Thursday of the 5th Week of Lent
Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying, "As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you. I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God."
God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face forever more. Remember his marvelous works that he has done: His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
You offspring of Abraham, his servant, You children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord, our God. His judgments are in all the earth.
He has remembered his covenant forever, The word which he commanded to a thousand generations, The covenant which he made with Abraham, His oath to Isaac,
Most certainly, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death."
Then the Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and you say, 'If a man keeps my word, he will never taste of death.' Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?"
Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is our God. You have not known him, but I know him. If I said, 'I don't know him,' I would be like you, a liar. But I know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad."
The Jews therefore said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?"
Jesus said to them, "Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM."
Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, having gone through the middle of them, and so passed by.
The covenant God makes with Abraham stretches across generations, binding not just one man but countless descendants in an unbreakable promise. Notice how this isn't a contract with terms and conditions—it's a relationship where God declares, "I will be their God." The permanence here runs deeper than legal agreements; it's the kind of commitment that reshapes identity itself, transforming Abram into Abraham, "father of multitudes."
This ancient promise collides dramatically with Jesus's bold declaration in the temple. When he claims that those who keep his word will never see death, the religious leaders understandably bristle. Death, after all, is the one certainty that touches everyone—Abraham died, the prophets died, and we will too. Yet Jesus pushes further, claiming not only to have seen Abraham but to exist before him entirely: "Before Abraham came into existence, I AM."
That phrase—"I AM"—echoes the sacred name God revealed to Moses at the burning bush. The crowd reaches for stones because they recognize exactly what Jesus is claiming. Here stands someone asserting divine identity, suggesting that God's ancient covenant with Abraham was always pointing toward this moment, this person.
The tension between mortality and eternity plays out in our daily lives constantly. We make plans knowing they might not unfold, love people knowing we'll lose them, invest in work that outlasts us. Yet something in us reaches beyond these limitations, sensing that our deepest relationships and most meaningful moments touch something eternal.
Jesus suggests that keeping his word—living according to his teachings about love, mercy, and justice—connects us to life that transcends physical death. This isn't escapism from human reality but transformation within it.
What does it mean to "keep" Jesus's word in the ordinary moments of this Thursday? How might our small acts of faithfulness participate in God's eternal covenant? Where do we glimpse life that death cannot touch?