“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.”Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am.
6 sermons cite this verse
… and that's why he was crucified. Yes, just use those. He's claimed God three times. And then John 8, verse 58, he's there in front of the temple. He's speaking in Hebrew, and he's arguing about Abraham. And they said, how do you know Abraham? You're not even 50 years old, he said, before Abraham was Yahweh, I am. He was claiming God's holy name, personal name, eternal name, unique name. They had to pick up stones to stone him. Now, folks, can you see, I could go on. There's a whole pile of these. You can get them on the internet and on the QR code. Let's put the QR code up there again and get this PowerPoint. But let me just end with this. As we are engaging with Muslims, both apologetically and polemically, you're going to have to make a relationship to find them. Find your Muslims. But you live in California. You have all the freedoms to confront their book. You have all the freedoms to confront their man. Don't give it up. …
… 50 years of age yet, they said. How could you have had any relationship with Abraham? And look how he answered in verse 58. Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. Jesus said, I existed long before Abraham was even born. I am eternal. He could have stopped there, but he didn't. He said, before Abraham was born, I am. That simple phrase, I am, sent the alarm bells ringing in the Pharisees' minds. They recognize that phrase, I am. Because that phrase, I am, is the most holy name for God, Yahweh. It was the name that God identified himself by when he appeared before Moses in the burning bush. Remember in Exodus 3.14, Moses said, Who am I to say sent me to you, Pharaoh? And God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I am has sent me to you. I am Yahweh, the most holy God, the only God. The Pharisees understood what Jesus was saying when he said before Abraham was, I am, because look at verse 59. Therefore they picked up stones to throw at him. …
… It is the Lord God Almighty. And so much so in John chapter 8, verse 58, and you can read John 8 to get the whole theater of the matter. This is an absolute mind-blowing moment. So Jesus said to them, the scribes and the Pharisees and the teachers of the word of God, Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was? If somebody ever tells you that Jesus never claimed to be God, know this, they are playing upon your ignorance or they may not know themselves. Know this, Jesus referred to himself as the great singular I am. Jesus was saying to those leaders, the one that Moses was talking to in the burning bush on Mount Sinai is me. Known as the Christophanies or Theophanies. One and the same. One God manifested to us. Mark chapter 10, verse, I'm sorry, I'm yelling. I'm so excited about who he is. And when he says, come and get on this path, let's go, let's walk together. …
… Either I surrender or I fight. Now, that's the way we find Jesus in this crowd that surrounded him in John chapter 8, verses 12 to 59. He is not around a crowd that had never heard of God. I want to make that clear. He is in a context of religion. As a matter of fact, one of the three great festivals of the year is where he was at the time he spoke the words of John 8, the Feast of Tabernacles. Remember the other time that he brought a sword? He said, Are any of you thirsty? Come to me and drink. They were pouring out the water from that sacred vessel on that sacred altar, and he said, Wait a minute! Let me tell you where real water is. It's in me, and you come to me, you'll never thirst again. Oh, that was a sword. And it started an argument that still hasn't ceased. Now, he comes to this place called the treasury, according to verse 20 of chapter 8. …
And a personal favorite of mine on this topic of Jesus being eternal is John chapter 8, verses 52 through 59, more specifically verse 58. We see here in John 8, Then the Jews said to him, Now we know you have a demon. Abraham is dead, and the prophets. And you say, If anyone keeps my word, he shall never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead? Who do you make yourself out to be? Jesus answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my father who honors me. of whom you say that he is your God. Yet you have not known him, but I know him. And if I say I do not know him, I shall be a liar like you. But I do know him and keep his word. Your father, get this guys, listen. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham? …
… And so he says to them, verse 58, Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am. That's some pretty weird grammar right there. Before Abraham was born, I am. They're asking him, what are you talking about? Abraham died, all the prophets died. You say if we follow you, that you're not going to die. And if we follow you, that we wouldn't die. Who do you think you are? Do you think you're greater than Abraham? You're not even 50 years old. Now you're telling us that you've seen Abraham? how is all this working? And then Jesus finally just pulls the veil back, pulls the curtain back, and he says, before Abraham was born, I am. This word, I am, or these two words, I am, they mean to exist. What he was saying to them in this context was, before Abraham was born, I exist. and as soon as he said it, it brought to the Jewish mind Moses at that burning bush. Moses is being called by God to go to Pharaoh and to lead the people of God out of Egypt and he doesn't feel prepared. …