Episode 62 - "Before Abraham was, I am" - John 8:48-59

48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Have you noticed the change in the tone of the reaction from these people? It has moved from questioning to vicious attack against Jesus leading to them trying to kill him (just as Jesus had said). 

We have already learned about the animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans. The Samaritans were descendants of people whom the Assyrians had brought into the northern kingdom of Israel with the expectation there would be intermarrying and breaking down of the Jewish identity. This led to a view by some purely Jewish people to look down upon the Samaritans as “polluted” or “mixed-breed.” In these people calling Jesus a Samaritan who is demon-possessed, they are accusing him of not being a true Jew and of not being a true worshipper of God. 

The central issue here and the climax to which this conversation has been leading and is found in their question in verse 53, “Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” They are incredulous that this man Jesus standing in their midst is professing to be greater than Abraham and the Prophets. So, they ask, “Who do you make yourself out to be?”

Jesus answers their questions in no uncertain terms. In verse 58 he replies, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” A young 30-year-old man standing among them is claiming to have existed prior to a man who lived 2000 years earlier and claims the divine name “I am” for himself. 

If you’ve ever heard someone say, “Jesus never claimed to be God,” you need to show them this verse and explain it’s meaning. Jesus is making a clear claim to the divine name that God had revealed to Moses. If you think that interpretation of Jesus’ words is just my interpretation, you only need to look at their response. They picked up rocks to stone him to death. They believed he was blaspheming the divine name. There are only two possible reactions to his claim. Either he was blaspheming and, according to the Law, deserved the death penalty or he was telling the truth. 

The question then is which one do you believe it is? There are people today who want to think of Jesus as somewhere in between these two extremes. They are like the people among this crowd. They like some of the things Jesus taught and did. But, they refuse to believe he is God. Jesus’ claim here should force us to either reject him as a crazy liar or to accept his claim as truth and to recognize like Peter, that Jesus alone has the words of eternal life and we need to trust in him.