Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM."
“I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” These are the Lord’s words that precede today’s reading from Genesis. From here, the Lord expounds on His covenant with Abram, which He first introduced in Genesis 15. Abram and his wife, Sarai, are consumed by angst because of their barrenness, and they resort to improper means to beget a child when Sarai gives Hagar, her handmaiden, to Abram. Hagar conceives, but Sarai “dealt harshly with her,” prompting Hagar to flee (Genesis 16:6). Instead of trusting in the Lord’s covenant that Abram’s descendants will number like the stars in heaven, Sarai and Abram ensnare Hagar in their familial drama, sowing discord and jealousy between Sarai and Hagar. How broken even the most faithful of us are! However, God harvests good from human iniquity.
The Lord’s reassurance of His covenant with Abram calls to mind a pithy remark that we are all familiar with: “Try again.” Compare Abram’s reaction when he first receives the Lord’s covenant to his response in Genesis 17:
“But Abram said, 'O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless?... You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir'” (Genesis 15:2-3).
Initially, Abram is confounded by the unfeasibility of the Lord’s covenant. His immediate response is one of doubt. I can imagine God saying in this moment, “Try again, Abram.” The Lord is patient with our fickle human hearts. The first line of today’s reading tells us that “Abram fell on his face” in prostration to the Lord. What a difference! Even this subtle line reveals how the Lord has transformed Abram’s heart with the virtue of trust. By trusting in the Lord, Abram, the “exalted father,” is transformed into Abraham, the “father of many nations.”
The prevailing motif in today’s readings is trust in the Lord and His covenant.
The Lord remembers his covenant forever.
He remembers forever his covenant,
which he made binding for a thousand generations—
which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
The Lord remembers his covenant forever.
Twice in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus repeats, “Very truly, I tell you.” These two words, “Amen, amen,” often rendered “Very truly,” subtly confirm the verity and abiding nature of Christ’s words.
“Very truly,” Christ promises, “Whoever keeps my word will never see death,” and “Before Abraham was, I AM.” In only eight verses, Christ has promised and reassured us of our salvation and His divinity. Christ identifies Himself with the eternal “I AM”—the same God who fashioned mankind after His likeness and image and proclaimed His covenant to Abram in Genesis 17. In doing so, Christ is mocked and belittled by the Pharisees who doubt Him:
“So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.”
The same God who created us so humbled Himself that He would be disparaged and eventually killed by us—all because He loves us. Such is the humility of our God. This Lent, may we have the presence of mind to, like Abraham, prostrate ourselves before the Lord and trust in His eternal promise of salvation.
