Jesus the Eternal "I AM"
Jesus said to [the Jews], "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." So they took up stones to throw at him. John 8:58, 59, RSV.
What a strange passage, I thought to myself when first reading John's Gospel. Why did Jewish leaders want to stone Jesus to death because He had claimed to be "I am"? And what is the significance of that claim?
Those questions take us back to Exodus 3:13, in which Moses wanted to know God's name in case his fellow Hebrews in Egypt asked him to identify the Deity that he claimed had sent him to them. In reply, "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." God, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'The Lord [Yahweh in Hebrew], the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever' " (verses 14, 15, NASB).
With those verses in mind it is easy to see why the Jews sought to kill Jesus when He identified Himself as the "I AM." He was identifying Himself as no less than the God of the covenant with the Jewish People. He was pronouncing Himself to be Yahweh ("Jehovah" in the Kings James Version), the eternal I AM, the God of the Old Testament. The word "Yahweh" means "to be," reflecting the constant being or existence of God not only for eternity in the past and future but also the present God who leads His people and supplies their needs throughout Jewish history.
Thus is was the "I AM" who met with Moses on Sinai, saying "I am the Lord [Yahweh] your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Ex. 20:2, RSV). That act of divine grace called for a response in verses 3-17--the Ten Commandments. Thus even in the Old Testament, law keeping is a response to God's redemptive grace through Christ.
How important it is to realize that the Babe of Bethlehem was not just another child. He was and is the "I AM," the God who gave the law, the God who led His people in past ages of earthly history.
But more than that, the eternal "I AM" is still guiding His people today and will do so throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity in the future. We serve a magnificent Lord who not only had power to create but has the ability to save each of us to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25).
Jesus said to [the Jews], "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." So they took up stones to throw at him. John 8:58, 59, RSV.
What a strange passage, I thought to myself when first reading John's Gospel. Why did Jewish leaders want to stone Jesus to death because He had claimed to be "I am"? And what is the significance of that claim?
Those questions take us back to Exodus 3:13, in which Moses wanted to know God's name in case his fellow Hebrews in Egypt asked him to identify the Deity that he claimed had sent him to them. In reply, "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." God, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'The Lord [Yahweh in Hebrew], the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever' " (verses 14, 15, NASB).
With those verses in mind it is easy to see why the Jews sought to kill Jesus when He identified Himself as the "I AM." He was identifying Himself as no less than the God of the covenant with the Jewish People. He was pronouncing Himself to be Yahweh ("Jehovah" in the Kings James Version), the eternal I AM, the God of the Old Testament. The word "Yahweh" means "to be," reflecting the constant being or existence of God not only for eternity in the past and future but also the present God who leads His people and supplies their needs throughout Jewish history.
Thus is was the "I AM" who met with Moses on Sinai, saying "I am the Lord [Yahweh] your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Ex. 20:2, RSV). That act of divine grace called for a response in verses 3-17--the Ten Commandments. Thus even in the Old Testament, law keeping is a response to God's redemptive grace through Christ.
How important it is to realize that the Babe of Bethlehem was not just another child. He was and is the "I AM," the God who gave the law, the God who led His people in past ages of earthly history.
But more than that, the eternal "I AM" is still guiding His people today and will do so throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity in the future. We serve a magnificent Lord who not only had power to create but has the ability to save each of us to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25).
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