Before Abraham Was, I AM

In the shadow of Lent, Jesus declares the impossible: “Before Abraham was, I AM”—eternal promise meets divine eternity, calling us to unbreakable faith.

First Reading

Genesis 17:3-9

When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him: “My covenant with you is this: you are to become the father of a host of nations. No longer shall you be called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a host of nations. I will render you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you; kings shall stem from you. I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now staying, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God.”

God also said to Abraham: “On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages.”

Gospel

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.

Abraham’s Leap into the Unknown: A Model of Patient Faith

Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrews and pillar of faith, shows us what trust in God looks like. Leaving the comfort of his homeland in Ur with his wife Sarai, Abram stepped out into the vast void of unknowing. God’s command came with the promise to make of him a “great nation” (Genesis 12:2), with descendants “like the dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:16). But several years later, following the War of the Four Kings against the Five Kings, Abram, still childless, proposed making his servant Eliezer his heir to fulfill God’s plan (Genesis 15:4). Once again, the Lord assured him that his own offspring would be as uncountable as the stars in the sky. Binding himself to the covenant, the Lord made a unilateral, self-maledictory oath, passing between animal pieces while Abram slept. God essentially declared that he would suffer the fate of the animals if he failed to keep his word (Genesis 15).

Years later and still childless, Sarai, despairing that the Lord kept her from bearing children, proposed that Abram sire a child with her Egyptian maid Hagar (Genesis 16:2). While the childless couple believed in God’s promise, they had no idea how it would be fulfilled. Between the promise and the hope, insurmountable natural barriers loomed. Thus, the saga of long-suffering faith meandered into the muddy streams of human manipulation to fulfill a divine pledge. 

From Doubt to Divine Fulfillment: The Naming of Abraham and the Birth of Isaac

Bringing Hagar and her son Ishmael into the family caused intense rivalry, division, and eventual banishment. In the midst of this household strife, the Lord appeared to Abram at the ripe old age of ninety-nine to finally enact his promise of decades past. Changing Abram’s name to Abraham, God declared he would soon bless Sarah with a baby boy, Isaac, which means “he will laugh.” Indeed, Abraham laughed heartily at the thought of becoming a father at the age of one hundred. 

Both Abraham and Sarah had already accepted the idea of Ishmael as heir. “If only Ishmael could live in your favor!” Abraham cried (Genesis 17:18). Since God cannot be outdone in generosity, he bestowed divine blessings on both Ishmael and Isaac, half-brothers and sons of Abraham. The patriarch’s faith, challenged by dark periods of doubt and skepticism, finally came to fruition in Isaac and the covenant of circumcision.

Before Abraham Was, I AM

The story of faith continues in the confrontation of Jesus with the children of Abraham. Claiming to be the Messiah and very son of David, Jesus spoke words beyond nature and reason, prompting accusations of demonic possession. “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death,” Jesus proclaimed (John 8:52). Considering the bare fact that all the prophets and patriarchs perished, Jesus’ incredible claims agitated his hearers, who were already incensed by the stir he caused among the people from signs and wonders. 

Yet, here stood a man of wisdom and sobriety referring to God as his Father, who “glorifies” him. Such claims did not qualify Jesus as the Messiah but as a blasphemer in the eyes of religious experts. No human can be equal to God, they believed. Escalating even further, Jesus closed the angry exchange by asserting his divinity: “Before Abraham came to be, I AM.” The unmistakable reference to the Name of God revealed to Moses at the burning bush launched a stoning.

From Abraham to Jesus, divine promises require a leap of faith into the abyss of unknowing. The one-hundred-year-old man who fathered a baby boy, when tested at the altar of sacrifice, “reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol” (Hebrews 11:19). Thus, God’s acceptance of Abraham’s obedience and his mercy on Isaac prefigured Christ’s resurrection. We may, like Abraham and Sarah, wander off along the journey of faith, but Christ ultimately leads us to eternal life.