JOHN 8:48-59 JESUS SAID TO THEM BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM

John 8:48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" 49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 "And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. 51 ¶ "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death." 52 Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.' 53 "Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?" 54 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. 55 "Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." 57 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" 58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." 59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.(NKJV)

 This is the section of Scripture right after Jesus tells them if the Son sets you free you shall be free indeed.  They say they never have been in bondage, they are Abraham’s descendants and then Jesus tells them the truth about who they really are, so they start accusing Him of all kind of things.  They accuse Him of being demon possessed, that He is a half breed Samaritan and finally say He is an illegitimate child.  But Jesus has the last word as usual and tells them if they keep His word they shall never see death, nor taste it.  He says He honors His Father, but they dishonor Him. They finally hear Him say that Abraham rejoiced to see His day and they are incredulous and say you are not even 50 years old how could you see Abraham.  Then Jesus lets them have it by saying He is the great I AM, Yahweh, Jehovah, the Self Existent One, the one who has always existed and will always exist. Then they try to kill Him again, but as usual they fail since His time had not yet come.

 John 8:48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"

Samaritans were a mixed race with a religion the Jews considered apostate (cf. comments on 4:4). To call Jesus a Samaritan was to use a term of abuse, referring to a heretic or one with a faulty worship. Their charge that Jesus was demon-possessed (cf. 7:20; 8:52; 10:20) suggested they thought He was mad, unclean, and evil. How ironic that after He said their father was the devil (8:44), they said He was demon-possessed!^[1]

49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.

When accused, Jesus did not seek to justify Himself

Jesus says, in effect, I don't need to defend myself, because God the Father seeks my glory. In other words, if you dishonor me, instead of glorifying me, you set yourself against God. If you oppose me, you oppose the one who is committed to honor me.

 50 "And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.

But all through this whole book, the message has been: The Son of God did not come for judgment but for salvation. He did not come to condemn, but to save. John 3:17: "God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

So Jesus finishes his response to their indictments like this (verse 51): "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." In other words, you have gotten to the point where you are blaspheming me, calling me a half-breed and demonized. And you are in great danger of God's judgment, but I hold out to you once more the gift of salvation. If you will keep my word, you will never see death.

 51 "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."

(cf. comments on 1:51(Similar expressions are “hear” His Word [5:24] and “hold” to His teaching [8:31].) It means to observe, pay attention to, or to fulfill.

John 11:25–26. He says to Martha at Lazarus' grave: "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." Though he die, he never dies.

Yes, We Die—And, No, We Don't

Yes, we die: "Though he die, yet shall he live." No, we don't die: "Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." Lazarus' body lay dead in the grave. But Lazarus was not dead. His body was dead. But he was not dead. He had not died.

John 5:24: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."

When we were born again, we received the gift of life. Spiritual life (John 3:6–8). When we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive (Ephesians 2:4–5). This new life is eternal life. In this new spiritual life, we are able to fellowship with God, know God, experience God, speak with God, hear from God through his word, sense the love of God shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5). This is the work of the Holy Spirit

Our Bodies Die, But We Do Not

Our bodies die. They lie—looking like they are sleeping, which is why the New Testament sometimes calls death falling asleep—they lie in the grave until the last trumpet. "For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:52). But when our bodies die, we do not die. We have passed from death to life. Eternal life. Unbroken, unending life.

 52 Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'

 53 "Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?"

Joh 4:12 "Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"

Either Jesus is a blasphemer or he is God.

 54 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.

 55 "Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.

 56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."

 57 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"

 58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."

There it is—the clearest, most forthright claim in this Gospel that Jesus is Yahweh, the God of Israel, the great "I am" of Exodus 3:14 and the prophets. If he only wanted to claim pre-existence, he could have said, "Before Abraham was, I was." But he means to say more than mere pre-existence. He says, "Before Abraham was, I am." Exodus 3:14: "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And he said, 'Say this to the people of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you."'"

Hebrews 2:14–15 ¹⁴ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise ^hpartook of the same things, that ⁱthrough death he might ^jdestroy ^kthe one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and deliver all those who ^lthrough fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Hebrews says that the fear of death produces a pervasive, lifelong bondage—even when we don't realize it, fear is haunting our choices, making us cautious, wary, restrained, confined, narrow, tight, robbing us of risk and adventure and dreams for the sake of Christ and his kingdom and the cause of love in the world. Without our even knowing it, fear of death is a slave master binding us with invisible ropes, confining us to small, safe, innocuous, self-centered ways of life.

Jesus Sets Us Free

Becker has no solution for this bondage, but Jesus does. "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." Or as he says in John 8:32, "You will know the truth [about death], and the truth will set you free." The world desperately needs the courage and the Christ of fearless Christians who know they will never taste death. Be one.

 59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Leviticus 24:16

Joh 5:23 "that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

 Joh 5:41 "I do not receive honor from men.

 Joh 5:44 "How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?

 Joh 8:49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.

 Joh 8:54 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.

 Joh 12:26 "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

Jn 5:41 | I do not receive glory from people. 

Jn 7:20 | The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 

Heb 11:13 | These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 

Ex 3:14 | God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 

Jn 7:28 | So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. 

     Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

             John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.

              “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32

 

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