Sullivan church of Christ – Sullivan, MO
Date: January 29, 2006
JESUS CHRIST – THE GREAT “I AM” (Part 1)
Ben Justice
The Jews gloried in Abraham as being not only their father in the flesh but
supposedly their spiritual father as well. They said to Jesus, “We be Abraham’s
seed, . . .” (John 8:33). They believed this would secure them salvation. In John
8:37, Jesus said to the Jews, “I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill
me, because my word hath no place in you.” Jesus indeed acknowledged that the
Jews were the fleshly descendants of Abraham. However, by the fact they sought
to kill Jesus proved that they were not the spiritual descendants of Abraham.
Only those who follow the teachings of Jesus are the true spiritual descendants
of Abraham (Gal. 3:28-29). In John 8:38, Jesus continued to tell the Jews, “I
speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with
your father.” Here Jesus claims that he has a Father and that he spoke the
things that were from his Father. However, Jesus also noted that the Jews have
their father. The Jews quickly captured on that, for they said to Jesus in v. 39,
“Abraham is our father.” Remember, Jesus had already acknowledged that
Abraham was indeed their fleshly father (v. 37), but he tells them continuing in
v. 39, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.”
Obviously, Jesus was speaking spiritually. The Jews were not the true spiritual
children of Abraham because they didn’t do the works of Abraham (cf. Heb. 11:8-
19). In v. 40, Jesus pointed out to them that Abraham would have never sought
to kill the one who spoke the truth. Jesus informed them in v. 41, “Ye do the
deeds of your father.” The Jews had a father alright, and they were imitating the
character of their father. This is the second time that Jesus has attributed to
them another father other than Abraham, without identifying who this father is,
but he will subsequently. The Jews respond by saying, “We be not born of
fornication, we have one Father, even God” (v. 41). In other others, the Jews were
saying that they were not illegitimate children. And, if Jesus will not allow them
to claim Abraham as their father, then they would claim God as their Father. It
finally seems to set in with these Jews that Jesus was speaking of being the
spiritual children of Abraham and not just the fleshly children of Abraham.
Jesus immediately exposes the fallacy of their claim of God being their Father.
He said to them in v. 42, “If God were your Father, ye would love me: for (here is the
reason, BJ) I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent
me.” Jesus came from God, and if the Jews really loved God, they would likewise
love Jesus. But, they didn’t love Jesus (who came from God). Therefore, God
was not their Father. As we come to v. 44, Jesus finally specifically identifies
their real father. He said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for
he is a liar, and the father of it.”
As we come to v. 52, the discussion turns on Abraham once again. The Jews
said to Jesus, “Now we know that thou hast a devil.” This was in response to
what Jesus said in v. 51, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he
shall never see death.” To the Jews, someone who would make such a claim must
have a devil. The Jews continued to say to Jesus in v. 52, “Abraham is dead, and
the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.”
The Jews thought Jesus was speaking of physical death, but he was speaking of
spiritual death. In v. 53, the Jews continued to say to Jesus, “Art thou greater
than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest
thou thyself?” As we come on down in the context, Jesus said to the Jews in v.
56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” The
way Abraham rejoiced to see the Messiah’s day was through the promises that
God had made to him (see Gen. 12:1-3; 15:4-6; 22:16-18). Abraham anticipated
this day; he saw it by faith. It would be through this promised seed that all the
families of the earth would be blessed. The Jews captured on the words of
Jesus. They said in v. 57, “Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen
Abraham.” It had been approximately 2,000 years since Abraham lived. How,
then, could Jesus have seen Abraham, since he had lived no more than 50
years? The 50 years should not be taken literally. The Jews were simply saying
that Jesus was not yet an old man. Literally, Jesus was 33 years of age. By the
way, Jesus never said in v. 56 that he had seen Abraham. It was certainly true
that Jesus being Deity had seen Abraham, but that is not what Jesus said in v.
56. It was Abraham who had seen his day. Then, in v. 58, Jesus responded to
the Jews with one of the most powerful statements he ever uttered concerning
his deity. Verse 58 states, “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Before Abraham was, I am.” Now that we’ve examined the immediate context of
this verse, it will be our focus from this point to carefully analyze the claim
Jesus made for himself.
Clearly, Jesus was contrasting his existence with Abraham’s existence —
“Before Abraham was, I am.” The two verbs “was” and “am” deserve some
attention.
“Was” is from the Greek word genomai. This word literally means, “to become, i.
e., to come into existence, begin to be, receiving being” (Thayer, # 1096, Pg.
115). This verb is in the aorist tense, which denotes past action. With
reference to Abraham, it refers to Abraham coming into existence in the past,
that is being born. The ASV actually states, “Before Abraham was born.” Lenski
remarks, “The aorist . . . marks the historical point of time when Abraham came
into existence as against the time prior to that point when Abraham did not
exist” (R.C.H. Lenski, Commentary on John, Pg. 670).
Before Abraham was born or came into existence, Jesus said “I am.” “Am” is
from eimi. This word is found at least 139 times in the NT, and with the
exception of three times in the KJV, it is translated as “am.” John 14:9, I Cor. 9:
2, and 2 Cor. 12:11 are the three exceptions. In John 14:9 the word eimi is
translated in the KJV as “Have been.” However, even here, Vincent remarks that
it is literally, “am I” (Marvin R. Vincent, Vincent’s Word Studies In The New
Testament — Vol. II, Pg. 242). A literal translated from the Greek would be,
“Am I so long time with you, . . .” In I Cor. 9:2 and 2 Cor. 12:11 eimi is translated
as “be.” However, in these passages, it would be better translated as “am,” as
the ASV consistently does.
What is the significance of eimi? Unlike the verb “was” being in the aorist tense,
the verb eimi is in the present tense, but not just the present tense, but timeless
present. The word simply means, “to exist.” The switch in verb tenses by Jesus
is a truly significant fact, for Jesus contrasts his own existence with that of
Abraham's. Jesus was obviously emphasizing his timeless existence. Note that
Jesus did not say, “I was.” This would have indeed placed Jesus before
Abraham, but it still would have left open the possibility of him also having a
beginning like that of Abraham.
[MORE NEXT WEEK]