Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM

 "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."

Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"  Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

- John 8:47-59

In recent readings, Jesus has been in Jerusalem, at the Feast of Tabernacles.  We are in the midst of a dialogue, begun on the last day of the eight-day feast, with the leadership in the temple.   See the earlier readings from Friday, Saturday, and Monday.  In yesterday's reading, the leadership answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone.  How can You say, 'You will be made free'?"  Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.  I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.  I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father."  They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father."  Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.  But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.  Abraham did not do this.  You do the deeds of your father."  Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father -- God."  Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.  Why do you not understand My speech?  Because you are not able to listen to My word.  You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.  But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.  Which of you convicts Me of sin?  And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?  He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."

"He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  My study bible points out here that the leadership has been unable to defeat Christ through logic or truth.  Here, they're resorting to personal insults.  Jesus reiterates His relationship with the Father, and the power of life in that relationship -- into which He invites all through faith.

Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"  Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  Once again, we are to remember that in John's Gospel, the term "the Jews" is used to refer to the religious leadership.  Jesus once again responds regarding witnesses to His identity (see this reading for His earlier citing of four witnesses to His identity, including God the Father).  Where does honor come from?  The Father is One who honors Him, who is witness to His identity as Son.  But they don't truly know God, in the fullness of what that means, to know a  Person.  He refers them back to Abraham, whose faith sealed him in relationship to God and who rejoiced to see His day, this time of the Incarnation, of the Christ.

Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.  The leadership focuses on discrediting Jesus; he is either crazy, a "Samaritan," or has a demon.  But Jesus chooses His words deliberately.  I AM (in the Greek, ego eimi) is the divine name of God in the Old Testament, which was first revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:13-15).   My study bible says that to these men, this was a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim to perfect equality with God, as we can see by their reaction to Him (they took up stones to throw at Him -- see also Mark 14:62-64).  John puts particular emphasis on the use of this Name in order to clearly reveal Christ as God.  This divine claim, says my study bible, illuminates Christ's authority even over death, a power that belongs only to God the Father. 

Jesus speaks very boldly in this confrontation and dialogue with the religious leadership.  He doesn't hide His identity.  When they push Him and insult Him, He goes even more boldly forward in a declaration of identity with God, conveying equality in His statement.  How can this be?  The reaction from the leadership is one of pure fury at what they perceive is blasphemy; they are ready to stone Him to death on the spot.  We have to pause and ask ourselves why God comes to the world as a Man, if it is going to create such a disturbance in this religious leadership.  Wouldn't it be better if this dispensation into the world took o a form more acceptable to them?  Should Jesus have taken on aspects of public relations that made Him more palatable to these men in charge of the religious life of the people?  One must consider first of all Jesus' response to them, that they are the descendants of the ones who stoned and killed the prophets as well.  It seems that the word of God coming repeatedly throughout history, calling the people back to God, was met in the same way, with the same impulse to shut down, to banish, even to murder the messengers.  Jesus has clearly aligned Himself with the voices of the prophets from the history of Jewish spiritual life.  It seems that this great dispensation of the Incarnation, also spoken of by the prophets, even the day which Abraham rejoiced to see, was to be met with such a reaction by those who jealously guard their places of leadership, their power with the people.  Christ's life in the world as incarnate Man is a gift to the world, but one not so easy to accept by everyone.  His truth presents challenges, and asks us to be drawn forward into deeper relationship with God, and also into a greater understanding of the reality of God.  But this is the mission, this is the thing Christ has been entrusted to do for all of us.  It is up to us whether or not we can come along into the life He promises, into the faith He asks, into the relationship He offers as human being, God Incarnate.  It's not just these men who are challenged, and Jesus is not in the world on a public relations mission.  He's in the world on a saving mission of the gift of life in abundance, life everlasting.  We are all extended an invitation with the gift.  Everything is about whether or not we can accept it.  Clearly it has reached the point where these men simply cannot hear the words given to Him by God.  Jesus knows this, and He tells us why not:  they are not of God.  But Jesus continues, and continually speaks, to each of us.