I AM??
The Jews said to Him, You are not yet fifty
years old,
and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them,
“Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham
was born, I AM.”
John
8:58
This curious name
– I AM – first crops up in the Bible in the book of Exodus: God confronted Moses at the burning bush,
commanding him to return to Egypt and rescue the Hebrew people. Moses had the audacity to argue with the
Almighty, throwing out one excuse after another, until he finally asked,
“Ok. When I go there, they are going to
want to know on whose authority I am asking for the Hebrews’ release. They are going to want a name!! What am I
going to tell them then?” God said to
Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell the people, I AM sent me to
you.” [Exodus 3:14 NAS]
Jump forward to
the book of John. Jesus was in a heated
conversation with the Jews when the crowd threw the name of Abraham into the
conversation. Jesus replied, “Your
father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Snorts of laughter spewed from the Jews. What?
Abraham lived 2000 years before Christ.
They saw His statement as absurd.
The next one out of His mouth must have absolutely blown their minds: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham
was born, I AM.”
Every
self-respecting Hebrew in the crowd that day would have known that Jesus’
statement was directly linked to the verse in Exodus 3. They all went to rabbinical school – they
would have seen the connection immediately.
This dusty peasant Teacher with His radical ideas was claiming the name
of God. And not just any name – the I
AM. Not the I was, or the I could be, or
the I will be – I AM [no beginning, no end - an everlasting presence]. You could almost hear the wheels turning in
their heads: Who in the world did this
guy think he was? Who, indeed…
*
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus,
To reach out and touch Him
And say that we love Him.
Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus.
The Faith We Sing, No. 2086
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