We Are Children of the New Covenant
Introduction
Our communion with God, our salvation, depends on faith. God makes to us his offer of a covenant; we have to trust the word of God. Abraham believed God’s word and his faith changed the destiny of himself (hence the new name) and of his people. Many Jews did not believe and cut themselves off from their ancestor and from God’s new people. God speaks to us his Word, who is a person: Jesus Christ. If we believe in him, we become the new people of the new covenant by baptism, and the Promised Land will be ours.
Reading: Genesis 17:3-9
When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him:
“My covenant with you is this:
you are to become the father of a host of nations.
No longer shall you be called Abram;
your name shall be Abraham,
for I am making you the father of a host of nations.
I will render you exceedingly fertile;
I will make nations of you;
kings shall stem from you.
I will maintain my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
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.”
Responsorial Psalm 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. (8a) The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations –
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
Verse before the Gospel: Psalm 95:8
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
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.
Commentary
Two important biblical texts are in play in today’s readings. The first deals with the covenant God made with Abraham (Gen 17), the second, the identity of God (Exod 3). There is no more sainted ancestor in Jewish tradition than Abraham, with whom the covenant of perpetuity was made. God pledges himself to remain with his people and promises the land of Israel to them as a lasting reminder of his fidelity.
In today’s Gospel, the question arises as to the relationship between Jesus and Abraham. Is Jesus greater than the patriarch? As daring as the implication is, Jesus answers it unequivocally in the affirmative. Abraham rejoiced to see the day of the Messiah. Then drawing on the way God identified himself to Moses in Exodus 3 (I AM WHO I AM), Christ not only show his anteriority to Abraham but also indicates his equality with the Father. Before Abraham came to be, Christ was. He is the great I AM.
Jesus is not only the Word of God. He is God’s last Word. There is nothing better or subsequent to this. In Jesus a new and lasting covenant has been forged in his own blood. This is the new covenant promised by Jeremiah, a covenant written not in stone but in the human heart, a deeply personal relationship between the believer and God.
If Lent has any lesson it is this: Realize who you are and how much you mean to God. Not only is Christ superior to Abraham, he is the son of God who has died for love of us. God made a covenant with Abraham. Jesus, himself, is the real covenant of the New Order. Everlasting! So, we are confident about the future because we have reason to be. We trust in God’s word that endures forever.
Blessing
May we keep the Lord’s word not only in our minds but also in our deeds, that we may enjoy eternal life, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!