A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to 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.
(The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!)
Reflection: Keep my word
In today’s Gospel reading from John, the people listening could not believe what Jesus was saying to them. They refused to believe that Jesus was sent by God the Father, even after all the miracles that they witnessed. They found it hard to believe that our Lord Jesus was present even before the birth of Abraham, that Jesus existed before the creation of the universe! And Jesus shared: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
It has been a somber mood in my neighborhood lately as two of the members of our church who lived about a quarter of a mile of each other recently passed away within a week. One was in their early 70’s while the other person was in their early 30’s. Gone, just like that.
Most of us can relate to the sense of loss and sadness we experience when a dear person we know is no longer in our presence. We miss their smile, their warmth, their laughs, their encouragements. We miss the light of love emanating from their eyes. In our humanness we ask the questions of why? Why them? Why now? So early to leave our presence.
As humans, our lives are like a blink of an eye. We are born. We grow up and we mature. We are subject to time, and we get older. We experience life in the presence of God, our loved ones and all of His creations, and then we eventually pass away. The beauty of our faith in Christ Jesus is that we have the hope of knowing that all who follows Jesus and faithfully keeps His word, will receive the promise to never see everlasting death. What does that mean?
It means that even though we eventually pass away, Jesus’ promise is that “we will be raised up once again”, with bodies just like Jesus’ risen body on the day of His resurrection, with a body that will live forever. A body that will never get old, never get sick, a body that will never die. All who faithfully keeps Jesus’ word will eventually receive “a body that will live forever”, and Jesus will reunite us with all the faithful to live in His presence forever! Faithfully follow Jesus and keep His word.
Action for the Day:
Ask God to increase our faith. Ask for Jesus to console us with His presence when we are troubled, when we need the presence of His love, when we are in grief. Lord Jesus, thank you for accompanying us on every portion of our journey here on earth with our friends and loved ones. Please continue to strengthen and heal us especially all those who are in our prayer lists. Guide us through your Spirit to be a source of your gentleness and your light to everyone we meet. Grant us always the grace of your presence and the joy of your peace.
Audio Reflection
