Ep 40 John 8: 42-59 Before Abraham Was, I AM

• In this intense conclusion to John 8, Jesus confronts the religious leaders head-on and reveals the shocking truth about spiritual family, freedom from sin, and the voices shaping our hearts. As the tension rises, Jesus makes His boldest claim yet — declaring “Before Abraham was, I AM” — revealing His divine identity as the eternal God. Join Jeff and Brent as they unpack truth vs. lies, the enemy’s influence in our world, and what it really means to belong to God. A powerful and challenging episode you don’t want to miss!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Tell them to engage the scripture podcast. Exploring the culture. We are excited to be with you today as we engage the scripture together. To learn more, visit our website at engagedscripture.com.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Welcome to Engage the Scripture. I'm Jeff, and Britt is here with me again today. And together we're going to finish out John chapter 8. Last week we finished our conversation at verse 41, right in the middle of a heated exchange between Jesus and the religious leaders. Today that fire only gets hotter as Jesus makes some very strong claims about his identity.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

Yeah, this part's intense for sure.

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Before we jump in, here's where we left off. Jesus is still in the temple courts, right after the feast. He has been teaching publicly and confronting the religious leaders. The crowds are divided, the tension is high, and this whole chapter has been building towards a showdown. Last week we looked at what Jesus said to the Jews that believed in him. Yeah, they believed, but their belief was pretty shallow. You're right. There's not much loyalty with these crowds. So Jesus told them, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciple. We talked earlier about what it really means to abide in Jesus. It means staying loyal to his teachings like a true disciple, not just being interested for a moment.

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Then we read that famous line where Jesus says, You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

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Yes, Jesus was talking about real freedom, but all they heard was him challenging their special status about Abraham's descendants. Their whole identity was wrapped up in being Abraham's kids. But Jesus was offering freedom from sin. He told them plainly, everyone who keeps sinning is a slave to sin. But if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

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And that's where things start getting heated. They claimed Abraham, but their actions didn't look anything like Abraham.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Exactly. His words found no place in them. And the response that they did give was, Abraham is our father. And when Jesus challenged that, they doubled down and said, We have one Father, even God. And that's the claim Jesus answers in verse 42. Brent, let's get started reading right there.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Sure, let's go. Verse 42. Jesus said to them, If God were your father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

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Okay, this is Jesus answering their big claim from verse 41. We have one Father, even God, and Jesus says, No, you don't. And Jesus says the first test of true spiritual sonship is love. If God were truly their father, they would love Jesus, because love is a family marker. 1 John 5 and 1 says that everyone who loves the Father loves the one born of him. In other words, if you really belong to God, you love the one he sent.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Man, that's a powerful line. So if a person says God, Yahweh, is their father, and they don't love Jesus, then God is not really their father. Is that what Jesus is saying here, according to the scholars?

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Yes, Brent, and here's the key. God is the Father of all in the sense that he created everyone. But that's not what Jesus is talking about here. He's talking about spiritual sonship, covenant relationship. And in that sense, Carson, Bloom, Kostenberger, they all point out that Jesus uses the contrary to fact condition here. He's saying, if God were your father, which he is not, you would love me, which you do not. In other words, love for Jesus is the evidence of knowing the Father. You can claim God all day long, but if you reject the one he sent, that claim collapses. And Carson puts it so clearly. If they truly knew God, they would welcome his messenger, they would receive Jesus with joy, not hostility.

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Okay, for anyone who claims to know God, here you go. And right here you have it from Jesus Himself. He said, If you truly know the Father, you will love his Son. You can't separate the two.

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And I want our listeners to notice the last part of this verse. Jesus says, I didn't come on my own accord. The Father sent me. That's huge. Jesus is not a self-appointed teacher. He's not freelancing. He's the Father's authorized representative. This is one of the major themes in John. Jesus keeps saying it. I don't act on my own. I don't speak on my own. I was sent. So once again, rejecting Jesus isn't just rejecting a man. It's rejecting the Father who sent him.

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Then in verse 43, Jesus says, Why do you not understand what I say? Is it because you cannot bear to hear my word?

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The problem isn't their brains, it's their hearts. They don't want to hear Jesus. Their hearts are closed and they're loyal to something else. They can't bear to hear his words. And that word hear in the Greek doesn't just mean listen. It means hear and obey.

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So Jesus is basically saying, You can't obey my word because you can't even hear it. Their spiritual condition blocks understanding.

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That's right.

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Okay, then verse 44. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

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And he's not talking about physical family. He's talking about spiritual family, who you follow, who you imitate, who shapes your desires.

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So Jesus is saying their behavior shows they belong to the devil.

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Yes, and that's a pretty straightforward line. Their actions reveal their spiritual father. And Jesus gives two markers to identify that family, murder and lies. First, murder. Jesus says the devil was a murderer from the beginning. Remember the serpent in the garden? You will not surely die? That lie brought death into the world. And we see it again with Cain and Abel. First, John says Cain was the evil one and murdered his brother. Hatred and violence always traces back to the same source.

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And the second identification marker is lies.

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Yes, Jesus calls Satan the father of lies. Lying is his native language. There's no truth in him. And that same denial of God's truth is at work in the people arguing with Jesus. We don't need to overthink this. Jesus is saying, your life shows who you really follow. It's not about family trees or religious labels. It's about the voice you obey. Either the voice of hate, lies, and death, or the voice of love, truth, and life.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Yeah, and you can really see those two voices at work in our world today.

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You can, and this is where the passage gets close to home for us. We live in a world where violence is normal, where lies are everywhere and where people are entertained by darkness. TV, social media, and the internet fill our lives with constant noise, and whether we realize it or not, it is shaping us little by little.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

Yeah, it's all around us. People lie constantly, and there's always another murder show on TV.

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Right, but here's the key. Jesus says there's a voice behind all of that. There is an enemy loose. He is at work in the world. He's been doing this since the beginning. This isn't new, and the biggest issue isn't culture or politics or technology. The real issue is which voice we choose to listen to. That's where lies and hatred and spiritual death come from.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

Yeah, and if we're not careful, it gets into our everyday life. What we watch, what we laugh at, what we even scroll past without thinking.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

Exactly. And let me say this carefully, a lot of our entertainment is built on violence, lies, and darkness. I'm not pointing a finger. I live in a big glass house. I have no rocks to throw. I enjoy movies and shows too. But sometimes you can feel it. Something's off. Even when you may not feel it right in the moment, you're being exposed to it. And over time, you can get numb. So maybe we just need to ask ourselves, why am I letting myself be entertained by the very thing Jesus says comes from the enemy? Not in a legalistic way, not in a you're not a Christian if you watch this way, but in a heart-checking way. Yeah, I can relate to that. So, okay, so what does this tell us about what's shaping our hearts? Watching a murder mystery or scrolling on your phone doesn't mean you're not a Christian, but it does mean those things are influencing you. And Jesus' point is simple. Violence, lies, and darkness are neutral. There's a voice behind them, the voice of the enemy. And we need to wake up to that.

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All this shows us how easily our hearts can grow comfortable with the wrong voice.

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You better believe it, and that's exactly why Jesus says what he says next. He brings it right back to the issue of truth. Brent, go ahead and read verses 45 to 47.

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Okay. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.

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Now listen to what Jesus is saying here. He's not just making a theological point. He's diagnosing the human heart. In verse 45, Jesus says, Because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. He doesn't say, even though I tell the truth. He says, Because I tell the truth. Why? Because they've been shaped by another voice, the voice of the liar. When you are shaped by lies, truth doesn't feel comfortable. It feels threatening. Let me say that again. When you're shaped by lies, truth doesn't feel comfortable. It feels threatening.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Yeah, that's good. And that fits everything we've been talking about. If you get used to the wrong voice, the right voice sounds strange.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Exactly. And Jesus presses this even further in verse 46. He says, Which one of you convicts me of sin? He's not asking if they think he's sinful, although plenty of them did. He's asking if they can prove it, and they can't. Get this. He's the only one in the room who actually lives in truth. So if he's telling the truth, why don't they believe him? Jesus answers his own question in verse 47. Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear is that you're not from God.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

That's a strong line, but it makes sense. The voice you belong to is the voice you recognize.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Right, and this ties directly back to what we were just talking about, the voices shaping us every day. It's not just about movies or social media or culture. It's about what those things reveal. Jesus is saying if you belong to God, you'll love truth, you'll recognize it, you'll respond to it. But if you've been shaped by the enemy's voice, lies will feel normal and truth will feel foreign.

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And that's why people can celebrate violence and deception and not even blink.

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That's the difference between those shaped by the enemy's voice and those shaped by God's voice. God's children listen to truth, love truth, and obey truth. Jesus isn't dividing people by color or family trees. He's dividing them by allegiance, by the voice they follow.

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Yeah, by the truth they embrace or reject. And that's why this hits so close to home.

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You better believe it. Jesus isn't just confronting them. He's inviting us to ask the question, which voice is shaping me? Which voice do I recognize? Which voice do I obey? Because that reveals who we truly belong to. So after Jesus exposes the real issue, the voice they're following, watch how the crowd responds. Verse 48 says, The Jews answered him, are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon? Now, this is important. When people can't win the argument, they attack the person.

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Yeah, they just drop the discussion and go straight for the insult.

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You got it, and the insult is loaded. Calling someone a Samaritan wasn't about background. It was a theological accusation. Dr. Ron Johnson points out that this goes all the way back to 2 Kings 17, with the Assyrians conquering the northern kingdom. They deported many Israelites and resettled the land with people from five foreign regions, places like Babylon. Each group brought its own gods. Each group set up its own shrines, and the text says they mixed that worship of Yahweh with the worship of foreign deities. So by Jesus' day, calling someone a Samaritan meant your theology is corrupt. You're outside the covenant. You don't worship God correctly. It's not a racial slur, it's a spiritual one. So they're basically saying, Jesus, your teaching is compromised. Yes, and then they add, you have a demon. That's not just calling him crazy. That's accusing him of being under the influence of a hostile spiritual power. Dr. Heiser helps us here. In the ancient world, demon-possessed didn't mean Hollywood whore. It meant someone whose message was spiritually twisted or deceptive. In the Bible, evil shows up in deception, not theatrics. So put the two insults together, and here's what they're really saying. Jesus, your message is spiritually corrupted, demonically influenced, and outside the covenant, just like the Samaritans. And this actually confirms exactly what Jesus just said. They are speaking from the very voice he exposed.

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Yeah, they're insulting him, and all the while they're proving his point.

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Yes, Dr. Carson says it perfectly. Their name-calling actually reveals their spiritual parentage. When truth confronts a heart shaped by lies, the reaction is always the same. Deflect, attack, slander, avoid the truth. And that's exactly what's happening here. They can't refute Jesus' words, so they attack his identity. They can't answer his logic, so they question his sanity. They can't convict him of sin, so they accuse him of being demonized.

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And that's why this scripture feels so modern. This kind of thing still happens all the time. When people don't want truth, they don't deal with the argument. They go after the person. Okay, verse 49. I do not have a demon, but I honor my father, and you dishonor me.

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Jesus doesn't even acknowledge their insult. He just tells the truth. I don't have a demon, I honor my father. And that's the real issue. He honors the father, and they dishonor him, which means they're dishonoring the father they claim to serve.

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Okay. Verse 50. Yet I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it, and he is the judge.

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Jesus is saying, I'm not here to promote myself, my father will vindicate me. He's entrusting himself to the Father who judges rightly.

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Verse 51, Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.

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Okay, here we go again with the double amen, which means what Jesus is about to say is absolute truth, and he's speaking with firsthand knowledge and authority. He says, if anyone keeps my words, and that keep my word means clinging to it, guarding it, living by it, then he says, If anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. That is a powerful statement again. And never see death doesn't mean physical death. It means spiritual death, separation from God. Jesus is offering the kind of life that death cannot touch. And we are not introducing a new idea here. This is a theme Jesus has been building on since chapter three. To Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, to the crowds in chapters five and six, over and over, Jesus keeps offering eternal life. And the very thing Jesus is offering is the thing they are rejecting. They are offended by the promise of eternal life.

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Wow, that's pretty crazy. Verse 52. Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets died. Yet you say, if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.

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They took Jesus literally and completely missed the spiritual meaning. They said Abraham died, the prophets died. Everybody dies. So what you're saying is impossible. They thought Jesus was promising endless physical life on this earth, but he was talking about eternal life, the life of the age to come.

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Verse 53. Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died, and the prophets died? Who do you make yourself out to be?

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They would expect Jesus to answer, no, I'm not greater than Abraham. But the answer is actually yes, Jesus is greater than Abraham. And this question, who do you make yourself out to be? That's the heart of the whole chapter. And Jesus is about to answer it directly.

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Alright. Verse 54. Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say his our God.

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In John's gospel, glory means the Father revealing who Jesus truly is, honoring him, proving he's right, and lifting him up through the cross and resurrection. D.A. Carson explains it this way. These people claim they know God, but they don't understand that God is fully committed to honoring his one and only Son. And that honor doesn't come from people clapping, cheering, or giving Jesus public fame. It comes through the cross and the resurrection.

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Okay, verse 55. But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word.

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Jesus is drawing a sharp line right here. He tells them straight up, you don't know God, but I do. And the original Greek makes this even stronger. The Greek word Jesus uses for know means deep inside knowledge, like he knows the Father naturally, from sharing the same life and nature. The people he's talking to only have the kind of knowledge you get from experience. Jesus is saying, I know the Father from the inside. We're that close. Then he adds something really important. I keep his word. That's the key. Once again, Jesus perfectly obeys everything the Father says. That's why his words bring eternal life, because they are the Father's words. He's not greater than Abraham because he's bragging about himself. He's greater because he fully knows the Father and perfectly obeys him.

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Alright, verse 56. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.

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When Jesus says Abraham rejoiced to see my day, scholars have offered a few ways that Abraham might have seen it. Number one, some say Abraham rejoiced when God gave him the promises pointing forward to the Messiah, Genesis 12 and 22. Others point to Jesus' traditions that Abraham was shown glimpses of the future. And then some will try to tie this to the binding of Isaac, Abraham seeing God provide a substitute sacrifice. And fourth, some say Abraham, now alive with God, rejoices as he watches God's plan unfold. But here's the key. Jesus doesn't say Abraham rejoiced to see the Messianic age in general. He says Abraham rejoiced to see my day, the day of Jesus. And Dr. Carson adds something helpful. Abraham's joy came in two stages, the joy of anticipation when God promised him a son, and the joy of fulfillment when Isaac was born or delivered. Both of those moments pointed forward to the Messiah, the one through whom all nations would be blessed. So Jesus is saying, Abraham looked forward to me. Abraham celebrated my coming. Abraham saw the beginning of the promise and he rejoiced. And if Abraham is truly their father, they should be rejoicing too. But instead of rejoicing, they're about to push back even harder. Exactly. Jesus just said Abraham rejoiced to see his day. So now they want to force him to explain how that's even possible.

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Verse 57. So the Jews said to him, You are not yet 50 years old, and have you seen Abraham?

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They hear Jesus say Abraham rejoiced to see his day, and they take it in the most literal possible way. Dr. Michaels points out something important. Jesus never said he saw Abraham. He said Abraham saw his day. But they twist it into, so you're claiming you were alive when Abraham was alive. Dr. Carson says this is their escape hatch. If they interpret Jesus as claiming to be physically alive in Abraham's time, they can't dismiss him as absurd. And those words not yet fifty was just a round number, the age of a respected elder, the retirement age for priests. They're basically saying, Jesus, you're too young. Abraham lived 2,000 years ago. This is impossible. And notice this, they are the ones who raise the question of pre existence. And Jesus is going to answer that head on. Read verse 58, Grant.

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Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.

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This is the big moment the whole chapter has been building toward. Jesus doesn't say before Abraham was, I existed. That would only mean he lived before Abraham. Instead he says, before Abraham was born, I am. That's not just grammar, that's Jesus taking the divine name from Exodus 3.14 at the burning bush. This is the third time in this chapter he uses I am, but this time there's no metaphor. It's straight up the name of God. Dr. Carson points out, it also echoes Isaiah 41 and 43, where God says, I am He. From ancient days, I am He. So Jesus is claiming He has always existed, He existed before Abraham, He shares the divine identity, He is equal with the God of Israel, and He is the I am who gave Abraham life. And this is interesting. Dr. Michaels says this is as close as Jesus ever comes to saying the words of John 1 and 1, and the Word was God. Now, people have different ideas about exactly how Jesus means this. And these views differ in how he expresses it. But they all point to the same thing: a claim to divine identity. Thanks to Ron Johnson and Mike Chu, the DCW podcast, here are the main ways scholars explain it. He is simply claiming pre-existence. Others hear the direct divine name from Exodus. Some connect it to eternal wisdom or the word before creation. And some say it's about God's eternal plan for the Messiah. All of those are possible, but the crowd's reaction shows what they heard. They heard Jesus claiming to be God, so they picked up stones to kill him.

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Verse 59. So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

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And that reaction may just be telling us everything we need to know. Stoning was the punishment for blasphemy. Leviticus 24, 16. Perhaps they understood exactly what Jesus was claiming. He wasn't misunderstood. He was not exaggerating. He claimed the divine name, and they responded in the only way the law prescribed stoning. For someone claiming to be God. But his hour had not yet come, so he just walks right out of the temple untouched. And before we move on, Carson has something to add here. He says, just like the glory of God departed the temple in Ezekiel, Jesus, the true presence of God, walks out of the temple courts. The light of the world leaves the building. And that's where John ends the chapter. Man, that's a lot of good teaching fact in this episode. Brent, this chapter has been one long invitation. Come to the one who is the truth, the freedom, the life, and the great I Am. We'll see you all next week. Shalom.

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Next week, chapter nine. God bless everyone.

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You've been listening to Engage the Scripture Podcast, where context reveals the meaning. The spirit reveals the truth, and together they illuminate God's Word. If you have questions or want to dive deeper into today's topic, visit engagedescripture.com. Click on the link. Podcast Note. This podcast is for educational and devotional purposes only. The views expressed are those of the host and guest and do not constitute professional advice. Listeners are encouraged to study scripture and seek guidance from trusted spiritual leaders. Used under a royalty free license.