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Misplaced reverence

– Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent –

Jesus said ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to think that he would see my Day; he saw it and was glad.’ The Jews then said, ‘You are not fifty yet, and you have seen Abraham!’ Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly, before Abraham ever was, I Am.’ At this they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple. [John 8:57-59]

The offensiveness of Jesus’ words in today’s reading cannot be overstated. The reverence for God’s name amongst the Jews was such that it was neither spoken nor referenced directly in scripture. Collin Cornell explains that “already in the Second Temple era, spoken recitations of the Hebrew Bible replaced Hebrew YHWH with the Hebrew word for “Lord,” Adonai, and written manuscripts marked the name YHWH with special orthography.” The divine name is revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:13–15, “but Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I Am’ has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.”  

It is this text from Exodus which would have immediately come to mind to listeners when Jesus said, “Before Abraham ever was, I Am.” This was about as offensive as it gets. Not only is Jesus saying the name that should not be spoken, but he’s saying it about himself. This, of course, implies that he is God. In the end, the truth was too much for the Pharisees. They can’t accept the truth, so they plan to crucify it. The God who is so reverenced that his name could not be spoken comes into our world in the person of Christ and is arrested, scourged, mocked, and crucified. Those most concerned with revering God’s name could not recognise God himself when he stood before them.

Holy Spirit, in our desire to give reverence to you, the most holy God, help us to have the openness to see your actions even when they don’t come as we expect.

by Dcn Peter Pellicaan


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