Thursday
5th Week of Lent
1st Reading: Genesis 17:3-9
The Renewal of the Covenant: Abram's Name is Changed
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[3] Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, [4] "Behold, my covenant
is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. [5] No longer
shall your name be Abram," but your name shall he Abraham; for I have made
you the father of a multitude of nations. [6] I will make you exceedingly fruitful;
and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. [7] And I
will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after
you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you
and to your descendants after you. [8] And I will give to you, and to your des-
cendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an
everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
The Commandment of Circumcision
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[9] And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you
and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
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Commentary:
17:5. Abraham is the first person in biblical history to have his name changed by
God. By doing this God is conferring a new personality and a new mission, as
can be seen from the meaning of his new name, "father of a multitude of nations".
This name, therefore, is linked to the promise attached to the Covenant; from now
on, the entire personality of the patriarch stems from the Covenant and is subser-
vient to it. Abraham is the "father of the Covenant"; in the light of New Testament
revelation St Paul will interpret this new name of Abraham as having a connection
with Gentiles converted to Christianity (cf. Rom 4:17). This name, "father of a
multitude of nations" becomes, therefore, a prophetic announcement of the fact
that the non-Jewish world will in due course become part of the people of the
New Covenant, the Church.
Gospel Reading: John 8:51-59
Jesus Warns the Unbelieving Jews (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to the Jews,) [51] "Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps My
word, he will never see death." [52] The Jews said to Him, "Now we know that
You have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and You say, `If anyone
keeps My word, he will never taste death.' [53] Are you greater than our father
Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do You claim to be?" [54]
Jesus answered, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who
glorifies Me, of whom you say that He is your God. [55] But you have not known
Him; I know Him. If I said I do not know Him, I should be a liar like you; but I do
know Him and I keep His word. [56] Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was
to see My day; he saw it and was glad." [57] The Jews then said to Him, "You
are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" [58] Jesus said to
them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." [59] So they took
up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple.
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Commentary:
51-53. "He will never see death": our Lord promises eternal life to those who
accept His teaching and remain faithful to it.
Sin, as the Fourth Gospel teaches, is death of the soul; and sanctifying grace,
life (cf. John 1:4, 13; 3:15, 16. 36; etc.). Through grace we enter eternal life, a
pledge of the Glory we shall attain beyond this earthly life and which is the true
Life. Blinded by their hostility, the Jews do not want to listen to the Lord and
therefore they fail to understand Him.
55. The knowledge our Lord is speaking about implies more than intellectual
knowledge. The Old Testament speaks of this "knowing" in the sense of love,
faithfulness, generous self-surrender. Love for God is a consequence of the
certain knowledge we have of Him, and at the same time the more we love God,
the better we get to know Him.
Jesus, whose holy human nature was intimately united (though not mixed) with
His divinity in the one Person of the Word, continues to assert His singular and
ineffable knowledge of the Father. But this accurate language of Jesus is abso-
lutely incomprehensible to those who close themselves to faith: they even think
He is blaspheming (cf. verse 59).
56. Jesus presents Himself as the fulfillment of the hopes of the Old Testament
patriarchs. They had stayed faithful, eager to see the Day of Salvation. Refer-
ring to their faith, St. Paul exclaims: "These all died in faith, not having received
what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, and having ac-
knowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13).
The most outstanding of those patriarchs was Abraham, our father in faith (cf.
Galatians 3:7), who received the promise of being father of an immense people,
the chosen people from whom would be born the Messiah.
The future fulfillment of the messianic promises was a source of great joy for
Abraham: "Abraham, our father, who was set apart for the future accomplish-
ment of the Promise, and who hoped against hope, receives when his son Isaac
is born the prophetic firstfruits of this joy. This joy becomes transfigured through
a trial touching death, when this only son is restored to him alive, a prefiguring
of the resurrection of the One who was to come: the Son of God, promised for
the redeeming sacrifice. Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing the Day of
Christ, the Day of Salvation: he "saw it and was glad" (Paul VI, "Gaudete In
Domino", II).
Jesus moves on a plane superior to that of the patriarchs, for they only saw
prophetically, from "afar", the day of Christ, that is, the actual event of the Re-
demption, whereas it is Christ who brings it to pass.
58. Jesus' reply to the skeptical remarks of the Jews contains a revelation of His
divinity. By saying "Before Abraham was, I am" our Lord is referring to His being
eternal, because He is God. Therefore, St. Augustine explains: "Acknowledge
the Creator, discern the creature. He who was speaking was a descendant of
Abraham, but that Abraham might be made, before Abraham He was" (St.
Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 43, 17).
The Fathers recall, in connection with the words of Christ, the solemn theophany
of Sinai: "I AM WHO I AM" (Ex 3:14), and also St. John's distinction in the pro-
logue to his Gospel, between the world which "was made" and the Word which
"was" from all eternity (cf. John 1:1-3). The words, "I am", used by Jesus so
absolutely are the equivalent therefore, of His affirming His eternity and His divi-
nity. Cf. note on John 8:21-24.
[The note on John 8:21-24 states:
21-24. At the outset of His public ministry, Jesus could be seen to have all the
features of the promised Messiah; some people recognized Him as such and
became His followers (cf. John 1:12-13; 4:42; 6:69; 7:41); but the Jewish autho-
rities, although they were expecting the Messiah (cf. John 1:19ff), persisted in
their rejection of Jesus. Hence the warning to them: He is going where they can-
not follow, that is, He is going to Heaven, which is where He has come from (cf.
John 6:41ff), and they will keep looking out for the Messiah foretold by the pro-
phets; but they will not find Him because they look for Him outside of Jesus,
nor can they follow Him, for they do not believe in Him. You are of the world,
our Lord is saying to them, not because you are on earth but because you are
living under the influence of the prince of this world (cf. John 12:31; 14:30;
16:11); you are his vassals and you do his deeds (cf. 8:44); therefore, you will
die in your sin. "We are all born with sin", St. Augustine comments, "all by our
living have added to what we were by nature, and have become more of this
world than we then were, when we were born of our parents. Where would we
be if He had not come, who had no sin at all, to loose all sin? The Jews, be-
cause they did not believe in Him, deserved to have it said to them, You will die
in your sin" ("In Ioann. Evang.", 38, 6).
The salvation which Christ brings will be applied to those who believe in His di-
vinity. Jesus declares His divinity when He says "I am He", for this expression,
which He repeats on other occasions (cf. John. 8:28; 13:19), is reserved to
Yahweh in the Old Testament (cf. Deuteronomy 32:39; Isaiah 43:10-11), where
God, in revealing His name and therefore His essence, says to Moses "I AM
WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). In this profound way God says that He is the Su-
preme Being in a full, absolute sense, that He is dependent on no other being,
that all other things depend on Him for their being and existence. Thus, when
Jesus says of Himself, "I am He", He is revealing that He is God.]
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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