May 5 - Fifty is Not Old!

May 5 – Fifty is Not Old!

The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge. Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’

Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (John 8:48-59)

Out of all the ages they could choose to use, they chose fifty?  Great.  Jesus just wasn’t that old.  And, by the way, neither is fifty.

When I turned 45 years old, my father took great pleasure in reminding me of just how old I was.  At his 45th birthday, when I was still quite young (like age twenty or something), I must have reacted in shock to his age and he never really forgot that and could hardly wait for me to get there so he could remind me.

He wasn’t around for my fiftieth birthday … I suspect that was probably safer for my ego.

What I find so funny in that exchange between Jesus and the Jews was that thousands of years had passed since the time of Abraham and they were worried that He wasn’t yet fifty?  If He had been over the age of fifty would there have been a better probability that He could have seen Abraham?

From the beginning of John’s gospel we are made aware of the fact that Jesus was with God from the creation of the world.  If we believe that, we have to believe that He knew Abraham and He was there when Abraham lived and when Abraham died.  In fact, Jesus goes on to say, “I am,” implying that He exists in every time and in any time.  This is the Divine “I” speaking … the Word of God, the Creator of the Earth.

I’m ok with a great deal of wisdom, knowledge and experience being ascribed to those aged fifty and older.  But … it still is not that old.