The eighth chapter of John records a debate between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders. And during this debate, Jesus claimed that anyone who believed his words would never experience death. His opponents asked if Jesus claimed to be greater than Abraham, who had died.
In Jesus’ response, he claimed Abraham had seen Jesus and rejoiced. And then said, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58).
What did Jesus mean by this statement? And why did the religious leaders of Israel pick up stones to stone him after he had said it?
Who Was Abraham in the Bible?
So, who was Abraham? Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldeans, modern-day Iraq. God called Abraham to leave his own extended family behind. To travel to a distant land.
A land that God would grant to him. God further promised Abraham that he would have countless descendants and be a blessing to the whole world.
The Jews consider themselves to be the fulfillment of that promise of countless descendants. All ethnic Jews trace their origin back to Abraham (John 8:33). He is, in a very real sense, their father (John 8:39).
The only serious contenders for Abraham’s place of prominence among the Jews would be Moses, the lawgiver and founder of the nation, and David, the idealized king whose return they looked forward to. But Abraham was where they had all come from. He was their patriarch.
So, when the religious leaders compared Jesus with Abraham, in their eyes, Jesus would come in a poor second. But Jesus was claiming just the opposite. Abraham looked forward to seeing Jesus and rejoiced when he did (John 8:56).
And Jesus claimed not just to be greater than Abraham, but to have been around when Abraham lived. “Before Abraham was born,” Jesus said, “I already was.”
Jesus’ Use of ‘I Am’
Jesus’ use of the expression “I am” is one that the Gospel of John recounts repeatedly. Jesus says:
I am he (the Messiah who was to come) (John 4:26). I am the bread of life (John 6:35). I am the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5). I am he (the Son of Man) (John 8:28). Before Abraham was born, I am (John 8:58).
I am the gate for the sheep (John 10:7). I am the good shepherd (John 10:11). I am God’s Son (John 10:36). I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). That is what I am (teacher and Lord) (John 13:13). I am who I am (John 13:19).
I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).I am the true vine (John 15:1,5). I am he (the one they came to arrest)(John 18:5,6,8). I am a king (responding to Pilate)(John 18:37).
The repeated use of this expression is not just a random occurrence. It is used very intentionally to make a claim about who Jesus is.
A Claim of Uniqueness
When I say I am a husband, I am a follower of Jesus, I am a backpacker, and I am a retired computer engineer, I am telling you something about myself. The more “I am” statements I make, the better you can know me.
And John does that when he records these “I am” statements from Jesus. Each “I am” statement tells us more about who, or what, Jesus is.
But notice that many of these are quite different from mine. I might claim to be a shepherd. But he is claiming to be the shepherd. Many others can rightly claim to be what I am. But Jesus’ claim is a unique one. There are no others like him.
At the Burning Bush
Another prominent place where the “I am” expression is used, and the most significant for this discussion, is at the burning bush in Exodus 3:14. Moses had asked God for his name so that when he returned to Egypt, he could tell the people who had sent him.
And God’s response to him was, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”
God gave his name as “I AM,” or Yahweh. Because the Jews considered this name sacred, they generally replaced it with the Hebrew word Adonai, which was translated into English as LORD.
When the Septuagint was translated from Hebrew into Greek, Adonai was translated into the Greek word Kyrois.
What Is Jesus’ Claim?
So, when Jesus responded to his challengers with “Before Abraham was born, I am!”, what was he saying? He could have meant a couple of things by this statement. And both are true.
First, he claimed that he was alive before Abraham. Abraham lived in the distant past, some 2,000 years before this statement was made. So, this was an extraordinary claim. Especially since the religious leaders he was talking with could see that he was less than 50 years old.
The second claim that Jesus made here was to identify himself as the one speaking to Moses from within the burning bush at Mt. Sinai. He was not just saying that he was a prophet sent from God. Instead, he was claiming to be God himself.
And those he was debating with understood him to be saying just that. Their response was to pick up stones to stone him for blasphemy. But he slipped away from them before they could.
Both claims seem outrageous. Could he possibly be over 2,000 years old? And, even more incredible, could he be the God of Moses and the Exodus? The God those debating with him claimed to worship?
The Lord Jesus Christ
But Jesus wasn’t alone in making these claims about himself. The authors of the New Testament made the same claim concerning his divinity.
In Paul’s greeting to the church in Rome in Romans 1:7, he expressed, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” This greeting is from God (Theos), the Father. And from the Lord (Kyrios) Jesus Christ.
Throughout the New Testament, we find similar usage with God, the Father, identified as Theos, and Jesus, called Kyrios.
The authors of the New Testament made extensive use of the Greek Septuagint. And in that translation, Kyrios referred to God. It is as if the New Testament writers were identifying Jesus as the God of the Old Testament. The “I Am” of Mt Sinai.
Deuteronomy 6:4 is a portion of the Shema, Israel’s statement of faith in a single God: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Paul alludes to this verse in 1 Corinthians 8:4 when he says, “We all know . . . there is no God but one.”
He goes on from there, in verse 6, to say, “for us there is but one God (Theos), the Father . . . and there is but one Lord (Kyrios), Jesus Christ.” Paul declared that the Father and the Son, together, are the one God identified in the Shema.
Before Abraham Was Born, I Am
There should be no doubt that this statement from Jesus was intentional. It was an explicit claim to being God. And those who heard him say it did not doubt that was what he meant.
And the writers of the New Testament understood this as well. As they called him Lord, they identified him as God the Son, the second person of the one God, the one Moses encountered at the burning bush.
For further reading:
Why Was Abraham Chosen to be the Father of All Nations?
What Is the Abrahamic Covenant?
What Did God Mean When He Said, ‘I Am Who I Am’?
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