Jesus Is "I AM"
Notes
Transcript
Text
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.
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Explanation of passage:
Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
The Jews first ignore the real issue of v. 56 — that Jesus is claiming to be the Messiah, the object of Abraham’s faith.
So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
They get focused on the humanly impossible nature of his claim in v. 57 — You can’t possibly have seen Abraham, he can’t possibly have seen you, and you can’t possibly have been around when Abraham was alive because he died 2000 years ago, and you’re not even 50 years old.
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
Then in verse 58, Jesus makes his point even clearer, and it upsets them even more. He says in so many words, not only am I the Messiah, the one in whom Abraham trusted — I’m also God.
This is one of the main points of John’s Gospel, and this is probably the clearest statement in all of Scripture that identifies Jesus Christ as God. This will be our focus today.
So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
They are so angry at this claim — even though it’s true — that they started getting ready to stone Jesus in v. 59. They knew exactly what Jesus meant, and they weren’t going to accept what he said.
The penalty for blasphemy — which is what they were accusing him of — was stoning. When Jesus called himself “I AM” or “Yahweh”, this was a claim that they thought no human should make, so they thought they should stone him for blasphemy in an act of mob violence.
But Jesus escapes from them and heads out of the temple. His hour had not yet come.
And the Light of the world left the Temple, just as the glory of God departed from the Temple in the Old Testament.
Good Teacher or God?
Good Teacher or God?
In Luke 18:18, a man asks Jesus:
And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
How did Jesus respond?
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
Many religions accept Jesus as a good teacher or even a prophet.
Muslims
Mormons
Jehovah’s Witnesses
and many other religions accept Jesus as a prophet or a good teacher.
But someone who is a merely a true prophet or a good teacher would not say the kinds of things Jesus said. If he is a good teacher, if he is a true prophet, what he said is true. And here Jesus claims unmistakably that he is God. So either he is who he says he is, or else he’s crazy, or he’s a liar. I choose to believe his claim — He is God. I hope you believe it too.
This is one of those core teachings of Christianity that you absolutely must believe to be saved.
I AM
I AM
Jesus could have said “Before Abraham was, I was” if he just wanted to say he was older than Abraham and back up his claim that Abraham saw him. But instead of saying “I was” he says “I AM.” This is a clear reference to Exodus 3:14. When Moses asks God what his name is so that he can tell the Israelites who sent him, this is what God says:
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.’ ”
The name “I AM” in Hebrew is a form of the verb “to be”, which could be translated with either present or future being verbs in English: I AM or I WILL BE. The name Yahweh is also related to this verb “to be”, and so his name Yahweh tells of God’s absolute existence.
God exists — and that is the most important reality today and the most ignored reality today.
God has always existed, and he exists now, and he will always exist. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the One who was and is and is to come.
If God did not exist, nothing else could exist. And if God stopped existing, so would everything else.
God is self-existent — independent; he does not depend on anyone or anything else.
God simply IS. So that’s why his name is “I AM”. He is the God who is. And there is no other like him.
And this is who Jesus is claiming to be.
He says in John 8:58,
John 8:58 (ESV)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
So that we don’t miss what Jesus means, John tells us in v. 59 about the reaction to these words:
John 8:59 (ESV)
So they picked up stones to throw at him...
They weren’t picking up stones just because they didn’t like what he said.
They were picking up stones because they thought he was blaspheming by claiming to be God.
But he wasn’t blaspheming, because he is God. And they should have known that the coming Messiah would be both God and man. It could not be otherwise.
The Messiah will be a man—the seed of the woman; but he must also be God so that he can properly atone for sin and crush the devil.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
The Messiah would have a Father-Son relationship with God—He would in a sense be “begotten” by God.
2 Samuel 7:12–14a (ESV)
When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.
I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
Another prophecy tells us of his eternal past:
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
And another prophecy says that David’s descendant, the Messiah, would be called “Yahweh our Righteousness”
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
There are many other texts and prophecies in the Old Testament that indicate that the Messiah would be both human and divine, both God and man.
This should have been easy for them to see, but they missed it or else refused to believe it.
I think the main reason that they refused to believe Jesus is that they misunderstood the primary mission of the Messiah. The Messiah was not coming PRIMARILY to set up an earthly kingdom and defeat the Romans and give them prosperity; the Messiah was coming primarily to atone for sin, to restore humanity to God, to restore the image of God in man, and to purchase for God a people that would be with him and praise him forever.
The problem of sin and separation from God was way bigger than the problem of the Roman rule and oppression. Jesus Christ will someday come to rule and set up his earthly kingdom, but first he had to come and deal with our biggest problem: sin.
But these religious people were unwilling to admit their sin. They were related by birth to Abraham, and they thought that was good enough. But they were still in their sins, as Jesus said in John 8:24
I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
They still needed to trust in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God so that their sins would be forgiven and they would have a right relationship with God.
Other evidences of Jesus’s divinity in John
His eternal existence:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
His involvement in creation
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
His glory and his unique relationship with the Father (see also 1:18, 3:16, 3:18)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
His authority over the Sabbath
But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
His claim to be the judge of all
For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,
Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
His I AM statements:
The Light of the World
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
The Good Shepherd:
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
The Resurrection and the Life
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
His acceptance of worship
He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
His Resurrection power
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
His unity with the Father
I and the Father are one.”
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Thomas calls him God
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
We could go on and on and on, but hopefully you get the point. John doesn’t want us to miss this reality, because if you don’t believe this, you are lost. You must believe that Jesus is God.
Jesus can only be our Savior if he is both God and man.
He had to be man in order to be our substitute and in order to die. This is what Hebrews tells us:
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
He had to be God in order to be the perfect substitute and give us his righteousness.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
What must we do?
What must we do?
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Believe in him. Believe that he is who he says he is. He is the Messiah, and he is God.
Trust in him. Give your life to him.
Love him — the Lord your God— with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 8:56 teaches us that Jesus is the Messiah (Christ)
John 8:58 teaches us that Jesus is God, specifically God the Son.
John has shown us through Jesus’s own words that he is the Christ, the Messiah, and that he is the Son of God, God the Son.
Believe
Believe
Believe in him, and you will have life now and forever.