Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent - March 21, 2013
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
John 8:51 – 56
Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”
At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
“Whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
Jesus’ language always carries several layers of meaning.
Of course, we will all see death . . . not just at the end of our earthly life, but all along the way. All of us, if we truly find life, also experience many deaths throughout life. In fact, if we are not experiencing the death of attitudes, stances, ideas, and frameworks that are harmful or debilitating, we will never have fullness of life.
The paradox, as I see it, is that it takes a lot of death, a lot of surrender, a lot of laying aside, in order to get to the place of experiencing what Jesus said: “You will never see death.”
We have a lot of dying to do in order to not “see death.”
In other words, after a lot of laying down and surrender, giving up self for God’s Self, dying to the self, then you get to a place where death cannot touch you. Only then, will the Great Death not move you.
John 8:51 – 56
Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”
At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
“Whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
Jesus’ language always carries several layers of meaning.
Of course, we will all see death . . . not just at the end of our earthly life, but all along the way. All of us, if we truly find life, also experience many deaths throughout life. In fact, if we are not experiencing the death of attitudes, stances, ideas, and frameworks that are harmful or debilitating, we will never have fullness of life.
The paradox, as I see it, is that it takes a lot of death, a lot of surrender, a lot of laying aside, in order to get to the place of experiencing what Jesus said: “You will never see death.”
We have a lot of dying to do in order to not “see death.”
In other words, after a lot of laying down and surrender, giving up self for God’s Self, dying to the self, then you get to a place where death cannot touch you. Only then, will the Great Death not move you.
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