John 8:48-59 (ESV)

⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” ⁴⁹ Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” ⁵² The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ ⁵⁵ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷ So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” ⁵⁹ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Jesus continued his conversation with the hostile Jews. They were not happy with him, and they didn’t appreciate his statement that their father was the devil. In their minds, to say that Jews had any father apart from Abraham was nonsense. They accused Jesus of being demon-possessed. Jesus let them know that he was not possessed by a demon, but only did what the Father asked him to do, and because the crowd failed to honor Jesus, they failed to honor the Father. Emphatically, using “truly, truly,” Jesus affirmed that if they kept his word, they would never see spiritual death. “Ha!” the crowd sneered, “Now we know you are demon possessed.” The claims Jesus made about himself were outlandish, unless he really was God. The crowd thought Jesus had lost his mind. They questioned who he thought he was. Jesus explained that God’s will was to glorify his Son. In fact, Jesus argued, they didn’t know God because they didn’t obey his word. If they obeyed, they would have realized that Jesus was the Son and they would not have rejected him. On the contrary, Jesus knew the Father and did exactly what the Father wanted him to do. Jesus added that he was the fulfillment of Abraham’s hope. The crowd was done with him. They asked him what he was thinking. How could Abraham have seen Jesus? Abraham had been dead for a very long time. This all sounded like absolute nonsense to Jesus’ audience.

Jesus wrapped the conversation up with a loaded statement. He told them to listen. “Truly, truly,” he said again, “before Abraham was, I am” (v. 58). What did that mean? Jesus told them he existed before Abraham. And to top it off, Jesus declared himself to be the “I am!” He said he was God. And the Jews knew exactly what he meant, so they picked up rocks to stone him for blasphemy. As Jesus concluded this intense conversation with his opponents, one thing was clear: Jesus declared himself to be God. Because he is God, those who trust in him will live forever. Jesus diligently dialogued with his opponents so that he could communicate his identity to them and to us. He displayed great patience by becoming a human and by reasoning together with other humans. If he has persuaded you, then keep his word by paying attention to all that he taught. Live consistently with what you believe.