The Jewish leaders are touching on a second issue with the words of Jesus in the previous passage. They do not deal with the future implications of his words, rather they look back at history. They offer up Abraham and the prophets as evidence of the total lunacy of his claim that those who “keep” his words will never taste death.
After all, Abraham and the prophets, who all heard directly from God and are by all accounts worthy of special recognition for their role in the history of faith, are in fact dead. They are dead and buried. The question is obvious—do you think your spoken words are superior to the very words spoken of God to these giants of salvation history? I have to admit that I would have had a hard time accepting this claim given the Jewish frame of reference.
But even the modern mind, progressive and calculating, has trouble with the same statement. Perhaps my reasoning is different than theirs, but it still is a roadblock to my total embracing of the claims of Christ. It is not easy to accept concepts of eternal life, resurrection, virgin birth, creation, and the list continues. My frame of reference is not the Abrahamic one, but one of enlightenment—a scientific model. These stand in apposition to belief, faith, miraculous, and in the end, the God model.
John’s gospel calls me to believe. And to believe, I must at times set aside evidence to the contrary that cannot be explained, and accept by faith those concepts that are matters of faith. Spiritual things are understood spiritually. This tension is unavoidable as long as I live in the world I live in, regardless of my frame of reference. I am reminded that the realm of the unknown is far greater and more expansive than what is known. God falls into the prior more so than in the latter.
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