Tuesday, September 23, 2014
John 8:56-58 Jesus replied ... "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."
"You are not yet fifty years old," they said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"
At this, they picked up stones to stone him ...
BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM
To say a person existed (I am!) 1500 years earlier than the present -- well, there is no one other than God who can rightly claim that.
Furthermore, remember the Lord's revelation of Himself to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3). The future leader of Israel was none too eager to take up the mission to which God was appointing him. Among the excuses Moses brought to avoid the job was: "When the Israelites ask me by whom I was sent to them, what will I say? what Name will I give them?" God told Moses, "Tell them, I AM has sent you."
When Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I AM," He was claiming for himself the historic covenant-name of God. He was saying that He Himself was the eternal God come into human flesh.
The Jews listening to Jesus that day knew exactly what Jesus meant. His enemies were so angry that He would stand right in front of them (in the Temple!) and say He was the LORD God, that they were not going to wait for a court conviction to carry out the sentence that such blatant blasphemy demanded -- death by stoning.
So what difference does this make right here? Right now? To you? All the difference in heaven and on earth.
According to God's word, no ordinary man could ever substitute himself for one other person -- to pay the price of their sin-guilt and redeem them. But when Jesus died on the cross, it was God Himself who could and did substitute Himself for every sinful human being ever.
And that includes you.
