A Reflection for Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Find today’s readings here
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?” (Jn 8:51-53)
As we near the end of Lent, it is only natural to anticipate what we will be able to enjoy come Easter Sunday. These awaited delights are both trivial (like the classic Lenten sacrifice of sweets, or in my case, the convenience of shopping with a credit card) and spiritual (like the triumph of the Resurrection).
But today’s readings made me think that perhaps I should be less concerned about what I have given up these past five weeks and more focused on what God has given me. Both the first reading and the Gospel speak to God’s great generosity—and the different ways that his creatures respond to it.
In Genesis, we read the story of God making his covenant with Abram—henceforth Abraham. God’s side of the deal seems almost outlandish: “I will render you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you; kings shall stem from you.” This is the “everlasting pact” God makes with a 99-year-old man whose wife, Sarah, has never borne a child.
In today’s Gospel from John, Jesus promises something even more incredible: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” From the Epic of Gilgamesh to today’s transhumanist movement, the desire to escape death has plagued individuals and propelled cultures. And here is Jesus promising everlasting life to those who follow him. It is impossible to imagine a greater gift.
In today’s readings, the responses to God’s offer range from slight skepticism to outright rejection. And can we blame them? What God promises seems too good to be true.
Abraham, we are told, “fell face down and laughed as he said to himself, ‘Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at ninety?’” But, after some reassurances from God, Abraham gets to work holding up his end of the bargain—the circumcision of himself, his son Ishmael and his male slaves—and God, of course, keeps his “covenant throughout the ages.”
In the Gospel, Jesus’ claim that “whoever keeps my word will never see death,” is met by his interlocutors with disbelief and eventually hostility:
“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?”
When Jesus reaffirms his identity as the one coming from the Father, “they picked up stones to throw at him.”
Most of us have had “too good to be true” moments both in our “regular” lives and in our relationship with God, when the gifts God is offering us seem beyond what we deserve. In my own faith life, I’ve stayed away from the sacrament of reconciliation for too long at times, not believing that God’s forgiveness could be waiting for me there.
But today I’m looking back on the ways God has offered me the chance to participate in the building up of his kingdom on earth. I’ve responded by getting to work like Abraham—and what a great gift that has been.
