Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death

Pantocrator (note Ο ΩΝ in nimbus), c. 1600, Cretan.  Byzantine Museum, Athens, Greece.  Gospel Book is open to John 3:16-17

 "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"  Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

- John 8:47-59

 In chapter 8 of John's Gospel, Jesus has been at the temple in Jerusalem, attending the Feast of Tabernacles.  He has been disputing with the leadership.  Yesterday we read that they answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone.  How can You say, 'You will be made free'?"  Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.  I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.  I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father."  They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father."  Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.  But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.  Abraham did not do this.  You do the deeds of your father."  Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father -- God."  Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.  Why do you not understand My speech?  Because you are not able to listen to My word.  You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.  But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.  Which of you convicts Me of sin?  And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?  He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."

 "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"   We remember once again that the term the Jews is used in John's Gospel like a political term, as if to designate a political party, and refers to to the leadership in the temple.   If we read the previous readings in this chapter, especially yesterday's (above), we see what my study bible points out.  They are unable to defeat Jesus through logic or truth.  Therefore they respond by resorting to personal insult.

Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"  Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."   Jesus' repeated response is to tie in His loyalty to the Father to His representation of who He is, and what He teaches.  Again, looking at His statements in yesterday's reading, above, we see the repeated reference to the Father, not only as the Father's relationship to Christ determines Jesus' identity, but also as to the relationship of these religious leaders to the Father -- their rejection of Christ reveals a rejection of the Father.  In this way, they are not like Abraham, with whom they claim direct ancestry.  Jesus once again reminds them that their father Abraham rejoiced to see His day, and yet they who claim Abraham as ancestor fail to do so.

Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.  I AM (ego eimi/εγω ειμι in the Greek), according to my study bible, is the divine Name of God in the Old Testament.  This name was first revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:13-15).    As my study bible puts it, to these leaders to whom Jesus speaks, this is a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim of perfect equality with God, which is made obvious by their reaction to Jesus.  (See also Mark 14:62-64).  It adds that the special emphasis which John places on the use of this Name is intended to clearly reveal Christ as God.  This divine claim illuminates Christ's authority even over death ("Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death"), which is a power that belongs only to God the Father.

The emphasis on the identity conferred by the Father is most important in today's passage.  First, by using the term ego eimi/I AM, Christ not only ties His own identity with the Father, but perhaps even more importantly, He asserts His identity as that of the Lord in the Old Testament, the One who gave the name I AM, which these men whom He confronts in the leadership most clearly understand -- and it outrages them.  But we cannot escape what John is telling us.  In Exodus 3:14, we read that the Lord tells Moses, "I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' "  In the Septuagint version of this passage, there is a special term used which is translated as the second and third I AM, and is found on Orthodox icons of Christ.  That term is Ο ΩΝ in the original Greek.  Its root is in the verb "to be" and it has been translated as "He who always was, is, and will be."  Therefore we understand what is meant by I AM as the holy Name of God.   It is also used in John 1:18 where it clearly indicates the eternal Son:  "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him" (NKJV); in this case, the term is translated as "who is."  All of this is simply to give us a clear grounding in what is meant to be understood as the ultimate reality that lends all meaning and identity to everything else.  This we can clearly understand from Jesus' repeated emphasis on both His identity and theirs:  everything comes down to a loyalty to the Father that is a deep tie of love.  Even to be a son of Abraham is not to be a physical descendant, but rather to love God as did Abraham.  What it seems to indicate is that we are all capable of severing that tie to the fullness of existence, of denying this loyalty to God, in our own free will choice.  It does not mean that we don't live by the grace of God, but it does give us a sense of what Jesus is getting at when He speaks of His capacity for conferring life, in the sense of His statement about life in abundance (John 10:10), and also in the sense of His statement in today's reading, ". . . if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  He gives us yet another meaning when He says to a potential disciple, "Let the dead bury the dead" (Matthew 8:22, Luke 9:60).   Each statement gives us a new illumination to consider regarding this identity as ultimate reality, the One that confers all life and is the Source of existence.  We are "like God" in the sense of being endowed with a freedom to choose, and we may reject our own source of existence in God's creation, and live as if there is no such thing as spiritual reality or truth, and as if all of this does not matter in the least.  Even the angels who rebelled against God had this freedom.  We live in time, and are given time to change and to repent, to grow and undergo a sense of illumination, to change our minds.  But it is clear that we live through the grace of God, and Jesus speaks -- in His saving mission -- to those whom He fears will die in their sins (see Thursday's reading) because they reject Him and therefore in their hearts they reject the Father.   It is in this sense in which He speaks of those living who are "dead" spiritually.  Slavery, lies, and death are tied together in His earlier statement that "whoever commits sin is a slave of sin" (see yesterday's reading, above); and freedom, truth, and life are tied to this concept of I AM.  Jesus will teach, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), and give us the fullness of these meanings, in which He is the Person who is all these things, as He is in the Father -- and our own grounded existence in the reality of God the Trinity becomes the gateway to the fullness of life itself.  All of this is to say that Jesus gives us multiple meanings of life and reality, conferred in this simple use of the Name, and the meanings which may come into our lives through faith.  Let us consider His courage in making this offer through His confrontation with the religious leaders of His time, the sacrifice which will become the key to salvation for all, and the power of life even in the tomb.