Week 42

In week 40, I mentioned that many unbelievers argue that Jesus never claimed to be God. I then showed one of my favorite passages that absolutely showed that Jesus did indeed make that claim and did so in a very straightfoward manner.

We read several more of Jesus' claims of divinity this week, and again one is another of my favorites. This one was a little more subtle that could easily be missed by a Gentile mind, but one that would be obvious to a Jew, particularly of that period.

Let's look back in Exodus at the interaction between Moses and God who appeared to him from within the burning bush:

Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14)

This is the God that led the Israelites out of the Egyptian captivity by bringing the plagues upon Egypt; the God that led them by day as a cloud and by night as a pillar of fire; the God that divided the Red Sea for the Israelites to walk across on dry land and let the waters fall back upon the Egyptian army; the God that authored the revered Law and wrote the 'Ten Commandments' on stone tablets with His finger; the God that provided manna and meat and water in the wilderness; the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; and the God of king David; the God that established the Feast of Passover to commemorate the Israelites being freed from Egypt that foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus.

God even identified Himself as such:
...as God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exo 3:6, 3:15-16, 4:5, 6:3, 6:8, 33:1; Lev 26:42, Num 32:11; Deu 1:8, 34:4)

...having led the Israelites out of Egypt (Exo 12:17, 13:14, 20:2, 23:15, 29:46; Lev 11:45, 25:38, 25:42, 25:55, 26:13; Num 15:41; Deu 5:6; Jos 24:6; Jdg 2:1, 6:8; 1 Sam 10:18; 2 Sam 7:6; 1 Ki 8:16; 1 Ch 17:5; 2 Ch 6:5; Psa 8:10; Jer 7:22, 11:4; Eze 20:6, 20:9; Amo 2:10, 3:1; Mic 6:4; Heb 8:9)

Of these two examples, there are still more instances of God identifying Himself in these ways, and still even more of men identifying God in these ways. There was no doubt in the Jewish mind who God was. This God, I AM, was the living God who spoke directly with Abraham and with Moses.

Now the passage we read this week:
Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."

"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews 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, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. (John 8:56-59)

The self-identification "I am" was a direct reference to the self-identification given to Moses, and the Jews immediately recognized it. Jesus was telling them that the same "I AM" who spoke to Moses from the burning bush was the same "I AM" speaking to them from the temple steps. In anger and belief that Jesus had blasphemed, they sought to kill him by stoning.

Plainly, Jesus made the claim to be God. As I pointed out in week 40, it was on these understood claims that the Jewish leaders hung their case for having Jesus cruficied. There was no question in their day that Jesus claimed to be God. There shouldn't be any question about it today.