2. “I Am” John 8:48-59

3. Review Earlier in this discussion with the Jews, Jesus twice referred to Himself as “I am” –John 8:24, 28 –The Jews did not understand what He meant, assuming He had simply left off the object of the sentence, ‘I am ____’ They even asked for clarification (Jn 8:25a) Then He showed that a child’s father can be known by the behavior of the child –Jesus lived without sin and in complete harmony with God’s word – God is His Father –The Jews were lying in order to kill an innocent man – Satan was their father

4. Charges against Him John 8:48 –Jesus had asked what sin He could be accused of (v46), they couldn’t come up with a sin But they did attempt to discredit Him –Proving Jesus’ point that they lied freely to keep from obeying the truth, they accuse Jesus of … Being a Samaritan –A completely false and baseless charge »His presence the past week in the court of Israel during the feast would have meant death (immediately by stoning) for any non-Jew –More likely being used as a ethnic or religious slur Being demon-possessed –A charge made several times, somewhat analogous to “He’s crazy”

5. Jesus’ response John 8:49 –He ignores the Samaritan comment since it was knowingly false (1 Pet 2:23: Psa 69:7-9) –Denies the demon-possession charge Provides proof He is not demon-possessed –He honors His Father »By His life, His teachings, His miracles, all in accordance with God’s will (v29) »A demon would neither be willing, nor capable, of honoring the Father in that way (Mt 12:24-30) –Reverses the charge By dishonoring the Father’s Son, they were dishonoring the Father (Jn 5:23; Mk 12:1-12) –That was something a demon would do

6. Glory John 8:50 –Jesus says He was not seeking His own glory He was not trying to be honored by those who had insulted Him But neither did He allow what they said to deter Him from speaking truth –He was merely correcting them (2 Tim 2:24-26) »An example for us to follow –There is One who seeks (glory for Jesus) That would be God (Mt 3:17, 17:5; Jn 17:1-5) –And He is the One who judges He will determine whether the charges against Jesus are true or lies; and who deserves glory

7. Eternal life Speaking of God as the judge... John 8:51 –There is one certain way, the only way, to avoid being condemned Keep the words of Christ Not just some or a few, but all –Mt 28:18-20, for example –“Never see death” – not referring to physical death since all die (Heb 9:27) But rather the second death (Rev 2:11) He is offering eternal life

8. Who do You think You are? John 8:52-53 –The Jews take this last statement as proof Jesus was demon-possessed Everyone dies, so how can Jesus offer eternal life? Even Abraham and the prophets all died –[They apparently forgot about Enoch and Elijah] –Is Jesus claiming to be greater than Abraham and the prophets? The Jews are asking, ‘Just Who do You think You are?’

9. Who is Jesus? John 8:54-56 –If Jesus declares His own titles / position, that would be honoring Himself It would mean nothing, and perhaps demean Him –The Father (God) honors Jesus Directly through His voice Through His scriptures / prophecies Through allowing the miracles to be performed –Yet the Jews don’t really know God If they did, they would have recognized and honored His Son, and they would keep His word

10. Who is Jesus? –Jesus does know God, because He is His Son To deny that knowledge would be lying His sinless life is proof of His knowing God Back to the question of Who Jesus is –Abraham knew the answer Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus’ day –Heb 11:13 – He saw them afar off, prophecy “and he saw and was glad” –Now put into the past tense »Either Abraham during his life saw Jesus (pre- incarnate) or Abraham, after death, was made aware of Jesus birth

11. Have You seen Abraham? John 8:57 –The Jews understood Jesus to have meant that Abraham saw Jesus during Abraham’s life Jesus wasn’t 50 (actually in His early 30s) How could He claim to have seen Abraham or be seen by Abraham?

12. I AM John 8:58 –“Before Abraham was, I AM” His earlier uses of “I am”, could be misconstrued as simply forgetting to complete the thought Not possible here Not “I was” – a claim to simple existence But “I AM” – a claim to eternal existence What does “I AM” mean? –God is self-existent (not created) (Isa 43:10-13) –God is continuously involved in the lives of men…through all generations (Ex 3:13-17)

13. Did the Jews understand this claim? John 8:58 –They understood the claim and rejected it as blasphemy Were willing to immediately stone Him to death –And Jesus demonstrates exactly what He just claimed, that He is God He hid Himself and walked through their midst –They knew His face and were going to kill Him –They were just talking to Him –And He hid Himself (a miracle) right before their eyes, and simply walked out of the temple

14. Conclusion Jesus, clearly stated His divinity –They had asked Him who He claimed to be –And He gave them an answer that can not be understood in any other way, “I AM” The Jews rejected that claim Jesus said the Father would judge –By allowing Jesus to miraculously hide Himself while in plain sight, God gave His answer On the day of judgment, all will acknowledge the truth (Phil 2:9-11)