Before Abraham was, I am

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am (Jn. 8:58 KJV)

When Jesus made the statement above in the audience of the jews, the Bible says “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” (Jn. 8:59 KJV). They wanted to kill Jesus because of what He just said. It implies they understood what He said and got offended by it. So what did Jesus say?

The statement “Before Abraham was, I am” is not grammatically correct. We would have expected Jesus to say something in the line of “before Abraham was, I was,” which would imply that He was born before Abraham and He had been living for more than 2000 years by the time He made the statement. On the contrary, He said, “I AM” quoting the same words that Yahweh of the Old Testament said to Moses in the Burning Bush “I AM that I AM” ( Exo. 3:14). He was essentially saying that I am the God who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, who is ever living. The Jews could not handle it.

The phrase “I am”in the verse above is a clear self-proclamation of Jesus’s deity. He is God manifested in the flesh. He is the I AM of the Old Testament. Before Abraham was ever born, He had been existing in eternity past and will continue into eternity that is to come. He lives outside of time!

MEDITATE

Take a moment and think about the wonders of the Person of our Savior. He is God. He is a Man. He is God that became a human being to bring salvation to us.