Our reflection verse today from John’s Gospel speaks of the original covenant of God and Abraham, and the profound revelation of Christ’s eternal nature and his identity as the “Great I AM” who transcends time.
Msgr. John J. McIlhon, in his work, Forty Days Plus Three, writes that Jesus represents the final covenant God made with humankind. “The sign of this covenant bore no mark of earthly distinctiveness—no tree of good and evil, no rainbow, no circumcision, no Passover lamb. The mark of the new covenant was Jesus Christ and his new way of living, distinguishing God’s chosen people from all others. Christ’s way of living was a new kind of circumcision, marked on the hearts of Christ’s followers by “the two-edged sword of God’s Word.” God designed that a divinely chosen people should be distinguished from all others by the kind of love Jesus generously displayed.”
While Jesus was a flesh-and-blood individual, the “I AM” statement points to the eternal Christ who predates all creation and continues to be present through the Word, the Eucharist, and the community of believers.
Fr. Ron Rolheiser writes that just as Abram had to become Abraham, we are called to expand our hearts and identities. Jesus’ claim of being “before Abraham” underscores a divine authority that calls us out of our “comfortable and secure” boundaries into a larger, more inclusive faith. This statement is one of Jesus’ most powerful declarations of divinity, directly echoing God’s self-revelation to Moses at the burning bush (“I AM WHO I AM”). It signifies that Jesus is not merely a prophet but the eternal Son of God, uncreated and self-existent.
