Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

March 21, 2024

Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Thursday of the fifth week in Lent.

Our reading today is from the holy gospel according to John.

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.

The gospel of the Lord.

Homily

Our readings today ask us to reflect on God’s promise of eternal life to those who keep God’s covenant, first through Abraham, and then more importantly, through Jesus Christ. Abraham and those of his day did not understand eternal life the way we do today. For Abraham, eternal life was to be remembered through the ages and to have a continuous line of descendants. When God entered into a special relationship with Abraham, God promised him: “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. ... On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages.”

When Isaac was born, Abraham knew that God would keep God’s part of the bargain, but I don’t think that Abraham could imagine that the very Son of God would become man, a descendant of Abraham, in Jesus Christ. Still, King David and the kings of Judah were all descendants of Abraham, and they dwelt in the land God had promised to Abraham. However, we know that neither the kings nor the people were always faithful to God’s covenant; but God always remained faithful.

Then, in the fulness of time, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, descendant of king David, descendant of Abraham. And in Jesus’ day, people were already exploring the idea of personal immortality, that those who were faithful to the covenant would receive eternal life. This is what Jesus believed and what he preached. In our gospel today, Jesus tells the leaders of the Jews: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.”

Of course, Jesus’ opponents ridiculed him, stating that Abraham and the prophets died. Jesus counters that Abraham lives on in God and rejoiced to see Jesus’ day. In a similar discussion about Abraham and the resurrection in Mark and Matthew, Jesus says: God “is not God of the dead but of the living.” While we must all face death, through the resurrection we enter eternal life.

Next week we will celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection. He went to the cross willingly because he always kept the Father’s word and was convinced that God, his Father was faithful and would raise him up. And so it happened. Now, Jesus offers a covenant greater than the covenant with Abraham. Entering into a special relationship with God is no longer based on family lineage, but on faithfulness to the word and life of Jesus Christ.

For us, then, the question remains: do I live as though this life on earth is all there is, or can I stake my life on God’s faithfulness, making choices that may seem foolish to this world, but express my desire to be faithful to my loving God, the way Abraham did, the way Jesus did?

May God bless you.

Fr. Karl E. Esker C.Ss.R.

Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help

Brooklyn, NY