In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus once again attempts to reveal his true nature to the Jews, only to be met with insults and threats. In this passage, Jesus has returned to the temple. After the Pharisees attempt to set a trap for him with the woman caught in adultery, he continues his teaching.
Though many of the Jews are coming to believe Him, they continue to challenge His teaching and assertion that He is the Son of God. He engages in a back-and-forth discussion with them as they press Him on His origins and identity. It appears they are not fully grasping the importance of what He is saying, and He questions whether they really know God the Father. When Jesus tells them that Abraham rejoiced at His coming and implied that He knew Abraham, they grow irritated, as if Jesus had somehow disrespected their ancestor. The tension grows, and they speculate that he must be possessed.
Seven Words
Finally, Jesus lays it out, with the powerful words, “ . . . before Abraham came to be, I AM.” With these seven words, Jesus lays out His immortality, divinity and membership in the Holy Trinity. “Existing before all, and going before all” (St. Irenaeus of Lyon, AD 202). At that, they prepare to stone Him, and He slips away.
The behaviour of the crowd is perplexing, and the early Church fathers were likewise confused about the crowd’s display of anger and envy and lack of receptiveness. St. John Chrysostom, writing in the early 5th century, points out that the Jews weren’t upset when accused of not knowing God the Father, but when they heard Jesus say, “before Abraham was, I am,” they became furious and would have stoned him.
At this point, there was seemingly plenty of evidence to support receptiveness and faith in Christ’s words. St. John concludes, “There is nothing worse than a soul hardened in desperation; though it sees signs and wonders, it still perseveres in retaining the same shamelessness. Thus Pharaoh, who received ten thousand strokes, was sobered only while being punished, and continued of this character until the last day of his life, pursuing those whom he had let go.”
The Samaritan Woman
In another passage, St. John Chrysostom points out that the Samaritan woman at the well engaged in a similar discussion with Jesus, with a far different result. The Samaritan woman initially had her own questions or doubts about what Jesus was saying to her, but rather than accusing him of being possessed, she simply asked with a desire to learn if He was greater than their father Jacob. Face to face, with Christ revealing His nature to her, and with perhaps less evidence to support her conclusion, she went into town and told the people she had met a man who could be the Christ.
They made their way towards Him, and He stayed there two days. Thus, we see a different outcome in Samaria than the one today’s Gospel lays out, right in God’s house.
May we have the simple faith of the woman at the well.
