II
An Explicit Claim: “I AM” in John 8:58

Jesus’ boldest statement[1] as to His divine identity is in John 8:56-59. Jesus made it during one of the many confrontations he had with the Jewish leaders of his day. It also contains two implicit claims: 

"Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

Permit me to make some observations on this short account.

  1. Jesus starts with the well known formula, “I tell you the truth” or a more literal and precise translation, “Truly, truly I say to you…” (or as the AV puts it, “Verily, verily I say unto you…”). Jesus uniquely used this phrase to introduce his teaching instead of “Thus says the Lord…” He did it to show He was claiming an authority greater than any other biblical prophets.[2] No other Hebrew prophet, or scribe, or religious leader had ever spoken with that kind of personal authority. This is one reason why people were so amazed at His teaching. He was claiming not only divine inspiration, like a prophet would, but also divine authority and the power of direct divine speech![3] This is a strong implicit claim to deity.

  2. Jesus asserts that he didn’t just live before Abraham, but that He is eternal. He didn’t say “I was” but I AM.[4] He lives in the eternal present tense. Jesus drew a contrast between him and Abraham- the created vs. the uncreated, the temporal vs. the eternal.[5] The attribute of eternity in this sense is an attribute of God only. This is an even stronger implicit claim to deity. This is also what separates the Bible’s view of Jesus from those of groups like the Arians, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Islam, as mentioned earlier.

  3. By calling Himself, I AM, Jesus was claiming for himself the personal name of Israel’s God, Yahweh. This is the name God used when He revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush. Consider Exodus 3:14:[6]

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. That is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

In Hebrew, this name came to be expressed in the form “Yahweh” and was held to be the most holy name of God. Its meaning also spoke of not just eternal existence, but of the loving, comforting, eternal presence of God with His people.[7] Jesus was in effect saying, “Before Abraham was even born, I have always been your God."

This is an explicit claim to deity to be Israel’s God that could not have been said more strongly to that particular audience. (It would be like saying in English, “I am your God”, or to a Muslim, “I am your god, Allah.” It was of that strength and clarity to that audience. I realized this during the question time following this talk.)

  1. And the Jewish leaders understood it this way. They took it as a clear assertion of deity, and that Jesus was identifying himself as the God they worshipped.[8] That is why they picked up stones to stone him. That was the penalty for blasphemy from the Law of Moses.[9] They took it for a clear, unambiguous assertion of deity before multiple witnesses that he could be legally held accountable for. And this was the crucial charge the Jewish leaders brought against him at his trial; a charge which they condemned him for, and had him crucified for.[10]


 

[1]  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Morris</Author><Year>1971</Year><RecNum>216</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>1</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>216</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>Morris, Leon</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><YEAR>1971</YEAR><TITLE>The Gospel According to John</TITLE><PLACE_PUBLISHED>Grand Rapids, Michigan</PLACE_PUBLISHED><PUBLISHER>Wm. B. Eerdmans</PUBLISHER><SHORT_TITLE>John</SHORT_TITLE><CALL_NUMBER>KES</CALL_NUMBER><LABEL>NT Commentary</LABEL></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Morris, Leon, The Gospel According to John, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1971.474, citing  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Stauffer</Author><Year>1960</Year><RecNum>343</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>1</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>343</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>Stauffer, E.</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><YEAR>1960</YEAR><TITLE>Jesus and His Story</TITLE><PLACE_PUBLISHED>London</PLACE_PUBLISHED><SHORT_TITLE>Jesus</SHORT_TITLE><LABEL>NT theology</LABEL></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Stauffer, E., Jesus and His Story, London: 1960, 159.

[2] “Second, Jesus’ use of ‘amēn’ expresses his authority. The expression frequently attributed to Jesus, ‘Truly, truly I say to you,’ is historically unique and is recognized on all hands to have been used by Jesus to preface his teaching.”  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Craig</Author><Year>1994</Year><RecNum>7</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>1</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>7</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>Craig, William Lane</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><YEAR>1994</YEAR><TITLE>Reasonable Faith</TITLE><PLACE_PUBLISHED>Wheaton, Illinois</PLACE_PUBLISHED><PUBLISHER>Crossway Books</PUBLISHER><SHORT_TITLE>Reasonable</SHORT_TITLE><CALL_NUMBER>KES</CALL_NUMBER><LABEL>Apologetics</LABEL></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Craig, William Lane, Reasonable Faith, Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1994.248. Also note this: “It is insufficient to compare it to ‘thus says the Lord,’ although that is the closest parallel. Jesus is not merely speaking for Yahweh, but for himself and on his own authority-something a prophet did not do in any authoritative utterance addressed to God’s people….This strongly suggests that he considered himself to be a person of authority above and beyond what prophets claimed to be. He could attest to his own truthfulness and speak on his own behalf, and yet his words were to be taken as having the same or greater authority than the divine words of the prophets. Here was someone who thought he possessed not only divine inspiration, like David …, but also divine authority and the power of direct divine utterance.”  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Witherington III</Author><Year>1990</Year><RecNum>336</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>1</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>336</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>Witherington III, Ben</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><YEAR>1990</YEAR><TITLE>The Christology of Jesus</TITLE><PLACE_PUBLISHED>Minneapolis</PLACE_PUBLISHED><PUBLISHER>Fortress Press</PUBLISHER><SHORT_TITLE>Christology</SHORT_TITLE><CALL_NUMBER>KES</CALL_NUMBER><LABEL>Christology</LABEL></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Witherington III, Ben, The Christology of Jesus, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990, 188.

[3] Matthew 7:28-29.

[4] “That is a supreme claim to Deity; perhaps the most simple and sublime of all the things He said with that great formula of old, the great ‘I AM’. Not, I was. That would simple mark priority, the priority of existence. But the “I am” claims the eternity of existence, antedating the whole of the Hebrew economy, existing in the eternal Being. These are the words of the most impudent blasphemer that ever spoke, or the words of God incarnate.”  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite ExcludeYear="1"><Author>Morgan</Author><RecNum>334</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>1</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>334</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>Morgan, G. Campbell</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><TITLE>The Gospel According to John</TITLE><PLACE_PUBLISHED>Old Tappan, New Jersey</PLACE_PUBLISHED><PUBLISHER>Fleming H. Revell Company</PUBLISHER><SHORT_TITLE>John</SHORT_TITLE><CALL_NUMBER>KES</CALL_NUMBER><LABEL>NT Commentary</LABEL></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Morgan, G. Campbell, The Gospel According to John, Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 161. Also  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Morris</Author><Year>1971</Year><RecNum>216</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>1</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>216</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>Morris, Leon</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><YEAR>1971</YEAR><TITLE>The Gospel According to John</TITLE><PLACE_PUBLISHED>Grand Rapids, Michigan</PLACE_PUBLISHED><PUBLISHER>Wm. B. Eerdmans</PUBLISHER><SHORT_TITLE>John</SHORT_TITLE><CALL_NUMBER>KES</CALL_NUMBER><LABEL>NT Commentary</LABEL></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Morris, John, 474, and  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Tenney</Author><Year>1976</Year><RecNum>339</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>1</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>339</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>Tenney, Merrill C.</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><YEAR>1976</YEAR><TITLE>John: The Gospel of Belief</TITLE><PLACE_PUBLISHED>Grand Rapids, Michigan</PLACE_PUBLISHED><PUBLISHER>William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company</PUBLISHER><SHORT_TITLE>John</SHORT_TITLE><ORIGINAL_PUB>1948</ORIGINAL_PUB><CALL_NUMBER>KES</CALL_NUMBER><LABEL>NT Commentary</LABEL></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Tenney, Merrill C., John: The Gospel of Belief, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1976, 150.

[5]  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Westcott</Author><Year>1958</Year><RecNum>335</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>1</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>335</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>Westcott, Brooke Foss</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><YEAR>1958</YEAR><TITLE>The Gospel According to St. John</TITLE><PLACE_PUBLISHED>Greenwood, South Carolina</PLACE_PUBLISHED><PUBLISHER>Attic Press, Inc.</PUBLISHER><SHORT_TITLE>John</SHORT_TITLE><CALL_NUMBER>KES</CALL_NUMBER><LABEL>NT Commentary</LABEL></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Westcott, Brooke Foss, The Gospel According to St. John, Greenwood, South Carolina: Attic Press, Inc., 1958, 140.

[6] “It is not easy to render into Greek the Hebrew underlying passages like Exod. 3:14. The LXX translators did so with the use of the form we have here. It is an emphatic form of speech and one that would not normally be employed in ordinary speech. Thus to use it was to recognizably adopt the divine style.”  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Morris</Author><Year>1971</Year><RecNum>216</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>1</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>216</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>Morris, Leon</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><YEAR>1971</YEAR><TITLE>The Gospel According to John</TITLE><PLACE_PUBLISHED>Grand Rapids, Michigan</PLACE_PUBLISHED><PUBLISHER>Wm. B. Eerdmans</PUBLISHER><SHORT_TITLE>John</SHORT_TITLE><CALL_NUMBER>KES</CALL_NUMBER><LABEL>NT Commentary</LABEL></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Morris, John, 473. See also Isaiah 41:4 and 43:11-13.

[7]  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Walvoord</Author><Year>1985</Year><RecNum>587</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>9</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>587</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>John F. Walvoord</AUTHOR><AUTHOR>Roy B. Zuck</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><YEAR>1985</YEAR><TITLE>The Bible Knowledge Commentary</TITLE><PLACE_PUBLISHED>Wheaton, Illinois</PLACE_PUBLISHED><PUBLISHER>Victor Books</PUBLISHER><EDITION>Old Testament Edition</EDITION><SHORT_TITLE>BKCOT</SHORT_TITLE><CALL_NUMBER>KES</CALL_NUMBER><LABEL>OT Commentary</LABEL></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Walvoord, John F. and Zuck, Roy B. (eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament Edition edn., Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1985, 112, and  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Gaebelein</Author><Year>1990</Year><RecNum>30</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>9</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>30</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>Gaebelein, Frank E.</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><YEAR>1990</YEAR><TITLE>The Expositor&apos;s Bible Commentary</TITLE><SECONDARY_AUTHORS><SECONDARY_AUTHOR>Gaebelein, Frank E</SECONDARY_AUTHOR><SECONDARY_AUTHOR>Polcyn, Richard P.</SECONDARY_AUTHOR></SECONDARY_AUTHORS><PLACE_PUBLISHED>Grand Rapids, Michigan</PLACE_PUBLISHED><PUBLISHER>Zondervan Publishing House</PUBLISHER><NUMBER_OF_VOLUMES>Twelve</NUMBER_OF_VOLUMES><SHORT_TITLE>Expositor&apos;s</SHORT_TITLE><CALL_NUMBER>KES</CALL_NUMBER><LABEL>Bible Commentary</LABEL><KEYWORDS><KEYWORD>Bible</KEYWORD><KEYWORD>Commentary</KEYWORD></KEYWORDS></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Gaebelein, Frank E. (ed.), The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1990, 2:320-321.

[8]  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Tenney</Author><Year>1976</Year><RecNum>339</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>1</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>339</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>Tenney, Merrill C.</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><YEAR>1976</YEAR><TITLE>John: The Gospel of Belief</TITLE><PLACE_PUBLISHED>Grand Rapids, Michigan</PLACE_PUBLISHED><PUBLISHER>William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company</PUBLISHER><SHORT_TITLE>John</SHORT_TITLE><ORIGINAL_PUB>1948</ORIGINAL_PUB><CALL_NUMBER>KES</CALL_NUMBER><LABEL>NT Commentary</LABEL></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Tenney, John, 150. See also John 1:1, 5:18; 20:28; Phil. 2:6; and Col. 2:9.

[9] Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 24:16.

[10] Luke 22:16-71. Though Pilate convicted him on the basis of him being ‘The King of the Jews’- a political offence a pagan Roman would recognize, the Jewish leaders used this political charge to get him convicted and executed by the Romans. In their minds, the real charge was theological: blasphemy- Jesus claiming to be God in the person of the Messiah.  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Bromiley</Author><Year>1979</Year><RecNum>51</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>9</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>51</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>Bromiley, Geoffrey W.</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><YEAR>1979</YEAR><TITLE>International Standard Bible Encyclopedia</TITLE><PLACE_PUBLISHED>Grand Rapids, Michigan</PLACE_PUBLISHED><PUBLISHER>William B. Eerdmans</PUBLISHER><NUMBER_OF_VOLUMES>Four</NUMBER_OF_VOLUMES><SHORT_TITLE>New ISBE</SHORT_TITLE><CALL_NUMBER>KES</CALL_NUMBER><LABEL>Bible Reference</LABEL><KEYWORDS><KEYWORD>Encyclopaedia</KEYWORD><KEYWORD>Bible</KEYWORD></KEYWORDS></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (ed.), International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 1979, 2:1050,  ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>Geldenhuys</Author><Year>1979</Year><RecNum>349</RecNum><MDL><REFERENCE_TYPE>1</REFERENCE_TYPE><REFNUM>349</REFNUM><AUTHORS><AUTHOR>Geldenhuys, Norval</AUTHOR></AUTHORS><YEAR>1979</YEAR><TITLE>Commentary on the Gospel of Luke</TITLE><PLACE_PUBLISHED>Grand Rapids, Michigan</PLACE_PUBLISHED><PUBLISHER>Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company</PUBLISHER><SHORT_TITLE>Luke</SHORT_TITLE><CALL_NUMBER>KES</CALL_NUMBER><LABEL>NT Commentary</LABEL></MDL></Cite></EndNote>Geldenhuys, Norval, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979, 588.