of this bread, he will live forever.” (John 6:51). In this same light,
Jesus is saying to us today: “If anyone keeps my word, he will never see
death.” (John 8:51).
Jesus was
not simply talking about our life on earth, He was talking about our true Life,
the Life beyond, the Life that Never Ends. It is on the basis of this
supernatural life that Jesus could say to the Jews: “Before Abraham was, I am.”
This is was just too difficult for the Jews to understand and many still do not
understand this today. The few years we live on earth is not our real life, our
true life begins afterwards.
Just as
God revealed himself to Moses as “I Am” in Exodus 3:14, Jesus reveals his true
identity as “I am.” Jesus did not say “Before Abraham was, I was” (past tense),
rather he said: “Before Abraham was, I Am” meaning He always is and will be
forever.
The Jews picked
up stones to throw at Jesus. What an irony. How often do we pick up stones to
throw at those we should listen to! How often do we undermine the truth just because
it is different from what we are used to? Indeed, there are certain truths we
cannot grasp unless we believe.
Even
though Abraham was childless, our first reading today tells how God changed his
name from Abram (which means ‘exalted father’) to Abraham (which means, ‘father
of a multitude’). It was with faith that Abraham accepted this change of name
and agreed to be called a Father of many nations.
Dear
friends, let us put ourselves in the shoes of Abraham. You have prayed for
something for so many years and it has not come to pass. Would you continue to
believe God? Consider the Jews who were Jesus’ audience, a man in his thirties
says to you, “I existed over a thousand years ago.” Would you believe?
It takes
the eyes of faith to come to terms with certain truths especially when the
visible facts appear to contradict that truth. It takes faith to realize that God
made us and that our life on earth is just the beginning of greater life to
come and that even if we do not see immediate answers to our prayers, it doesn’t
mean God is weak.
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, bless me with the kind of faith Abraham had. Amen.
*Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Thursday of the
5th Week of Lent. Bible Study: Genesis 17:3-9, Psalm 105 and John 8:51-59).*
Fr. Abu.
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