Contracts – how much joy they often make and how they are not kept.

When British Prime Minister Arthur Neville Chamberlain arrived from negotiations in Munich, he was happy to show the treaty of the agreement, which was Munich’s betrayal, and the agreement became a scrap of paper. When God made a covenant with Abraham, he said to him: I will give you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger; the whole land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. Then God said to Abraham: “But you also shall keep my covenant, and your seed after you throughout all generations.”

God decided to make a one-sided, eternal covenant to be the God of Abraham and his seed. Israel did not keep the covenant; God did. However, this nation went through various tragedies due to its unfaithfulness, such as Assyrian and Babylonian captivity and the destruction of Jerusalem. Subsequently, the country was scattered all over the world by the Romans, survived the Holocaust, and is still here. God protects it even though, as a nation, it did not accept God’s son as the Messiah.

Jesus said to the Jews and us, “Truly, truly, I say to you: Whoever keeps my word will never see death.” It is his promise (covenant) for us as well. For Israel, it is the promise of constant protection and existence; for us, it is the promise of eternal life. Israel did not accept the Messiah. What about us? That’s why we ask. What do we do with the received word of Jesus, and what does it mean to keep it? – To carry God’s word in the heart, mind, and memory. That is, returning to it and constantly refreshing it. In this way, the word of Jesus will be alive in us and bring life that nothing can overcome, not even death.