Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

God renames Abram. From now on you are Abraham - father of a host of nations. An everlasting covenant. Descendants beyond counting. Kings from your line. And Abraham believed, even though he was old and the promise seemed impossible.

In the Gospel, Jesus makes his most staggering claim yet. The crowd says: Abraham died. The prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be? Jesus says: Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad. They scoff: you're not even fifty years old and you've seen Abraham?

Then the sentence that nearly gets him killed: before Abraham came to be, I AM.

Not "I was." I AM. Present tense. The eternal name of God from the burning bush, spoken now by a man standing in the temple. The crowd understands exactly what he's saying. He's claiming to be God. So they pick up stones.

Jesus hides and leaves the temple. Not because he's afraid. Because his hour hasn't come. But it's close. Five days from now is Palm Sunday.

For families, this is about who Jesus really is. Not a good teacher. Not a moral example. Not a wise philosopher. He is the I AM - the eternal God, present before Abraham, present now, present always. This is the claim your family's faith rests on. If Jesus is just a teacher, Christianity is advice. If Jesus is I AM, Christianity is rescue.

The covenant with Abraham was about a family becoming a nation. Your family is part of that nation. The Lord remembers his covenant forever - which he entered into with Abraham. You are Abraham's descendants through faith. The covenant that started with a renamed old man continues in your kitchen tonight.

As a family, pray together:

• For the Church - that she would proclaim the I AM without apology: not Jesus the teacher, not Jesus the example, but Jesus the eternal God who existed before Abraham and will exist forever. Lord, hear our prayer.

• For those who are picking up stones against Christ - in culture, in politics, in their own hearts: that the I AM would break through their resistance and reveal himself. Lord, hear our prayer.

• For our family - that we would know who we worship: not a good idea but the living God, present tense, I AM. Lord, hear our prayer.

• For the faithful departed - that the God who remembers his covenant forever would remember them and raise them to eternal life. Lord, hear our prayer.

Tonight, ask your family: who is Jesus? Not what did he do, not what did he teach - who is he? Let every member answer. Then read together: "Before Abraham came to be, I AM." This is who we follow. This is who we trust. The I AM.