Abraham’s Journey from Ur to Canaan,
Painting by József Molnár, (1821–1899),
Painted in 1850,
Oil on canvas
© Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
Abraham’s Journey from Ur to Canaan,
Painting by József Molnár, (1821–1899),
Painted in 1850,
Oil on canvas
© Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am
John 8:51-59
Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.'
The Jews said to him, 'Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, "Whoever keeps my word will never taste death." Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?' Jesus answered, 'If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, 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. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; 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, 'Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.' So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
Reflection on the painting
In the lead up to Holy Week, Jesus continues to reveal his true identity. Here Jesus declares himself to be God, by stating that he lived before Abraham lived, thus revealing his divine nature. This is another one of the great "I am's"of Jesus. It was inconceivable to the Jewish people that anyone could be greater than Abraham. But that is exactly what Jesus tells them today. In the course of his reply Jesus says, ‘I tell you solemnly, before Abraham ever was, I am’.
We feel the tensions building up towards the crucifixion. For making claims such as today’s claim, the Jewish rulers consider Jesus a very real threat to their power and their authority. They cannot let him continue to teach and attract more and more followers. Something has to be done about Him… Jesus knows that the time is drawing near, and so his teachings become more and more intense, straight-to-the-point and urgent.
Abraham (whose name means ‘father of many’), is one of the most jointly beloved figures of Jews, Christians and Muslims. We all somehow see ourselves as proud descendants of Abraham: Jews identify Abraham as their founding father, we Christians trace the lineage of Jesus Christ back to him, and Muslims revere him as a friend of God, a father of the prophets, and an ancestor of the Prophet Mohammed.
The sacred scriptures of Islam, Christianity and Judaism refer to Abraham as a “friend of God” and all that he holds dear in life: his family, people, flora, fauna, indeed the entire creation itself. Our painting by Hungarian artist József Molnár depicts Abraham’s journey from Ur to Canaan, surrounded by camels, sheep, a donkey, his family, shepherded and an expansive landscape in the background.
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These powerful readings have been neglected by me for a long time. I read about the Jews being blind to Jesus and His teachings. I am frequently blind to them myself. I need grace to help me. Pity my simplicity suffer me to come to Thee.
“…I am.” Present tense.
My mind went back to Jesus in the temple as a boy, teaching the amazed elders. Of course he would have had that knowledge since “..before Abraham was, I am”
I have always had a fascination for Abraham, without him we wouldn’t have our faith and I love that he is mentioned in the great Eucharistic prayer. He is a uniting figure, as you point out, Patrick, for all his descendents whether Jew or Muslim or Christian. I partly owe to Abraham and his story the path I took in life, being inspired by his journey those thousands of years ago. Yet, time disappears in this reading as Jesus dissolves history into the eternal present. What a legacy Abraham left to this world, and what a bridge he made into the next. Let’s pray for our all our siblings in Abraham throughout the world today.
He is the God of the present moment. We meet him in this moment, not the past or the future.
Lord, help us not to live in the past, but look forward to a future with you, and be with you at this moment.
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Very well put isn’t it? Jesus is either deluded or the real deal. Based upon his teachings I think we can see that the latter is true.
A monk of my acquaintance said that if everyone read John’s gospel, more so than the others, there would be huge numbers of conversions. I have to say that even after being educated in Catholic schools all my childhood, these readings had not been part of my education.
I was introduced to C.S. Lewis and J. R.R. Tolkien when I was attending college in the early 80s by friends who belonged to the Episcopal Church. Ironically, it was the writings of C.S. Lewis that ultimately helped me return to my Catholic faith.
Did Tolkien write any religious stuff? I know he refused to put any interpretation on the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Not a Christian allegory or anything to do with Hitler and the Nazi threat…
I just mentioned Tolkien because he had a hand in Lewis’ conversion to Christianity. When I was in college is when I was introduced to these English writers. Chesterton also. I am a fan of all three.
There’s a sadness in today’s reading. More rejection of Jesus by those he came to save. And yet despite this, He still loves, He still tries to save. For those who believe His words, even today, there is life, truth, love and peace. Why choose the alternative? Today’s picture shows the desert, the nothingness they travelled with ‘only’ God to lead them. What amazing faith Abraham had!