Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. (John 8:58)

We have seen elsewhere in this study the connection of John 8:58 with Exodus 3:14 and the prophecies of Isaiah (see “Lord Jesus Who Acts”). He is Yahweh of the OT, incarnate. While we recognize the Greek influence on the life and times of Jesus, the Hebrew influence is much greater. Therefore, we don’t see this statement—“before Abraham was, I am”—as a declaration of Jesus’ eternal existence. While certainly that can be implied, we see here rather the identification with Yahweh, who happens to also be eternal. Jesus is playing on both concepts, to be sure, but the reaction of the crowd to attempt to stone Him shows they clearly understood the Hebrew connection with Yahweh. Just as in the OT God acts towards His people as they need, so Jesus came to be whatever we need Him to be. Notice, this does not mean that God will be whatever we want Him to be, but what we need Him to be. He is far better at determining what we need, which is not always apparent to us.

The phrase “I am,” though brief to the point of being mysterious, occupies a place among the most profound of statements. In normal language, the phrase “I am” begs the question, “What is he?” As it stands, it is an incomplete sentence. Language experts tell us that a predicate nominative is needed to finish the sentence, that is, a word on the other side of the “am” that completes the thought or description about the subject of the sentence, “I.” In other portions of Scripture, we do find complete sentences, like “I am the light” or “I am the door.” But here in John 8:58, there is simply “I am.” From a literary point of view, Jesus is the one who is without any limiting or defining traits. “I am” stands on it own! His is unqualified, active existence, and by connection with the Hebrew mindset, He is Yahweh of the OT.

The force of the apparent grammatical incompleteness of the sentence compels English translators to supply “he” earlier in the chapter, when in fact the Greek is identical to that of 8:59: “Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24, see also 8:28). At the most fundamental level, Jesus is “I am.” His active, unqualified, unmitigated existence is the basis for all that He is and shows Himself to be. So when we see phrases like “I am the light,” we are seeing one aspect of who He is, the One who actively shines His light into this world and into our lives, because He is the one who said, “I am.”

Lord, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me …” (Psalm 139:6).