The Covenant and Eternity

THE WORD IN LENT

Thursday, 5th week in Lent - April 7, 2022
Genesis 17: 3-9; John 8: 51-59

Today we have the account of the Abrahamic Covenant - I will be your God and you shall be my people. And Jesus completes that account in the Gospel saying, 'whoever keeps my word will never see death'. The one who believes in the Son and does the will of the One who sent the Son, will have eternal life - this is what Jesus meant and said in various terms at various instances.

Eternal can have three meanings:

The first is Endless (anantha), that is what we are called to: though we have a beginning we are destined to an existence that is endless as we will become one with the Lord, and not just perish.

The other meaning is Beginningless (anaadhi) that is what God is: One who is without a beginning or an end.

Beyond these two meanings there is a third meaning which is very difficult for the human mind to understand. That is, Timelessness. 

Eternal means timelessness, beyond time, beyond all categories of before and after, earlier and later, and all other chronological considerations. This is what confuses the Jews. How can Jesus speak of Abraham as if he were someone who still lived? 

We can become eternal when we become one with God. We become timeless. We have nothing much to do but just obey, just carry out orders, just live on in the way that the Lord says, make choices for the Lord and the Lord's will, reject anything that detracts our life's paths. Our eternal life can begin right here, when we belong to the covenant. 

A simple but constant question I need to ask to belong to the covenant: What does God want of me at this moment?