I Am - John 8:38-59

I feel like I’m getting bogged down in the he said/she said/ the IM said back and forth and I don’t feel like I’m getting out of this method what I would like to be, so in covering this conversation, I’m going to maybe do a little bit less of the play by play and more concepts that I find interesting.

The conversation that Jesus has with the Jewish leadership goes back and forth between Jesus telling them that they are children of the devil because they do the things that the devil does, and them contesting his accusation. Jesus asks a pertinent question, “Which of you convinceth me of Sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?” The footnotes indicate that the word “convinceth” means “convincts, reproves.” Jesus is asking them, what sin have I committed? Am I evil or good based on my actions? Again, going back to the “by their fruits shall ye know them.” The word “sin” in the verse is cross-referenced with Hebrews 4:15 which says, “For we have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but as in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” It’s kind of hard to understand this verse because of the double negatives, but applying literary principles we can read the verse as “for we have an high priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but as in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” It’s like pointing to the righteousness as a barometer for truthfulness. They go back and forth for a while and the Jews call Jesus a Samaritan and that he is possessed with the devil, but Jesus counters that “If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” Spiritual death of course, we all die a physical death.

Here comes the bombshell, these next verses changed my understanding of the Old Testament completely. The Jews are outraged when Jesus said that his followers would not taste death, saying, “Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? And the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?” It’s an if A=B and B=C then A=C. They are basically saying, “Who do you think you are promising your followers an avoidance of death when Abraham and all the prophets died? If you are from God like you say you are, and they are from God, like we know they are, and they still died, then you’re making things up.” These people just aren’t able or willing to understand Jesus’ teachings symbolically, some of the inferences that they are making based on what he says is just completely unreasonable.

Jesus answers them, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” I think it’s interesting that Jesus said “Your father Abraham,” which separates himself from the Jews because Abraham might be his progenitor in terms of his physical body on his mother’s side, but Abraham is not the father of his spirit or his spiritual knowledge. He references Abraham, who all these Jewish leaders revere as a prestigious ancestor physically, and also setting them apart spiritually with the gospel of the true and living God. Jesus is saying that Abraham, the most spiritual of all leaders, looked forward to the coming of Jesus with pleasure. This is a big statement, and can only be understood in the eternal perspective. Interestingly, the word “Abraham” in this verse is cross-referenced with Helaman 8:17 which says, “Yea, and behold, Abraham saw of his coming, and was filled with gladness and did rejoice.” It’s nice to pull in a different book to lend perspective. Of course the Jews are being literal, either through ignorance or willful dissent, answering Jesus, “Thou are not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?” Abraham was alive hundreds of years ago, and you’re not even 50 years old, how could you possibly have interacted with Abraham?

And here comes the boom, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” They start throwing rocks at him, trying to kill him in earnest this time, they are outraged, how dare he say that! But what exactly did Jesus say to infuriate them this much? First we need some background. When Moses saw the burning bush on Mt Sinai, he asked the name that he should use to tell the people that the God of their fathers had spoken, and in Genesis 3:14, Jehovah tells him, ‘I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you.” Since the time that Moses brought the name of God to the people, they had come to “reverence” it to the point that even saying the name was forbidden except in very special circumstances. Wikipedia says “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh (often contracted in English as ‘I AM’) is one of the seven names of God accorded special care by medieval Jewish tradition.” Indeed, JTC notes, “Jewish traditionalism forbade the utterance of the sacred Name.” So the first offensive thing that Jesus did was to say the name of God that was traditionally not supposed to be said.

But the most infuriating part of Jesus’ statement comes down to punctuation. I had always read the verse as “Before Abraham, was I AM.” This is a statement of fact, not anything controversial, every one knew that I AM was before Abraham, as could be deduced by understanding that I AM is the God of the universe and Abraham is not. However, looking at the verse, it is punctuated differently, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” Looking at that literally, we could read it as “before Abraham was, me,” or “before Abraham was born, I was.” Or we can look at it in the sense of who was standing before Abraham or Moses during the encounter, “standing before Abraham was me,” as in, I was the God standing in front in Abraham introducing myself as I AM. These are pretty loaded statements, and really all come back to meaning the same thing. The IM says, “When the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush, He used the name ‘I Am’ to identify Himself as the God of Israel. When the Savior said to the Jews, ‘Before Abraham was, I am,’ He was referring to Himself by this same title. By using this name, He declared to the Jews that H was Jehovah, the same Bring who spoke to Moses from the burning bush and who has communed with prophets in all ages, including in our dispensation.”

When did Abraham see Jesus’ day and rejoice? The IM says, “One occasion when this may have occurred is when Abraham saw Jesus Christ on a mountain before he was born (Genesis 22:14). Christ was crucified on the mount of Golgotha, making Himself an offering in place of all of us, just as a ram was offered in place of Isaac.” It’s not super clear cut in Genesis saying that Abraham saw God, but chapter 22:13-14 says, “And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.” This is one of those instances that is super vague, but can end up meaning a lot of different things. 
The IM gives a chart of “I Am” statements that Jesus makes in the Gospel of John. I’m going to put it here but I’ll have to type it out:

“Reference in John
            ‘I Am’ Statement
                        Fulfillment

6:35,48,51
            ‘I am the bread of life.’
                        Jesus Christ gave Himself for us in the Atonement. He feeds us spiritually.

8:12.9:5
            ‘I am the light of the world.’
Jesus Christ is the source of all truth. If we follow His words and example, we will not stumble or walk in spiritual darkness.

8:58
            ‘Before Abraham was, I am.’ 
                        Jesus Christ is Jehovah of the Old Testament.

10:7,9
            ‘I am the door of the sheep.’
Jesus Christ protects us like a shepherd at the door of a sheep entrance. No one can enter his kingdom except through Him. 
10:11,14
            ‘I am the good shepherd.’
Jesus Christ leads us. He gave His life for us. He knows each of us individually.
10:36
            ‘I am the Son of God.’
Jesus Christ is the Firstborn of the Father’s spirit children (see D&C 93:21) and His Only Begotten in the flesh (see John 1:14).
11:25
            ‘I am the resurrection, and the life.’
Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can overcome physical and spiritual death. Jesus Christ gave us the gift of resurrection.
14:6
            ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’
Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father, and he is the source of all truth. Because of His Atonement, we will all be resurrected and through our faithfulness may inherit eternal life.
15:1,5
            ‘I am the true vine.’
We depend on Jesus Christ for life. Only by abiding by His teaching will we be able to bear the fruit of righteousness.”

Identifying yourself as Christ or God in ancient Judaism is blasphemy and considered a capital offense, so the Jews who started throwing rocks at Jesus to kill him had every legal right to do so, if Jesus weren’t actually the Christ they were “looking” for. The IM says, “The Jews Jesus spoke to obviously understood what He was saying- that He was God- for they sought to stone him. They believed that His claims were blasphemous, and this was the prescribed penalty for blasphemy according to the Mosaic law.” But Jesus “hid” from them, which gives an inaccurate connotation, guilty people who are trying to avoid punishment “hide,” not innocent people who are capable to choosing whether or not they are going to die at that exact moment. It is not Jesus’ appointed time to die, so he passes through them unharmed, and walks away.