Before Abraham Was, I Am!

John 8:48-59 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. INTRODUCTION Once again, all of John 7 and 8 is set in Jerusalem during the Jewish Feast of Booths. This particular Feast took place around six months before the Passover Feast at which Jesus would be crucified. Almost the entire section describes different interactions between Jesus and various groups of Jews and Jewish leaders. The exchanges all followed a familiar pattern: (1) Jesus appeared in public, (2) Some truth-claim was put forward (either by Jesus or one of the Jews), (3) A debate took place between Jesus and the Jews over the truth-claim, and (4) Jesus explained the consequences of the Jews/Jewish leaders’ hardness of heart. More than once, John records that some who heard Jesus came to believe Jesus. Unfortunately, however, John also indicates that their belief was mostly misguided and insincere. In this last section of that longer passage, we find that the pattern holds. Jesus was in public, several truth-claims were offered, debates ensued, and Jesus pronounced judgment on His unbelieving audience. Within that pattern, there is one main claim made by Jesus, three subsequent claims that flow from it, and a single response from the Jews. The main claim is that Jesus is God. The three subsequent claims that flow out of that are that (1) there is no immorality in Jesus, (2) the Father and Son conspire for one another’s glory, and (3) eternal life comes from keeping Jesus’ word. And the single response from the Jews was complete rejection. This morning we’ll look at the main point (that Jesus is God) and then we’ll get to the rest next Sunday. Some of what we cover today will be familiar to many and some will be newer. New or old, however, combined it all helps us see the glory of Jesus in its highest and clearest form since John’s introduction. Jesus is God, the eternal, perfect, second person of the Holy Trinity. Our main takeaway, then, is awe, wonder, marvel, and worship. Let’s pray that God would grant us all eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to love these things. THE ONE TRUTH TO RULE THEM ALL – JESUS IS GOD If you were paying attention when Heather read our passage, you’ll quickly notice that I’m beginning with the end. In fact, as I mentioned before I prayed, we won’t get to the beginning until next Sunday. The main reason I’ve chosen to go out of order like this is because everything else Jesus said in the first ten verses is rooted entirely in the one main claim He made in the second to last verse. Jesus is God – John’s Introduction As I work thro