Christological Truth of Jesus the "I AM" Pre-Existing with the Father the "I AM WHO I AM" - Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

In Jerusalem, Jesus continues to reveal his Christological (Messianic) truth in his unique relation to the Father through his debates with those who refuse to believe but brew their desire to kill him (John 8:12-59), even after he saved a woman who was accused of adultery (John 8:1-11). The debate started as they put Jesus in inquisition because he performed a work of healing a paralytic man near the mikvah of Bethsaida on a sabbath day, and because Jesus explained that what he did to the paralytic man was not in violation of the sabbath commandment but rather it was a work of his Father, whose work continues beyond the Creation (John 5:16-47). It was also when they began to think of killing Jesus because they thought that Jesus was equating himself to God by calling Him as his father (John 5:18).

After this, Jesus returned to Galilee. But, when he returned to Jerusalem for the seven-day feast of the Tabernacle, their inquisition continued on while their desire to kill Jesus grew, and Jesus revealed more of his Christological (Messianic) truth not only in his relation to the Father (John 7:14-36) but also in connection to the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39). During that time, Jesus enigmatically touched upon his death, resurrection, and ascension (John 7:33) before mentioning how he is related to the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39). And this is later projected in his farewell discourse to his disciples during the Lord’s Supper (John 14:1-21;16:5-33).

Then they brought a woman accused of adultery to Jesus without any witnesses and the man who should be also accused to have committed adultery with her, to trap Jesus in his response (John 8:2-6). Knowing who they were and evil in them, Jesus invalidated their persecution against the woman and set her free, entrusting her to sin no more (John 8:7-11)

And the debate on Jesus, who he really is, resumed (John 8:12).

We have been following how Jesus tries to convict those who refuse to believe but rather try to kill him with his Christological (Messianic) truth and how they react ever since Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent (John 5:17-30) through daily Gospel Readings, and now we have reached the last portion of the debate in John 8 (John 8:51-59) on Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent.

Throughout his argument with those who refuse to believe in him but want to kill him, Jesus progressively reveals his Christological nature in his unique object relation to the Father. But, they accuse Jesus for calling God as his Father and grow in their hostility and murderous desire. They also come to realize that they just cannot “win” in their argument against Jesus as he continues to reveal their hypocrisy and ignorance.

In response to Jesus’ words on their need to be enlightened by the truth in his words to be freed from the slavery of their sins (John 8:31-32), they argued that they do not need to hear such a thing because they were free children of Abraham (John 8:33). But, Jesus has pointed out that they were not free because they are enslaved to their own sins (John 8:34-41). And Jesus further argued against them that they are not children of Abraham nor children of God but convicted them as children of the devil for what who they have made they are (John 8:42-47).

Though they have argued that they are children of God, Jesus disputes this because they do not love him but want to kill him (John 8:42-47). It is because loving God as their father also means loving Jesus, who is His Son. And this is not simply because the Father loves him but also he is “I AM” (John 8:24, 28) and the Father is “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). In other words, Jesus is not just a mere human being from Galilee as they think and ridicule (i.e. John 7:41; cf. 52), but he is also the Christ (Messiah) and God, who is “I am who I am”(Exodus 3:14). This is why Jesus revealed who he is as “I AM”(John 8:24,28).

Now Jesus says to them:

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death (John 8:51).

This is reiterating what he said before:

If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32).

Have they ever even tried to open their hearts to Jesus’ word?

Nope.

Rather, out of their narcissistic pride, which keeps them ignorant and their hearts as harden as stones, they only grow in their anger toward Jesus.

So, when he invited them to free themselves from the slavery of sins, they shifted themselves to the denial mode, arguing that they do not need to hear to be free because they have never been enslaved as children of Abraham (John 8:33-41a).

In response, they try to trip Jesus again by picking a certain expression of Jesus. So, they said, “Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death’. Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?”(John 8:52-53).

One aspect of their deep ignorance is that they are utterly fundamentalists. They also show their ignorance of the scriptures, because they would have understood what Jesus means by “will never see death”(v. 51) in relation to the Messiah (Christ) (i.e. Isaiah 26:19; Job 19:25-27), who is of Abraham’s stock (i.e. Genesis 12:1-3; cf. Acts 3:24-26).

So, Jesus says:

If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word. Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad (John 8:54-56).

Again, Jesus makes it clear that his being, “I AM” (John 8:24, 28), is because of his Father, “I am who I am”(Exodus 3:14). That is why he knows the Father, though they, who identified themselves as children of God (John 8:41), do not. And because Jesus, who is, “I AM”, has known his Father, “I am who I am”, he also knows Abraham, as his Father knows.

It is very important to note that not only the Father has rejoiced (i.e. Matthew 3:17; 12:18; cf. 42:1) but also Abraham has to have seen Jesus, who is of his stock, to have been sent by the Father (John 8:56).

But to their fundamentalist mentality, Jesus’ Christological (Messianic) quality not only in relation to the Father but also to Abraham is too difficult to recognize – even though they pride themselves as experts of the scriptures.

So, they argued back to Jesus, saying, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”(John 8:57).

Had they truly been well-versed with the scriptures, as they should, then, they would not have said such a stupid thing, because it is found in the scriptures that Abraham was already aware of the coming of the Messiah out of his stock (even way before Isaiah prophesized the coming of him out of David’s royal lineage, which stems from Jesse’s stock, Isaiah 11:1). To understand this, we need to understand the First Reading (Genesis 17:3-9).

The First Reading (Genesis 17:3-9) is God’s promise (covenant) with Abraham. First, God called Abram as Abraham. The former name means “an exulted father”, while the latter is understood as “a father of all nations”. By calling Abram as Abraham, God promised him to become the father of all nations. This is a reiteration of God’s first covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3).

Thus said God to Abraham:

No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you; kings will stem from you (Genesis 17:5-6).

For Abraham to be the father of all nations (a multitude of nations), he needed to procreate. So, God promised him to be fertile. And this points to the birth of Isaac and so forth, leading to David and to Jesus (i.e. Matthew 1:1-17).

So Isaac was born, as promised by God, but God commanded Abraham to offer him as a sacrifice to Him to test his faith (Genesis 22:1-14). During that time, Abraham said to Isaac, “God will provide the sheep for the burnt offering”(Genesis 22:8). And the real “the sheep” is the one whom the Father, who is “I am who I am”(Exodus 3:14) has sent – His only begotten Son, and he is Jesus, “I AM” (John 8:24, 28). So Abraham’s son, Isaac, did not have to be offered as “the sheep”.

In this, Abraham was aware of the coming of the Messiah as “the sheep”, pointing out that Jesus, the Messiah (Christ), to be offered as Korban Pesach (Passover Sacrifice)(Exodus 12:1-14)(John 19:31-42), and John the Baptist called “the sheep”(Genesis 22:8), as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29).

This is why Jesus said, “Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad”(John 8:56).

Abraham, the father of all nations”, has rejoiced to see “the sheep”(Genesis 22:8) has come, as sent by God the Father (i.e. John 3:16; 1 John 4:9), to do His work (John 5:17); is well-pleased of him (i.e. Matthew 3:17; 12:18). And, because Jesus is “I AM”(John 8:24, 28), as his Father is “I am who I am”(Exodus 3:14), which in Hebrew also means, “He is who He is”, “He is who was”, and “He is who He will be”. In other words, God the Father is immutable and everlasting. And because the Son was with the Father, before he was sent to us in the human flesh of Jesus by incarnation (John 1:14; Luke 1:30-33, 35)(John 1:1; Colossians 1:15-17), Jesus was with his Father, in  the divine substance, when He spoke to Abraham for covenants.

Thus says Jesus:

Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM (John 8:58).

Just as the Father has been and is and will be always “I am who I am”, his Son, Jesus, the Christ, has been and is and will be always “I AM”. After all, he is alpha and omega (Revelation 1:8; 22:13).

Have these ignorant unbelievers ever convert their hearts and receive Jesus’ word of the truth to remain in it to be delivered from the slavery of their sins?

Well, instead, the truth in Jesus’ word, his Christological (Messianic) truth in relation to God the Father and father Abraham, only made them more murderous. And this reflects these words of David:

Many are the troubles of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all (Psalm 34:20).