Alright, we're just breaking
in the middle of a lot of events here in chapter 8, but in verse
48, "...then answered the Jews and said unto him, Say we not
well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus answered,
I have not a devil, But I honor my Father, and you do dishonor
me. And I seek not mine own glory,
there is one that seeketh and judges. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then
said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast the devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets,
and yet you say, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste
of death. Are you greater than our father
Abraham, which is dead, and the prophets are dead? Whom makest
thou thyself?" Jesus answered, "'If I honor myself, my honor
is nothing. It is my Father that honors me,
of whom you say that He is your God. Yet ye have not known him,
but I know him. And if I should say I know him
not, I shall be a liar like unto you. But I know him, and keep
his saying. 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, went out
of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed
by." Now I've already hinted that in John chapter 8 there
are one contention after another between the Lord Jesus Christ
and the Jew, beginning way back in verse 1. When they bring before
the Lord a woman whom they suppose in charge, has been taken in
the very act of adultery, and in order to entrap Him, they
have brought her, and it escalates into a bitter debate between
the Jew and the Lord. Then in verse 12 through verse
19, he claims to be the light of the world, that God is his
Father, and that God bears witness of him. And then in verse 20
through verse 29, he shows a distinction between himself and him in regard
to their relation unto God. And then in verse 30 through
verse 47, He discusses with them true liberty and true slavery
and offends them for telling them that they can be free men
in Christ. But there's one thing about this
chapter, and that is that the name of Abraham keeps coming
up again and again. And the claim that the Jews made
in which they stood related unto Abraham. Christ shows that He
Himself is, in fact, a true son of Abraham, such as they were
not Abraham's sons, or children, as he tells them, and they would
not do the work of Abraham, or follow the example of father
Abraham, in verse 39. They would not imitate Abraham
in his view of the Messiah, especially, is that true with regard unto
him. They would believe on him. If
they were the true sons of Abraham, they would desire his appearance
and they would rejoice in the appearance of Messiah. Instead,
they were seeking to kill him, one who had actually come down
from God, and the one they claimed they desired to come. Abraham
never did such a thing, nor would he, is the point that our Lord
is making. And so, there being a resemblance
between the children and the parent, they were no sons of
Abraham in that sense of the word. No, nor were they the children
of God, as we read in verse 42. For if they were God's children,
they would love Christ who came down from God. In other words,
God was his father, the Lord Jesus, but not their father,
for their father was the devil. They imitated him in lying and
in trying to murder the Son of God. And because they were the
children of the devil, they would imitate him in many of their
ways and many of their actions. And he lays down a precept In
verse 47, does the Lord. He that is of God hears God's
Word. Ye therefore hear not, because
ye are not of God. Or being not of God, you do not
hear the truth or have ears to hear. All of this causes them
to accuse the Lord of being a demon-possessed Samaritan in verse 48. And to conclude that all of their
former opinion concerning Christ had been right on the mark after
all. They say, aren't we justified
in concluding that you are a mad demon-possessed, unbeliever. Not at all what Abraham's children
would do. Now we know that a Samaritan
was what we might sort of call a hack breed, part Gentile blood
dwelling in them. And the Jews despised them. They rejected them. They had
little or nothing to do with them. And so this was their knee-jerk
reaction to what the Lord had to say unto them. That sons of
Abraham were slaves and not in the favor of God was an offense
in their ear. So Christ replies. We have it
in verse 49 through 51. And there are three things here
that we want to notice. Number one, He says, Do not have
a devil. Number two, you dishonor the
one that God honors. God honors me. The Father honors
me. And you do not. And then number
three, if any keep my word, be obedient and submissive, he shall
never die. Now, the evil, stubborn, unbelieving
Jews reply, in verse 52 and 53. That does it. Now we know beyond
all doubt and beyond all question that you are under the spell
of a demon by claiming to bestow immunity from death on those
who follow your word and go after you. Because they reason, even
Abraham the greatest ever to live among us, has died and is
dead. The holy prophets also have served
God and have died, and yet here you are claiming that if one
keeps your word, they will never die. And so the question, are
you greater than our father Abraham? Are you greater than the prophet
who are themselves dead? Who are you making yourself out
to be? Who is it that you think that
you are? The insinuation again is that
he is a mad soul standing outside of his mind. The Lord replies
in verse 54, And verse 55, that innate self-honor is worthless. It has no value whatsoever. That it is God the Father that
bestows His honor. upon the Lord, whom you say you
know. You say you know God, you say
you serve Him, you say you are the children of God, and yet
you do not honor me, the one that God has sent into the world. For you do not know God, yet
if I should say I do not know God, I should be a liar like
you in saying that you do know him." And bringing us ever closer
then unto our text, your father Abraham. Now here he is granting
them what he had previously denied or is only speaking after or
after the manner of the flesh. He who you claim is your father,
Abraham, the great patriarch of old, and condemns you, Abraham
does, by his action, and marks you as not being his child. For the question is, what did
Abraham do? Well, Abraham did not act like
them. Abraham did not react toward
Messiah like they were. Abraham, said the Lord, rejoiced
to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Now it is true
that many righteous men and prophets have indeed desired to see those
things and to look into them. Matthew chapter 13 and verse
17. 1 Peter 1, verse 10 and 11, many
desire to look into them. Hebrews 11 and verse 13, having
seen the promises afar off, but not having received them actually. Even so, Abraham, who is the
father of the faithful, rejoiced to see my day. He reveled in
that revelation that God had granted unto him. John Brown
said that this was about as near as the statement can be rendered
and brought over into our English. Your father Abraham rejoiced
that he could see my day, and he saw it and was gladdened."
Now the question comes, how was it that Abraham saw Christ's
day? For Christ declared that He did
see it, and that He rejoiced at the seeing of it. He saw it
and was glad. Now, we know that Abraham died
in faith, that he looked for a city whose builder and maker
was God, that he expected to share in Messiah's glory. But at his death, he only saw
it yet afar off. What does Christ have in mind
when he said that Abraham rejoiced at the prospect of seeing my
day, and saw it, and was gladdened? How can we say for sure exactly
how Abraham saw the day of Christ? One, he saw it in the promise
of the special seed typified in his own beloved Isaac. And then two, he saw it in the
promises made concerning his seed that would bless all the
nations of the world. And then thirdly, he saw it by
the eye of faith through the revelation and the word that
God had spoken unto him. And then fourthly, he saw it
in the animal sacrifices that were made and carried on all
around him, and especially in the offering up of his only beloved
son, Isaac. Now, the Jew hearing that evidently
took the words of Christ to mean that Abraham and Christ had in
some way and in some time been contemporary intimates in some
period of time, that they had seen each other in the flesh
and should have a friendly acquaintance one with the other. Now they
show their ignorance again If you look at verse 57, you are
a man, they said, not even 50 years old, and you making a claim
to having seen Abraham. Now why they chose the number
or the year 50, I cannot say and can only guess. But some
Jews said this was considered to be full age. Others that Christ
looked older than his actual age because of the miseries of
his life. Their meaning was Abraham had
lived out his life He had died, and that centuries and centuries
ago. Christ, here He is, less than
50 years old, could have had no contact with the great patriarch
Abraham. Now, Christ's reply is our text
for the remainder of the study. Verse 58, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, before Abraham was, I am." Notice the tenset. Was and am. Not fifty years old,
but before Abraham. In existence before the great
patriarch Abraham lived upon the earth. Preceding Abraham
as to his being and his existence. Before Abraham became I am. Christ does not use the tense
I was or I will be, but he uses the tense I am. Thus making a
comparison with the temporal Abraham and the eternal Christ,
the everlasting one. Now we must remember one thing
about the words of Christ here. That is, that he is standing
on the unshakable, unmovable position that he is one with
God and that he is Messiah who has been sent into the world. John Brown again, if I may quote
him, stated it, Our Lord plainly proceeds on the principle that
He is, was the Messiah. He is not presenting Himself
to the Jew as just another ordinary Jew, just an ordinary son of
Abraham, nor even as a prophet or a teacher or a rabbi, or even
a worker of miracles. He is presenting Himself to them
as the divine Messiah. Earlier he had stated that he
was the light of the world, verse 12. He stated that he was sent
from God in verse 17 and 18. That he was approved of God in
the 18th verse. That he was teaching the things
that he heard from the Father, in verse 26, and that he was
the true emancipator from sin, in verse 36, and that he was
sinless and impeccable, in verse 46, and none could convince him
of sin. And now, in verse 58, He declares
himself to be the great I AM. Before Abraham was I AM, which
as we shall see shortly was one way that the great God of the
Jew declared Himself unto them and was known by them. But first we look back here in
the same chapter. We see Christ using the language
again. Verse 24, if ye believe not that
I am. You notice that he is in italics
so much for the word, no such word rather, matching it in the
original. But look in verse 28, when you
have lifted up the Son of Man, then you shall know that I am."
Again, the word he is in italic, no word corresponding to it in
the original text. Now is the time for us to take
note of the reaction of the Jew to hearing these things in verse
59. They took up stones to cast at
Him. When they heard that, they picked
up stone, intending to put the Lord to death by stoning. No doubt with an intention to
put Him to death right then and there on the spot. But as Calvin
said, he used that secret power and almighty providence to elude
their intention and to frustrate them in their desire. We see
their anger growing and building and building here in chapter
8. From calling him a liar back
in verse 13, to denying their spiritual bondage in verse 33,
and calling Christ a Samaritan demon possessed one in verse
48. They now would stone him and
put him to death in verse 59. Perhaps they intended this in
compliance with their law regarding blaspheming as seen in John chapter
10 and verse 29 to 33, where when they not only would stone
him, he asked them, which of the great works that I've done
are you stoning me for? And they answered him, we stone
you not for your good works, but for blasphemy, because you
made yourself equal with God. You being a man have declared
your equality with God. No doubt they based it upon the
right and duty found in Leviticus chapter 24, verse 16. He that blaspheme the name of
the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation
shall certainly stone him with stone, he shall be put to death. But what so riled the Jew at
Christ's words is this, and that is, he said the words, I am. John 10, he made himself to be
God. That is, he claimed equality
with God. I am, here in verse 58. I and my Father are one, John
chapter 10 and verse 30. To really understand what Christ
is saying, and then to understand why, It so deeply agitated the
Jew. We need to go to Exodus chapter
3 where that great name is given. The call and the commission of
Moses when the Lord appeared unto him at the burning bush. You remember the incident. Moses
saw a bush. He turned aside to see it. God
speaks unto Moses, go deliver Israel and such like. Moses asked,
who am I that I should deliver Israel? Who shall I say has sent
me? And in verse 14, one of the great
verses in Bible, Exodus 3, 14, you shall say, I am that I am. Thus shall you say unto the children
of Israel, I AM has sent me unto you. Now, we must consider that
text a little bit because Christ is no doubt using it and applying
it to Himself. Now, the first thing in Exodus
3.14 and again in John 8 and verse 58, I AM is to be understood
as a proper name by which God declares Himself. Thus, it was
a name expressing supremacy, a name expressing sovereignty,
and a name expressing superiority. And this expression for God was
well known by the Jew. To prove that it was a proper
name, notice, if you will, the exchange between God and Moses. Moses said, When they shall say, What is
his name? What shall I say unto them? And God answers, Say, I am that
I am. I am hath sent me. It is a name often rendered Lord. in the Old Testament Scripture
comes from a verb that means to be or to exist, but which
also has in it a future tense as well as a present tense in
the name and the word. And as Calvin said, it designates
the perpetual existence as it relates to time with regard unto
God. Now, not only could we say of
God, I am that I am, but we can also say, I will be what I will
be. And it ascribes to God not only
self-existence, but also true and real eternality. It reaches back. I am what I
have been. It includes the present. I am
what I am. And it reaches ahead. I will
continue to be what I will be. This set God apart from all the
invented deities of the Egyptians. The one true and living God. Moses came in the name of the
only true God. the one without beginning, the
one without ending. None other could ever say, I
am that I am. For it includes not only the
eternity of God, but also the absolute self-existent and self-sufficiency
which dwells in the essence or the nature of God. For the God
is far back, as one's mind can phantom. As far ahead as one's
mind can phantom. The all-knowing, the all-powerful,
the all-wise, the all-seeing God of heaven and of earth. John Gill, one of my favorites,
said, signifies this name, he said, the being of God, His self-existence,
and that He is the being of beings. as we think of Him. But also,
he said, it includes all time, past, present, and to come. I am. But let us hold to that
thought, that it is a proper name for God. What I am, what
I am. The living, personal God who
sent Moses, who would be with Moses, who would be true to His
Word and would contend with Pharaoh in their behavior and for their
release. This name seems to be the name
of Jehovah. Andrew Juke's, in his book, The
Names of God in Holy Scripture, said that it carries within it
its own meaning. That being of two tenses in the
Hebrew verb, it means to be, according unto Juke, and it means
one who is what He is. One who is what He is by His
own self-sufficiency. Thus it is when Moses asked,
who shall I say sent me? God said simply, tell them the
one who is what He is. And we see how this wonderful
name is carried over into its real meaning. that He is the
One who is. A.W. Pink in one of his books,
and I'm quoting him, the great Jehovistic name of God, is this
name. Because it is embodied in every
tense of the verb. To be, I was, I am, I shall be. And our Lord uses it. Now we
see the significance of Christ saying the name or applying the
name unto himself. Before Abraham was, I am. The Jews understood this designation
to be applied to God in the Old Testament. And when they heard
Christ say it, they considered it blasphemy for Him to apply
it unto Himself. Thus their attempt or reaction
to stone Him. There is no doubt, there can
be no doubt, that Christ intends here by this to declare Himself
the eternal, preexistent One by using the name in regard unto
Himself. Before Abraham was or became,
before Abraham was born, I am. Abraham was one of the most important
and also one of the most ancient patriarch of the Jew. The very
head, the very fountain of their race. Genesis chapter 11 records
and registers his becoming, literally, his being born of the lineage
of Terah, his family lineage. But Christ claims his existence
to predate that of Abraham, saying, before Abraham became or was
born, I am. And in this statement, Christ
declares his perpetual, divine existence, independent of all
time and of all other causes, which is not any surprise considering
what the author of the fourth gospel, John, has said of the
eternal logos being made flesh. John 1, 1 through 3. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. By Him were all things made,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. It seems,
therefore, that the forerunner of Christ, John, had the same
thing in his mind. John 1, 15. He that comes after
me is preferred before me, for He was before me. In the same
sense that He was before Abraham eternally. Because you see, as
to the flesh, John was actually a little bit older than Christ. In fact, Christ was before Adam,
and Noah, and Abraham, and David, and Jacob, and Isaac, and so
forth. But John acknowledged the pre-existence
of the great I Am, the eternality of the divine Logos, who existed
eternally, but assumed flesh in the incarnation. while it
was common for the I Am to become a fixed formula while God was
speaking. Even so, Christ not only speaks
of Himself as the I Am, but He enters into a We with the Father. We, meaning Himself and the Father. John 8.58, not only ascribed
to Jesus, a consciousness of eternity, but what Titular Cattell
called supra-temporality. That is, the Scripture as well
as the words and teaching of the Lord Jesus ascribe unto Him
the exact same attribute of God the Father. Listen to Christ. He that has seen Me has seen
the Father. John 14 and 9. John 10 and 30. I and my Father are one. John 17 and 5, he speaks of the
glory that I had with the Father before the world was. Now, in
regard to the great I AM, the Lord's Christ. Note how often
he uses that expression to describe himself on the principle that
he is the Messiah. Listen, John 6, I am the bread
of life. John 10, I am the door. John 10 again, I am the good
shepherd. John 8, I am the light of the
world. John 14, I am the Way and the
Truth and the Light. John 11, I am the Resurrection. Z. W. Pink said, the I am of
the burning bush now stands fully declared the blessed person of
our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ." Jesus is God. Jesus is very God. Can we accept that? Do we believe
it? It is the truth of the Scripture. He was before Abraham, He was
before David, Moses, and all of the great others. The eternality
of our Lord, the great I Am, has come in flesh and tabernacled
among men. The genealogy of our Lord, He
is the very eternally generated Son of the living God.