Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” (ESV) 

 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (NIV)

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am! ” (NLT)

Dive Deeper:

Moses stands barefoot on Mount Horeb, staring at a bush on fire but not burned. Smoke filled the air. Heat pressed against his skin, and a voice called out his name, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5)

God then called Moses to confront the ruler of Egypt and lead His people out. So, Moses asked the voice what name he should give the Israelites when they asked who had sent him. “I AM WHO I AM.” Tell them, “I AM has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:14) In Hebrew, it’s Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh. It translates more than just "I exist." It means I am existence itself —uncreated, unchanging, and dependent upon nothing. The creator of all life was speaking in fire with the overwhelming weight of glory.

Now, skip ahead to John 8. The rulers of the Jewish nation, who are now on the other side of this great deliverance from Egypt, ask Jesus to tell them exactly who He is. His authority and His relationship to the Father. As they surround Jesus with hard hearts, He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am.” (John 8:58)

This was not just a bold statement, but one that demanded either worship or outrage. Jesus didn’t just say, “I was around before Abraham.” He says in the present tense, “I Am.” He is an eternal being. He’s not just connecting Himself to God’s story or the story of the Israelites. He’s claiming to be the same voice Moses heard calling out from the flames. He’s claiming to be God, the creator of all things.

Jesus takes God’s sacred name upon Himself, and He’s making a seemingly outrageous claim that He is beyond time. “Before Abraham.” Abraham, the father of their faith, lived two thousand years earlier. Jesus says He existed long before the foundation of their story, before history even had a starting point.

The crowd didn’t miss His point. They knew exactly what He was claiming. That’s why they picked up stones. Not because they were confused, but because they understood Him perfectly, yet chose not to believe it as truth. Jesus was claiming to be YHWH, standing among them in human form.

This is where we begin. Jesus declares that He is the great I Am. He isn’t just a good teacher or a wise moral man. He is God in the flesh. And if He is telling the truth, it demands everything from us–our very lives.

Do you believe Jesus is who He says He is?

Written by Keaton Hewitt