In the first reading we hear God's covenant with Abraham. The psalmist sings to God's fidelity to the promise. In John's gospel we hear Jesus and Abraham, and the Jew's stubbornness in refusing to believe in God's promise being fulfilled in Jesus.

God's covenant with Abraham is: God will make Abraham father of many nations; God is to be his God and the God of his descendants. And on Abraham's part, he and his descendants after him must keep God's covenant throughout the ages.

A son, Isaac, was born to Abraham and his wife Sarah in their old age; this is the beginning of the fulfilment of promises about Abraham's seed. Indeed, the many nations who believe in this Holy One honour Abraham as their Father of Faith, and many males in Judaic, Islamic and Christian religions are given the name 'Abraham'.

But when it comes to acknowledging Jesus' true identity - that he is the Father's Promise, we run into great difficulties! We just cannot understand the Covenant at all because we do not transcend mere human spatial temporal reasoning when hearing Jesus.