BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM

John 8:56-59 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. (Also see John 8:48-55)

Jesus had just severely criticized these Jewish leaders for not believing God and His inspired prophets that clearly foretold that Jesus would come to fulfill His promise of a Messiah to reign over them. Believing Jesus not to be the Son of God prompted Him to accuse them of being the children of Satan and failing to believe in God's Holy Word. These remarks were an extreme irritation to these Jews who thought they were following God, but instead were following after the devil because of the self-righteous wisdom of men that led to the evil doctrine which ruled their lives and misguided them from the wisdom of God.

Replying to Jesus' condemnation of their unrighteousness, they answered with these caustic words which clearly revealed their attitude toward Him. They accused Jesus of being a Samaritan, and having ...a devil (Vs. 48). What a contemptible accusation. For a Jew to be called a Samaritan was the same as being called the most hated enemy of Judaism. Because they abandoned God's doctrine, Jesus referred to them as children of the devil. Therefore, they cast a similar aspersion by saying that He hast a devil. They continued to accuse Him of casting out demons and performing allusions of healing by the power of Satan. Jesus rightfully denies their accusations by telling them that He honors God, His Father, something that a devil of Satan would never do (Vs. 49). Jesus cared little about bringing glory to Himself. By defending His loving allegiance to His Father, He deferred all judgment and glory to His Heavenly Father (Vs. 50).

Following this, Jesus gave those in His presence this conditional promise: If a man (or woman) keep My saying, he shall never see death (Vs. 51). When God's gift of the hope of eternal salvation is offered to mankind, it always contains three characteristics. First, it is always without exception offered universally. It is offered equally to men or women, bond or free, Jew or Gentile, to all castes of society, and to all races, colors, creeds, and nationalities. Secondly, it is always conditional. In this verse, eternal life is offered to all that keep My saying, and by inference, applies to all that hear, believe, and obey the will of God through His Son, Christ Jesus. And thirdly, the eternal aspect of this promise always refers to the life and death of one's soul rather than to the birth, aging, and death of the human bodies of mankind.

To these disbelieving Jews, Jesus' promise of never experiencing death by obeying His teaching seemed absurdly unacceptable. They immediately pointed to their ancestry saying that even with the true faithfulness of Abraham and the prophets to God, they still died and were buried. Then they posed this question to Jesus: Art Thou greater than our father Abraham and ...the prophets, whom are now dead (Vss. 52-53)? Jesus answered that He was not seeking honor through the promises of His teaching. Rather all honor must go to God, His Heavenly Father. Even though they claim to believe and serve the same God, yet they do not know Him. These erring Jews are living a hypocritical lie, because it is impossible to know Him and yet continually fail to accept His doctrine and keep His commandments (See Vss. 54-55).

Then Jesus told these Jewish leaders something that was impossible for them to understand, considering the human wisdom they erringly relied on for spiritual understanding of God's word. He said, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad. In order to understand this truth, it is necessary to understand the promise made to Abraham. Because of his faithfulness, God told him He would be the father of a great nation, and in thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice (See Gen. 22:17-18). Did Abraham actually live to see the day when this promise was fulfilled? The answer is no. But by his complete and total faith in God, he knew without any doubt that it did take place - he saw this promise from a God that could not lie, and he rejoiced in the day that the promise was fulfilled. Looking backward, Paul assured the Christians of Galatia that this same gospel message was preached by God to faithful Abraham (See Gal. 3:7-9).

By their reply, it is obvious that these Jews failed to understand the spiritual significance of Jesus' teaching. They could not comprehend the fact that Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus as the promised Messiah. Thinking in worldly terms, they mockingly asked Jesus how He could possibly have seen Abraham, since Thou art not yet fifty years old. From a physical standpoint it could not have been possible since Abraham, their patriarch of old, that died and was buried many years prior to this moment in time.

In order to understand the next statement by Jesus, one must know the nature of the Divinity, which includes, God, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Each, when describing their existence, is always spoken of in the present tense; never past or future. This is the only way one can comprehend Jesus speaking of Himself as "I Am." In other words, Jesus exists now just as He existed during the creation of the world and all things in it, on it, and above it. And, as the lesson text tells us, He existed before, during, and after the life of Abraham. From that which has been disclosed to mankind from God's Holy Word, Jesus, like God and the Holy Spirit, have always existed. "I Am" is the same expression God used to describe Himself as He was preparing Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage (Ex. 3:14). True, Jesus, as a human being, had only existed approximately thirty-three years when confronting these Jewish leaders. However, as the Son of God, He has existed from the beginning of time.

Unable to understand and accept this truth revealed to them by Christ Jesus, these radical Jews resorted to physical violence with the intent of putting Him to death. Seemingly the entire group of Jewish leaders took stones to cast at Him, in order to silence this Man that they deemed to be filled with blasphemy against God and His people, the Jewish nation. But Jesus hid Himself from them. How He did this is not revealed, but it must have been in some miraculous manner that He escaped out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. Once again Jesus avoided death, because the time appointed for His death had not come.