John 8:51-59
Jesus said to the Jews: ‘I tell you most solemnly,
whoever keeps my word will never see death.’ The Jews said, ‘Now we know for
certain that you are possessed. Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, and
yet you say, “Whoever keeps my word will never know the taste of death.” Are
you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? The prophets are dead too.
Who are you claiming to be?’ Jesus answered:
‘If I were to seek my own glory that would be no glory at
all; my glory is conferred by the Father, by the one of whom you say, “He is
our God” although you do not know him. But I know him, and if I were to say: I
do not know him, I should be a liar, as you are liars yourselves. But I do know
him, and I faithfully keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to think that
he would see my Day; he saw it and was glad.’ The Jews then said, ‘You are not
fifty years old yet, and you have seen Abraham!’ Jesus replied: ‘I tell you
most solemnly, before Abraham ever was, I Am.’ At this they picked up stones to
throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple.
Food for thought!
Jesus makes revelation after revelation, each more
tremendous than the one preceding it. Here he makes it known that if anyone
keeps his words, he will never know death. It is not physical life and physical
death of which Jesus is thinking. He means that, for the man who fully accepts
him, physical death has lost its finality; he has entered into a relationship
with God which neither time nor death can destroy. Jesus is saying that a
person who follows him goes, not from life to death, but from life to life;
physical death is only the introduction to the nearer presence of God.
When we were in the womb of our mother, we were limited
in space and movement. Then we came out to a more expansive life with more
freedom. Jesus is saying that those who accept him die, they go into even a
more expansive life. Jesus is saying that there is more to life than meets our
eyes.
Then Jesus makes these revelations which are the very
foundation of his life.
(i) He has unique knowledge of God. Jesus knows God as no
one else ever has known him or ever will. And he will he lower that claim, for
to do so would be a lie. The only way to full knowledge of the heart and mind
of God is through Jesus Christ. With our own minds we can reach fragments of
knowledge about God; but only in Jesus Christ is the full truth, for only in
him do we see what God is like.
(ii) He has unique obedience to God. To look at Jesus is
to be able to say; "This is how God wishes me to live." To look at
his life is to say: "This is serving God." In Jesus alone we see what
God wants us to know and what God wants us to be.
(iii) He is God. This is what he means by these words:
Before Abraham was born, I AM. Here Jesus was making a revelation that He is
timeless, that He is God. We must note carefully that Jesus did not say:
"Before Abraham was born, I was," but, "Before Abraham was born,
I am." Here is the revelation that Jesus is timeless. There never was a
time when he came into being; there never will be a time when he is not in
being.
What did he mean? Obviously he did not mean that he, the
man Jesus, had always existed. We know that Jesus was born into this world at
Bethlehem; there is more than that here. Think of it this way. There is only
one person in the universe who is timeless; and that one person is God. What
Jesus is saying here is nothing less than that the life in him is the life of
God; he is saying, as the writer of the Hebrews put it more simply, that he is
the same yesterday, today and forever. In Jesus we see, not simply a man who
came and lived and died; we see the timeless God, who was before time and who
will be after time, who always is. In Jesus the immortal God showed himself to
mortal men. To him be glory and honour and praise. Amen.
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