Thoughts on the Gospel of John (66) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then the Jews said to him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM. Then they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
John 8:56-59.

Thoughts on the Gospel of John (66)
God had chosen Abraham to produce a countless progeny, God's "people for himself" (Deuteronomy 7:6). In the eyes of the Jews no-one was greater than that patriarch.

The Lord did not hesitate to respond to their challenge respecting Abraham. He assured them that their patriarch Abraham had longed to see Christ as the Ruler over the earth, and that He had seen it by faith and rejoiced over it. But that went beyond His listeners' purely material understanding.

As so often, the people misunderstood the sayings of Jesus. He had spoken of Abraham rejoicing to see His day; they thought He had claimed to see Abraham in the flesh on earth. Their misunderstanding led the Lord to state emphatically: "Before Abraham was, I AM."

Abraham "was" means that his existence began at a definite point of time. By contrast, it says of the Son of God: "I AM". The Jews had already heard Him make this claim, which they knew from Exodus 3:14: "I AM WHO I AM".

"I AM" stands for permanent, unchanging existence - for the eternal God. Jesus of Nazareth is incomparably greater than Abraham. The excellence of the Son of God cannot fail to impress us and call forth our wonderment.

(to be continued next Sunday)

Today's reading: Isaiah 62:1-12 · Mark 2:13-17