Thursday, March 26, 2026
As for me …
God reveals his plans to Abraham in this passage of Genesis. In his kingdom on earth, God does not make Abraham ruler or servant, but co-creator. It is a two-sided agreement, emphasized when God concludes with As for you …
Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually.
The first half of Psalm 105 calls on God’s followers to fulfill their side of God & Abraham’s covenant: give thanks, teach his ways, praise the Lord and glory in his name. And then the transition to God's side of the promise:
O offspring of his servant Abraham,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
He is the Lord our God;
his judgements are in all the earth.
He is mindful of his covenant for ever,
of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations
In both readings from the Hebrew Bible we have this give and give. Here’s what God promises here’s what we promise. This side-by-side relationship creates a feeling of immediacy: right here, right now, this is the governing covenant.
Abraham and his covenant with God is front and centre in John’s lesson that takes us to within the temple, where Jesus is having a discussion with the religious leaders. They appear to be increasingly agitated by what Jesus is saying.
Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.
The response to Jesus’ words is to challenge them literally: Abraham died, so did the prophets — you think you’re better than them?
If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing.
It is my Father who glorifies me, …
Jesus is already making the authorities uncomfortable with his deep understanding of sacred texts, combined with the mirror he holds up to the Pharisees’ behaviour, as well as his general suggestion that the observant are missing the point by valuing the letter of Judaic law over its spirit.
The problem is that, for all this, Jesus is glorified: his talks are gathering huge, diverse crowds, he has been blessed with the power to heal, to cast out demons and even to raise people from the dead. People are listening to him.
Jesus gives God the glory, while knowing that he, the Son, is fully united with his Father in being a perfect conduit of God’s will:
… he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ though you do not know him. But I know him; if I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word.
It is not hard to picture how this is received. If it ever could be, Jesus’ power could no longer be dismissed, denied or discounted.
Can you imagine the moment when Jesus says:
Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.
The metaphysics of this sentence is not lost on Jesus’ critics. Where before they were kind of poking at what Jesus was saying, here they snap. They actually reach for rocks hurl at Jesus.
The power manifested in Jesus has become a crisis for the establishment.
And what was Jesus using this great power for, but to help us with our side of the covenant?
Balm in Gilead Vocalessence Ensemble Singers
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