“Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:52-59)

“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.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 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.’ 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. Your father Abraham rejoiced that He would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.” (John 8:52–59, ESV) (Caps added to pronouns in ESV referring to God the Father, Son, and Spirit)

Jesus finally leaves the temple after several days speaking before the people, resulting in some coming to believe and others forcibly challenging of Him. The chief priests and Pharisees had sent the guards to arrest Him and they came back with nothing but amazement for the way He spoke. It was after their return that I suspect they went to Jesus themselves to finish the task, though the passage does not say so. Whether it was them or some others like them who were antagonistic toward Christ, Jesus responds to them in much the same way that He had responded before and will later. He had just told them that their father was the devil and that they did not know God. This did not sit well with them. In the verses prior to this they responded claiming that it was Jesus who had the demon and who was one of those Samaritans whose teachings were way off base such that they and He did not know what they were talking about. To this Jesus told them that anyone who keeps His word would not see death. It is this statement that gave them fuel for their next rebuttal. Jesus, having said that those who believe would not see death, had to be wrong. There is no way He could be right about this point. They thought they had Him. They found their fault. They responded, “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.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”

Looking at death as merely physical they immediately pointed to the fact that Abraham and the prophets died. If these great men of God died, who did Jesus think He was? This was the challenge. Did He really think He was greater than all of these? If He had life such as this where was the source of it? It had to be demonic because God did not spare Abraham and the prophets from death, so why would He spare this singular man? Their clincher was asking Him just who He thought He was? I know this is a phrase I’ve heard when someone was challenged for their seeming authority. With kids it has been something like, “Who says so? You’re not my boss.” With adults it seems sometimes to have a few extra non-repeatable words attached. Asking this question is not one put forth with any form of a reasonable response expected. I imagine then as it is now, this question was more of an emphatic statement that the individual to whom it is said has no authority on that which he speaks. These Jews did not accept Jesus’ authority and they made it quite clear.

I know at this point I would be strongly tempted to wipe my hands and walk away, but Jesus was not yet ready to leave. He continued His appeal and I think it largely for those in the crowd who believed or who might have been on the fence. He said, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. It is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 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. Your father Abraham rejoiced that He would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”

Jesus repeated that it was not all about Him seeking and finding His own glory. He was not on a see how awesome I am tour. He acknowledged that He was being glorified, but that it was not something that He was self-seeking. In glorifying the Father the Father glorified Him. The One glorifying Jesus was the very same One that the Jews had been claiming as their God yet at the same time they have denied Jesus as the One sent and glorified by God. There was a huge disconnect and Jesus again pointed it out. He said (again) that their reason for not knowing Him was that they really did not know God, but that He truly did. He said very plainly, “I know Him.” In fact, if He were to say anything to the contrary then He would be a liar, and not just a liar but a liar like them. But He did (does) know God and He was telling them exactly as it was. They did not know Him and their saying that they did was a lie. Jesus is the One who kept the word of the Father. Closing on what opened their response, Jesus said that even Abraham rejoiced knowing that He would see Jesus’ day come. Sure Abraham died physically, but because of his faith he lives eternally and he is a witness to the coming of the Christ. He did see it and he was glad, and I imagine that his gladness was overflowing. Jesus said that they would have life if they believed God and had accepted the Son sent by the Father. Abraham believed and Jesus said that Abraham saw His coming truly come to pass.

Still not accepting His heavenly origin the Jews responded by pointing to Jesus’ earthly age saying that He was not yet fifty years old and yet He claimed to see Abraham. Again this statement is formed in the way of one of those emphatic questions designed to point to how foolish the one to whom it is directed really appears. Everyone knew that Abraham as the father of the Jews lived hundreds and hundreds of years ago. No person alive could have possibly seen him, and yet Jesus claimed that He did. Again, they thought they caught Him in one of those verbal traps for which there was no reasonable way out. But Jesus was not phased. He knew the truth. He knew His origin as God from before the beginning, and He knew that He indeed had been with Abraham and Abraham had seen His coming. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” This was the end of the discussion. He made His claim again on eternity with the simple words, “Before Abraham was, I am.” In time they knew Abraham was born and died. They knew the years of his life. Jesus acknowledged Abraham’s place in the line of time.. But in the same sentence He took Himself out of time with the words, “I am.”

This really pushed a button with them. With the simple words “I am” the Jews were moved from discussion to stoning. What was it about those words that brought about such a drastic response? These Jews had argued with Jesus about Abraham being their father. They had claimed that they knew the words of Moses from which we even learn about Abraham. And it was Moses who was introduced to these same words in Exodus chapter 3 when seeing the burning bush Moses went up on the mountain. It was there that God called him to go in order to be used to set His people free from bondage in Egypt. When Moses asked God who it was that he should tell the people sent Him, God gave Him an answer. It was in this answer that Jews knew as the name of God who was eternally existent, without beginning or end. We read in Exodus 3,

“Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” (Exodus 3:13–15, ESV)

Jesus claimed for Himself the title they had reserved for God claiming Himself to be one with God. It was upon hearing this that they bent over to pick up rocks in order to stone Him, and it was in response to this that we read that Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. John chapter 7 began with Jesus coming to the week-long celebration of the Feast of Booths in such a way that He would not be seen or recognized. While there He began to speak in such a way that people became amazed with His words and wondered who He might be. As He continued teaching it became very obvious that the one teaching was the very same one that the leadership was seeking to kill. When the leadership became aware of Him they sent to have Him arrested, but even the guards could not lift a hand against Him because it was not His time. Jesus continued to speak and people came to believe, but in the midst of some believing the aggressive efforts to bring Him down continued. Jesus continued still to speak and to point to just how far the Jews had strayed from the truth such that they did not truly know Him or His truth. In this Jesus pointed over and over again to Himself as the One sent by God so that God might be glorified in Him and that men might be saved.

Jesus knew why He had come. He knew His time, and He knew that in glorifying the Father the Father would complete everything He intended in the Son and in that the Son would also be glorified. As I think about the intensity of these times which I can only imagine, I am reminded of how powerful God is and how far His protection extends toward those who are His. When I was a young believer most of what I heard about persecution of believers came from reading books like “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs” and hearing missionary stories. It was not something that was widely spoken of and, while it was happening, it was not something that was as open and blatant as it is today even in many developed countries. In our age of news from around the world as it is happening we also live in an age of growing antagonism towards Christians where they are being slaughtered abroad and slandered at home. Yet, in the midst of all of this news, we also hear of the amazing accounts of those who freely give of themselves for their faith. This is not something done out of foolishness but out of having a firm confidence in our God who sent His Son and kept Him until the exact right time in order to fulfill His purposes and believing that He will do the same with them. As believers in Christ these persecuted ones know the great hope which they have that extends beyond to life in their bodies into eternity. It is heartbreaking to see this kind of hatred directed at other men, but it is also a constant reminder of just how desperate evil really is. The devil has been defeated but continues to fight the battle until that time when God puts a final end to his battles. Man continues to rebel against God, but even in this men come to know God. Only He knows exactly who and when people will respond. In the meantime we continue to plead for them to believe that He is.

The last thing we have recorded Jesus saying before His great High Priestly prayer is, “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”” (John 16:33, ESV)