Jesus' claim to be God

John 8:34 – 59

One of the arguments I hear from those who are “outsiders” or those of different sects or religions is that Jesus never claimed to be God. This passage is one of the strong passages that prove Jesus divinity. It is also a lesson in keeping focused on what is important.

Jesus spoke of His divinity clear enough for the Jews that they were ready to stone Him. I verse 56 Jesus challenges the Jews with the thought of His relationship to their patriarch of the faith, Abraham. He talks of Abraham as if He knew him personally, which he does. The clincher is verse 58. Jesus makes a very powerful statement that the Jews completely understood, “Before Abraham was (born), I AM”. Two things are being said in that statement that we need to understand. Jesus was stating that Abraham was human he had a beginning, “before Abraham was, (born)”

Secondly Jesus makes the statement, “I AM” this statement makes two proclamations to the Jews. First this says that Jesus has no beginning and no end, the “I AM” means He is saying I am eternal, without beginning or end. Secondly, by proclaiming to be “I AM” that is the name of God, “Yahweh” means “I AM”. Jesus was being very clear to the Jews that He indeed is God! What was their response, verse 59, “they took up stones to throw at Him”. There is no doubt Jesus made the claim He is God.

What else is important here? He challenged the religious of the day. They had gotten so caught up in keeping the rules that they had forgotten the heart behind the rules. Not only were they not loving the way that God loved but they weren’t even doing the works of Abraham let alone the challenge to walk as God had commanded them, “love your neighbor as yourself, love God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength.” It is so sad when this happens; we think we are really loving God by keeping all of the rules, if we keep the rules and don’t love either God or people we miss the point and the joy of living.

Why would educated men like the Pharisees and Sadducees miss this? Most of us have the ability to want to “work” to please God. We want to earn His love and grace. We would feel better about ourselves if we did. We also interpret scripture our own way and those who don’t believe exactly as we do are considered heretics. They had a view of who the messiah was supposed to be and what he was supposed to do and Jesus did not fit their mold. Paul wrote, “I die daily”, in other words everyday he was asking the Lord for renewed vision, understanding and focus; always wanting his relationship with the Lord to be fresh and correct. It is so very easy for any of us to lose what is fresh and real and rely on stale ideas or faith. If we keep our relationship daily then all fear, worries, and concerns can fade away. We won’t need to worry about being deceived because we will have a fresh work of God in us every day.

Keep you relationship fresh! Know who Jesus is for you everyday. Allow Him to love you and speak with you everyday. See how that will change your life and your attitude.