Saturday 4th November
Read John 8:57-59
“‘You are not yet fifty years old,’ they said to him, ‘and you have seen Abraham!’
58 ‘Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’ 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.” (NIVUK)
The Jews, angry at His presumption to have known Abraham, finally grasp the enormity of the comparison Jesus is making when He answered their incredulous mocking. They pick up stones to kill Him as a blasphemer. What they finally grasp, believers from the very beginning have also grasped.
Consider Augustine’s reflections: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was made, I am”. Weigh the words and get a knowledge of the mystery. Before Abraham was made.
Understand, that ‘was made
’ refers to human formation; but ‘am
’ to the Divine essence. He ‘was made’,
because Abraham was a creature. He did not say, ‘Before Abraham was, I was’; but, ‘Before Abraham was made,
(who was not made save by me), I am’.
Nor did He say this, ‘Before Abraham was made I was made’; for In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1) and in the beginning was the Word. ‘Before Abraham was made, I am’. Recognize the Creator — distinguish the creature. He who spoke was made the seed of Abraham; and that Abraham might be made, He Himself was before Abraham.
”
Some foolishly maintain that Jesus never claimed to be divine and only ever considered Himself a wise and skilled teacher. Many today would prefer that to be the case. Yet there is little doubt that Jesus knew who He was and communicated it clearly. Are we willing to make the same claims as He Himself made? How boldly and clearly do we tell our non-believing friends that we think Jesus was divine, the Creator of all there is? Do we truly believe that He is the ‘I am’?
