ZOE

Moses encountered God and asked God who he was. God said:

I AM (Exodus 3).

Jesus of Nazareth declares himself I AM, so much so, that there are actually seven I AM declarations in the Gospel of John.

All of them speak about our relationship with God – and for one good reason:

God is pure relation (St. Augustine).

All life flows from and to God who is relationship itself:

Father and Son in love and the love is so real that it is the Holy Spirit.

The first I AM declaration centres around nourishing life:

I AM the Bread of Life (John 6).

Just as there are four words for love in Greek, so there are three words for life:

Bios: physical life

Psuche: soul-life

Zoe: eternal, divine life of God.

You guessed it. When John speaks about life in his Gospel, he is referring to Zoe.

Of course, it is most important that we attend to our biological life, and furthermore, be truthful about who we are as men and women.

Our psyche is important too. When our relationships fracture, so do we, too.

God, in offering us Zoe, offers us the ultimate gift.

We embrace it.

Amen.