Commentary on the Gospel of
WHO EVER KEEPS MY WORD WILL NEVER EXPERIENCE DEATH
This is an example of the pronouncements of Jesus that people cannot take because they remain at the surface grammar of the statement which of course contradicts their experience. They were so scandalized that they turned violent against him because they considered what he was saying as blasphemy because he attributes the truth of his statement to his Father, who is God. So what could he have meant when he said that whoever keeps his word will not experience death. In other parts of the Gospel he proclaimed that he was the TRUTH, THE WAY, AND THE LIFE. So his words and words of life — the life of the spirit. So when one hears and keeps his words, one becomes spiritually alive. And one who is spiritually alive will transcend death. Death is for that person a transition to greater life, to everlasting life.
