Wednesday in Holy Week, April 1, 2026

Matthew 26, 14-25

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.  On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, ‘My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.’ ” The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.  When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.”

Two preparations are made in today’s Gospel Reading: that of Judas to hand over Jesus, and that of Jesus to hand over himself as a Sacrifice for sins.

“What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?”  St. Thomas Aquinas points out that this question shows how little Judas valued Jesus.  Thomas says that when a person values a thing he wants to sell, he tells the prospective buyer what the price will be.  He sets the price.  But a person who does not care much about what he is selling only asks what a prospective buyer is willing to pay.  He lets the buyer set the price, and he will set it as low as he can.  Thus, Judas did not offer Jesus to the Sanhedrin for his price, but let them set the price as though he were glad to be rid of Jesus, as though he did not need him anymore.  Once we add the consideration that Judas was a greedy man, as shown in yesterday’s Gospel Reading, and we can see the contempt in which Judas held the Lord.  There are those who have a misplaced sympathy for Judas.  Let this help them see him in a different light.

“Go into the city to a certain man.”  It is not clear if Jesus names a man or describes him in more detail than St. Matthew tells us here, or if he simply says, Go to the first man you see.  The first case would tell us that he knew one particular man was eager to give Jesus a room for the Passover but did not know how to find him.  He looks for Jesus, but Jesus finds him.  The second case shows the Lord’s power, that he seemingly chooses a man at random and such is the Lord’s reputation with the man that he is glad to offer him his room.

Normally in the division of household responsibilities the women of the house prepared the meals, but the Passover meal was prepared by the men.

“My appointed time draws near.”  The Greek text only says “time”, but the word can also mean, “a fitting season”.  But the question would have struck the Apostles as unusual.  What did it mean that his “time” was drawing near?  The time for taking over Jerusalem?  They would not have understood its significance.  The Lord’s time draws near just as the time of the Paschal lamb was drawing near.  “Surely it is not I, Lord?”  We might wonder about the Apostles asking this question.  After all, they should know whether or not they planned to betray Jesus.  They speak as though fearful that one of them was fated to betray him even against his will.  Or, they were speaking out of shock at what he had said.  Or, they wanted him to know it was not them.  “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me.”  They were all dipping their morsels into the one dish.  The Lord is simply emphasizing how that the traitor was of their fellowship.  “Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”  Judas betrayed Jesus through his own freewill.  This was foreseen by the Prophets and foreknown by Almighty God.  Because he acted wickedly in betraying Christ despite all the attempts the Lord made to get him to repent, he was to be punished so severely that it “would be better for that man if he had never been born.”  

“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, ‘You have said so.’ ”  In the ongoing commotion, Jesus tells Judas directly that he knows the truth about him.  Any prudent man would have broken off the plan and either have done nothing, hoping that the Lord would not give him away to the others, or he would have run for his life.  Judas had such contempt for the Lord that even this display of foreknowledge did not impress him and he continued on with what he intended to do.

There are many sinners today so hardened in their ways that their conscience is in effect dead.  Let us pray for their conversion, for the conversion of the worst of sinners may especially glorified Almighty God.

Tuesday in Holy Week, March 31, 2026

John 13, 21-33; 36-38

Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him, “Master, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.” So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or to give something to the poor. So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.  When he had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”   Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.” Peter said to him, “Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.”

The Gospel Reading for today’s Mass is taken from a section of St. John’s Gospel.  The Last Supper has commenced.  St. John presents a contrast of two men, Judas and Peter.  The first did not speak and betrayed Jesus; the second spoke up and denied Jesus.  We learn from this that anyone, even the best disposed person, can sin against Jesus.  In order to avoid doing this we must, first, avoid evil and, second, not presume on our own strength.

John also shows us how many chances Jesus gives us to repent, to turn away from committing mortal sin, and that no one is fated to commit it.  In today’s Gospel Reading, Judas receives three very plain notices from the Lord that he knows he has planned to betray him: the first when Jesus says, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”; the second, “He is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.”; the third, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”  Judas knew, then, that Jesus knew, and that of Jesus wanted to, he could order the other Apostles seize and kill him.  But he lets neither shame nor fear prevent him from carrying out his plan.  No blood ever ran colder than Judas’s.  The Lord further gives him chances to repent even right to the moment when Judas leads his gang of thugs into the garden to point the Lord out to them.  Even after betraying him and he had thrown away the money the Sanhedrin had paid him, he could have gone back to the Lord.  Peter, who denied Jesus three times, was at least as remorseful of his sin as Judas was of his own, but Peter did not despair and reconciled with his Master after he rose from the dead.

“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”  Jesus waits for Judas to depart before he announces his glorification because his sufferings begin now, with the betrayal.  The Lord sees this as glory rather than disaster because his obedience to the Father’s will reveals his love for him and for us.  The Lord also sees that the beginning of his Passion will end in his Resurrection.  His Death is not an end in itself but a means to an end, that of his rising again.  He already looks forward to that day.  “You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”  You will look for me in the tomb, Jesus says to them, but you will not find me there.  Rather, I have come down from heaven to find you, O lost sheep, and I will return from death to shepherd you always.  “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.”  St. John quotes Jesus twice in his Gospel speaking of Peter’s death.  Perhaps John wrote his Gospel shortly after he received news that Peter had been crucified at Rome.  “Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”  St. Thomas Aquinas comments that Peter’s protestation that he would die for the Lord takes different forms and occurs st different times before, during, or after the Last Supper.  He concludes that Peter made several of these protestations, either out of bravado or in order to work up his courage.

The Lord gives us numerous opportunities throughout our lives to renounce sin and draw ever nearer to him.  Let us deny the devil and not Jesus.

Monday in Holy Week, March 30, 2026

John 12, 1-11

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”  The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.

Mary’s anointing of Jesus at the house of Lazarus while Martha served is often confused with another anointing — that by a person identified only as “a sinful woman”, whom some think to have been Mary Magdalene.  This is, however, an anointing distinct from that as shown by a comparison of the times, places, circumstances, and the details of the actions.

“They gave a dinner for him there.”  The dinner occurred not long after the Lord had raised Lazarus from the dead and may have been given in thanks to the Lord for his gracious deed.  The dinner was held “six days before Passover”, that is, on the Monday before the Lord died.  “Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard.”  She would have purchased this for this purpose.  There are many different types of nard and in ancient times certain kinds were used to flavor foods and add a spicy taste to wine.  St. John notes that it was “genuine aromatic nard”, which tells us that it was very expensive, which further gives us an idea of the wealth this little family possessed.  “[She] anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair.”  This act of obeisance may have been motivated by her deep gratitude for Jesus giving her brother back to her or as a sign of her regret over her behavior when Jesus arrived to raise him.  “The house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.”  We can understand the spiritual meaning of Mary’s action as the faithful soul in silent and humble prayer to the Lord, the  fragrance of which he finds most pleasing.  

“Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?”  This is the price of the nard, nearly a year’s wages for a working man.  Judas’s objection comes across not as pious but as rude.  He seems to usurp the place of Jesus, his Master and the one to whom the anointing was done.  If anyone was to object, it would have been the Lord.  Of course, St. John points out that he was motivated by greed.  “Let her keep this for the day of my burial.”  It is unclear if this nard was carried to the tomb on Easter morning by the holy women.  Mary of Bethany’s name is not mentioned as being among them by the Evangelists.  The Lord could have been speaking in terms of a sign that his Death and burial were near at hand.

“You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”  In a fallen world inhabited by men and women whose human nature is wounded, there will always be those who, through their own fault or that of others or as a result of some disaster, have been rendered poor.  The “poor” here are those who are destitute and beg on the streets for their bread.  “But you do not always have me”, that is, walking among them.  We who believe in the Lord know that he is with us always, unto the consummation of the world (Matthew 28, 20): through his Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, through the grace that he imparts to us, and through his words in the Holy Gospels.  

“But also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.”  These curiosity seekers came not to see the one who raised from the dead but the one who had been dead.  “The chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.”  The chief priests reveal their hardness of heart.  Indeed, they behave very much like the Pharaoh with Moses: no matter how many signs they see, they cling to their judgment that Jesus is not the Messiah.

The Sanhedrin and the Pharisees had to work very hard in order to deny the divine origin of the Lord’s miracles. Motivated by sheer, unrelenting hatred, they contorted themselves into all kinds of shapes, making absurd claims such as that he expelled demons by power of the Prince of Demons. So many people in our society today foster similar hostility. Let us pray for their conversion and persevere in our faith despite their attacks,

Palm Sunday, March 29, 2026

Matthew 26, 14—27, 66

The Passion of our our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Matthew graphically describes his suffering in the garden, his arrest, interrogation by the Sanhedrin, their handing him over to Pilate, the torture he endured, and his crucifixion.  Matthew also pays great attention to the events connected with the Lord’s Death and what happened at that time.

In particular, he speaks of the darkness that came over the land at noon and remained until the Lord died.  Matthew does not speak of an eclipse, but of “darkness” which may have dimmed the sun but did not become complete, for if it had no one would have seen what else transpired at that time.  We can understand the darkness as the natural world in mourning over its Creator’s Death or perhaps as a sign that this is the hour of darkness: “This is your hour and the power of darkness” (Luke 22, 53), as the Lord said to the wicked people who came to arrest him in the garden.

The Evangelist also reports that the Lord cried out, from the Cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  Matthew gives the Aramaic words the Lord used.  The Lord does not use these words in despair but in order to show that he was fulfilling the Scriptures written concerning him and also the depths of his suffering.  He knew that we need to see how much he suffered for us.  But this Psalm, which begins with this agonized cry, continues with the Psalmist praising God for his goodness: “I will declare your name to my brethren: in the midst of the assembly will I praise you” (Psalm 22, 23).  We recall that he fulfilled this as well when he rose again.  Some of the bystanders misinterpreted what he cried out, which shows his suffering, as he would have had great difficulty in speaking at all.

“One of them ran to get a sponge; he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink.”  The other Evangelists say that this “wine” was mixed with myrrh or was vinegar.  At any rate, it had a bitter taste.  He is said by the others to have tasted it but not to have drank it.  He did this so that all of his senses might suffer, and the last of them to suffer would have been his sense of taste.  He may also have tasted it — moistened his mouth with it — in order for his body to give out his great cry before he died.

“Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit.”  The fact that Jesus had the strength to “cry out again in a loud voice” stunned the centurion guarding him, for no one dying of asphyxiation, as he was, does this.  St. Thomas Aquinas notes that Jesus “gave up” his spirit, that is, his soul, not that he was killed against his will: “He died because he himself willed it” (Hebrews 2, 14).

As we meditate upon the sufferings and holy Death of our Savior, let us keep in mind st all times how desperately he wants to save us, that he would do anything, even die on a cross, for us. 

Saturday in the 5th Week of Lent, March 28, 2026

John 11, 45-56

Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do?  This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.”But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to kill him. So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews, but he left for the region near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, and there he remained with his disciples.  Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before Passover to purify themselves. They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?”

“Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him.”  The Vulgate text has “to Martha and Mary”, but the Greek text has only “Mary”.  The verse refers to the raising up of Lazarus by Jesus.  It was a wondrous miracle the Lord performed before a large crowd.  The household of Lazarus and his two sisters was evidently a prosperous one, and so the witnesses of this miracle were certainly well-placed and influential people whose word could not be doubted.  This alarmed the Pharisees.  The Lord had begun his Public Life with preaching and miracles in obscure towns and villages in Galilee, but now he was performing great signs in and around Jerusalem.  “If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.”  The Greek word translated here as “leave him alone” actually means “permit him”: If we permit him (to continue performing signs), all will believe in him.  The distinction is that the lectionary translation indicates a lack of action; the literal translation “we permit” indicates an acquiescence to what he is doing, a permission to continue performing these signs.  The people would see this as giving their approval.  Now, the Pharisees and the chief priests are convinced that the Lord intends to overthrow Roman rule and reestablish the kingdom of Israel.  They also know that the time for that has not come.  They realistically fear that “the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.”  The Greek verb translated here as “take away” has the more specific sense of “carrying away that which was raised up”.  That is, Israel had been enjoying relative peace and stability, but that would be “carried away” by the Romans if a rebellion broke out.  The Greek word translated as “land” actually means “place”, and in this context it means “power”: The Romans will take away our power and our nation.  The Jewish leaders and the Romans have a tacit agreement: the Romans will allow the Jewish priesthood to continue, and the Jewish priesthood would keep the people from rebelling.  This arrangement seems in danger now.  We note, however, the adamant refusal of the Jewish leadership to consider the miracles of the Lord as signs from the Father.  This brings to mind the situation between Moses and Pharaoh, in which God performed many signs, particularly the ten plagues, to convince Pharaoh to release the Hebrew slaves, and only with the coming of the Angel of Death did he do so, though he quickly changed his mind and sent his chariots after them.

“You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.”  The cynical high priest proposes the utilitarian answer: the greatest good for the greatest number.  This contradicts the Christian principle that no one may commit a wicked act that a (supposed) good result may follow.  St. John comments, “He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation.”  That is, even a wicked member of the clergy, priest, bishop, or pope, may perform a good act or speak a prophecy through the agency of the Holy Spirit.

“So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews, but he left for the region near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, and there he remained with his disciples.”  Ephraim was a town thirteen miles northeast of Jerusalem, located in wild, hilly country.  Its surroundings made it a good place to hold out while at the same time remaining close to Jerusalem.  The Lord must have had followers living there with whom he could stay.  That, or he and his Apostles could sleep in the caves that abound in the rocky locale.  The Lord does this in order to keep his Apostles safe and to give them a chance to rest before his triumphal entrance into the city.

“They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area.”  Anticipation was high that Jesus would announce himself as the successor of King David at this Passover, and the people watched anxiously for him.  We would do well to imitate their anticipation as we await the coming of our King on the last day.

Friday in the Fifth Week of Lent, March 27, 2026

John 10, 31-42

The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus.  Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, You are gods’?” it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and Scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Then they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power. He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. Many came to him and said, “John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” And many there began to believe in him.

While I was reading the Gospel at Mass for the Thursday in the Fifth Week of Lent, a new thought occurred to me.  Jesus tells the Jews, at the end of the reading, “Before Abraham came to be, I AM.”  Now, that “I AM” would outrage the Jews only if they understood that he was speaking the Name of God, which only the high priest was permitted to do.  Since “I AM” does not signify God’s Name in Aramaic, the common language of that time and place, the Lord must have spoken it in Hebrew.  But the St. John wrote his Gospel in the Greek language.  “I AM” in Greek is not the Name of God anymore than in Aramaic.  How, then, could John expect his Greek readers to understand what Jesus had done, and what the Jews tried to do in response?  It seems the only solution is that John was writing primarily for a Jewish readership who could read Greek, and would recognize the Hebrew Name of God in the Greek words John used.  This, coupled with the detailed descriptions of settings within Jerusalem, provides evidence that John wrote his Gospel for Jewish Christians living in Jerusalem.  But the long-standing tradition from the time of the Fathers informs us that John wrote his Gospel in Ephesus.  It may be that John’s original readership consisted of the Jewish Christians of Ephesus, who would have known something of the layout of Jerusalem from pilgrimages there.  That a sizable Jewish community existed in Ephesus during John’s lifetime is clear from the Acts of the Apostles, and that a number of the Jews there converted to Christianity is also clear from that book.  The Letter to the Ephesians seems to suppose that much of the Church there consisted of Gentile Christians, so perhaps the Gospel was written earlier than Paul’s Letter, as the church in Ephesus became predominantly Gentile Christian over time.  I think understanding the history of the writing of the Gospels helps us to appreciate the historical reality of Jesus Christ, and bolsters our trust in the Gospels as authentic documents which tell us the truth about him.

In the Gospel reading for today’s Mass, St. John tells of another occasion on which the Lord Jesus was threatened with death.  We should note that Jesus is never in danger of death from Herod or Pilate during the course of his Public Life, until its end, but is regularly in danger from his own countrymen.  “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?”  The Lord is not appealing to his would-be killers to see ordinary good works, but miracles of great power.  He is both saying that he is a good man doing God’s will, and also that of he chose to, he could stop them from stoning him with further works of power.  “We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.”  They say that he is “making” himself God.  Instead, he has revealed himself as God by doing the works only God could do.  The Jews never deny the miracles or attempt to explain them away.  They simply ignore them when their reality inconveniences them.  We do something similar when we, knowing God and his commandments, choose to commit sin anyway.  “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, You are gods’?”  The Lord quotes Psalm 82, 6: “I said: You are gods and all of you the sons of the Most High.”  In the Psalm, Almighty God is speaking to the judges and rulers of the land of Israel.  He tells them that he has called them “gods”, that is, made them “gods”, as with the power of life and death over the people.  He reminds them of the power he has given them which they have misused and with which they render false judgments against the poor.  He says that he has named them “gods” but that “you like men shall die.”  The Lord’s point is that of Almighty God can name some people “gods”, he, Jesus, can claim the title for himself with greater right, since he has shown clear signs of God’s favor and of his power working through him: “Even if you do not believe me, believe the works so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”  

“He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained.”  A certain sadness underlines this verse.  The Lord is rejected by the very people who should have known and received him.  He then goes back to where he began his Public Life three years before in order to prepare himself for his Passion and Death.  At the same time, we should recognize that the Lord is not defeated.  He does not leave the Jews for another country.  He does not hide himself away.  He does not give up his work.  He prepares for the greatest of all works, his offering of himself to the Father for the forgiveness of sins.  He has not stopped loving the human race.  He yearns for its redemption more than ever.  His triumph is in his obedience to the Father and the continuation of his love for us, even for those who betrayed and killed him.

“John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” And many there began to believe in him.”  Out to the wild, rocky places beside the Jordan, people came to him as they had come out to John the Baptist, and they begin to realize the Lord’s greatness.  Perhaps a few of those who had picked up stones against him had a change of heart and began to understand.  But some have always had a stone in their hand against the Lord, ready to launch it when his Godhead and his commandments stand in the way of their wills.

Thursday in the Fifth Week of Lent, March 26, 2026

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 Lord Jesus concludes his teaching to his followers and the Pharisees.  He is trying to convince him that his kingdom is not of this world, and that he came to deliver them from the devil and sin, not from the Romans.  The people, however, steadfastly misinterpret even his plain speech about who he is and what he came to do.  Some scholars have speculated on whether Jesus was a zealot, a member of a group of fanatics set on the liberation of Israel, but a close reading of the Gospel according to St. John makes it seem rather like many of his disciples were zealots.  One of his Apostles, Simon, is even named a zealot by the Evangelists.

“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.”  The Lord makes a promise here.  Now, the Greek word translated here as “keeps” can mean “observe”, as in “obey”, as well as “to guard”.  The Lord is saying that the one who both obeys his commandments and perseveres in his faith until death, despite persecution, will never see death.  “Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets.”  We find the Lord accused of being possessed in all the Gospels.  But we might wonder about what the Lord means here when he says that those who keep his word will never see death.  It is true that he is speaking of the death of the soul in hell, but the phrase he uses, “never see death” is an interesting one.  The Greek word translated as “see” also has the meaning of “experience”.  But we can think of it this way: the true follower of Jesus shall not “taste” or “see” the bitterness or the horror of death.  He will die, as all humans must, but his death will be a true passing from this world into the next, and not the catastrophic ending dreaded by unbelievers.

“Who do you make yourself out to be?”  They have asked this question a number of times by now but they will not accept the Lord’s answer.  “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me.”  The Lord offers this as a prelude to his final answer to their question, one which the people will not be able to misinterpret.  The “glory” the Lord speaks of here is the miracles he has performed through the will of the Father.  “Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.”  The Lord probably said “your father” in a way that indicated his disdain for their claim that they were the children of Abraham.  The verse itself is majestic.  We think back to Abraham, who lived fifteen hundred or more years before the Birth of the Lord, and how he foresaw the Lord’s “day”, and rejoiced in it.  We see the Desire of the nations and the Prince of peace standing before his creatures and teaching them.  God walks on earth as once before he walked in the Garden of Eden.  Then he came to punish.  Now he comes to save.

“You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”  This is an important verse in that it tends to confirm St. Luke’s statement about the  Lord’s age (cf. Luke 3, 23).  These people have heard the Lord tell them that he was God’s Son, but they had chosen not to understand what that meant.  “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.”  This is perhaps the most beautiful verse in the Holy Scriptures.  It is succinct and powerful.  It is pure revelation.  Now, the Lord was speaking to the Jews in Aramaic at this point.  If he had said “I am” in Aramaic, they would have waited for him to finish his sentence.  But he says this in Hebrew, and this is the name God called himself to Moses at the burning bush.  No one was allowed to speak it except for the high priest in the holy of holies in the Temple.  The Lord Jesus, in speaking the Name and using it to refer to himself, outraged the Jews, who immediately sought to stone him.  “But Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.”  The Evangelists tell us of how the Lord was nearly killed on numerous occasions.  This reinforces for us the fact that he was crucified only because he himself willed it.  If he had not, he could have escaped again.  But he does not now depart from Jerusalem.  He remains because he still has work to do there.