Replies

In context, dear xzins, the Pharisees were angry with Jesus becuase in their eyes he was saying that he knew Moses, not that he is equivalent to God. That is clear from John 8:57

To the contrary, in context, the central point of John 8:48-59 is time, i.e. God is not time-bound, mortals are.

The dialogue, with emphasis:

Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?

Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?

Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw [it], and was glad.

Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Again, the Jews were saying that Christ’s claim that those who keep His words would not die is false on the face because Abraham (who by inference kept the words of God) died.

They understood Christ to mean physical life and death.

Jesus’ reply used time to show that He was speaking of spiritual not physical life and death.

First, Jesus said that Abraham was alive when He was physically born.

Then He said that He was alive before Abraham was physically born.

Christians can quibble until they turn blue about the underlying language or whether the truth of the passage reduces to “Before Abraham was born, I am.” - but the root should not be missed: mortals are time-bound, God is not time-bound.

And for me that truth is underscored by His Names: I AM and Alpha and Omega. So whenever that truth presents itself in a passage, whether directly or indirectly, it rings loudly again to me as it does in these passages:

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. – Revelation 1:8

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. – Exodus 3:14

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. – John 8:58

As soon then as he had said unto them, I am [he], they went backward, and fell to the ground. – John 18:6

Remember the former things of old: for I [am] God, and [there is] none else; [I am] God, and [there is] none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times [the things] that are not [yet] done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: - Isaiah 46:9-10

And again,

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. – Revelation 13:8

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. – Ephesians 1:4-6

Again, to underscore the passage from John 8: our physical life begins and ends in time, we are time-bound creatures. But our spiritual life is in Him and because of Who He IS, we Christians have eternal life, we will not see spiritual death.

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. – Colossians 3:3

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. - Romans 8:9

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? - I Corinthians 6:19

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. – John 5:24

And again,

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die [literally, muwth muwth or “death death”]. – Genesis 2:17

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. – Matthew 10:28

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. - Revelation 21:1-8

So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit. – I Corinthians 15:42-45

As I testified earlier on the thread, God’s Name announced by Him in Genesis 3:14 is Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh or Ehyeh in short which by translation to my native tongue is I AM.

And I receive His Name spiritually as a whole Name, a word. I don’t analyze it by questioning the underlying language, e.g. my name is Alamo-Girl not cottonwood female child which would not be accurate anyway because the "Alamo" refers to more than the strict language suggests.

God’s Name is I AM.

AG, I understand what the author of John's Gospel is trying to say by using the present indicative "I am" instead of past tense. Nevertheless, it does not suggest that he existed before creation; just Moses. And the Pharisees were angry with him for saying he lived before Moses did and yet he is not even 50 years old, and not because they thought he was saying he existed before all creation.

What do you think your congregation's reaction would be to someone in his 30's stood in front of you all and said saying "I was around before your parents, and you don't know your God"?

INDEED.

AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!

How could such Scriptures mean anything else! Sheesh!