54Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55Though you [religious leaders] do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57“You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
58“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.–John 8
God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” (Exodus 3:14)
- Jesus claimed a unique relationship with God. This was a relationship that though the religious leaders claimed they had, they did not have.
- Knowing God, according to Jesus means obeying His word.
- Jesus claimed grammatically that before Abraham had a past tense, Jesus had a present tense.
- This is only possible because Jesus is the Son of God made flesh, and the Son of God is eternal.
- Jesus’ words literally have the force of “I, (the) I Am.”
- This I AM would have brought to mind God’s words at the burning bush and Moses. The religious leaders understood here that Jesus claimed to be God. They therefore immediately tried to kill Him.
- How you respond to Jesus says everything about you.–JMB
Joel M Bradshaw 
Leave a comment