“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58)
Neither Jesus nor the translators of the book of John have a lapse in grammatical clarity in John 8. The Jews conversing with him at the time react in full acknowledgement of his claim in that moment—equality with the great I AM.
When God freed the Israelites from Pharaoh’s rule in Egypt, who did he tell Moses to say had sent him to save them?
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (Ex. 3:14)
For the Jews in Jesus’ day, his words reeked of blasphemy, but we know them to be a true and faithful declaration of Jesus’ identity as God in the flesh, who came and dwelt among us (John 1:14).
While living as a human on earth, John records seven times in which Jesus makes a descriptive declaration of his divine nature—who he is as the great I AM.
Which I AM description of Jesus do you need to be reminded of today?
- I AM the bread of life, John 6:35
- I AM the light of the world, John 8:12
- I AM the gate for the sheep, John 10:7
- I AM the Good Shepherd, John 10:11
- I AM the resurrection and the life, John 11:23
- I AM the way, the truth, and the life, John 14:6
- I AM the true vine, John 15:1