In this episode I deal with the most important verse spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of John. Everything so far has led up to this verse, and everything after it is based upon it. It is the pinnacle of the gospel found in the eighth chapter. They are words that Jesus spoken in response to repeated inquiries by people as to who he was, whether he was the Messiah or the Prophet or someone else. Jesus responded, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
To explore that saying properly I need to put it in context and mention briefly what led up to it in chapters 7 and 8. These chapters center on a discussion of the identity of Jesus, explored in the context of the Feast of Tabernacles.
We find that Jesus is not just talking about himself. He is speaking as the Son of Man, which he called himself a few verses earlier, as representative of all humans. Jesus is teaching about human nature. He is teaching about our nature. What Jesus said of himself, every person can say of themselves. That is because we are not separate individuals. We are one with Christ. Each one of us can say with Jesus, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”
This saying of Jesus is equivalent to a Zen koan. A famous koan says, "Show me your original face before you were born." Or “Show me your original face before your mother and father were born." Jesus’ saying “Before Abraham was, I AM” is pointing to the same reality. These koans are meant to direct our attention to what we truly are apart from our physical human manifestations.
In this episode I make this very practical and lead the listener to experience this. What were you before you were you? What were you before you were born? Better yet, before you were conceived? Before your parents were born? What were you before the universe was born? If you know that, then you know what you are. This is what this saying is all about.
I AM
Today I am going to deal with the most important verse spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of John. Everything so far has led up to this verse, and everything after it is based upon it. It is the pinnacle of the gospel found in the eighth chapter. They are words that Jesus spoken in response to repeated inquiries by people as to who he was, whether he was the Messiah or the Prophet or someone else. Jesus responded, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
To explore that saying properly I need to put it in context and mention briefly what led up to it in chapters 7 and 8. These chapters center on a discussion of the identity of Jesus, explored in the context of the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus is one again in Jerusalem for one of the Jewish feasts, this time the Feast of Tabernacles, which commemorates the time that the Hebrews spent in the wilderness after they left Egypt in the Exodus and before they came into the promised land.
During this feast Jesus spent time in the temple teaching. Jesus had already called himself the Bread of Life, which he compared the manna that God gave to the Hebrews during this wilderness time. Then at the culmination of the feast, Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” This was a reference to the miracle of God bringing water out of a rock in the wilderness. It also echoes the scene earlier when Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman about living water.
Then Jesus gives another one of his I AM statements, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Jesus was referring to the pillar of fire that guided the Hebrews during the time in the wilderness. All these references to the Feast of Tabernacles go back to the opening chapter of this Gospel, when the prologues said that God tabernacled among us in the person of Jesus.
Jesus used every opportunity and every feast to proclaim who he truly was. But none of these statements are as great as the one we will be looking at today. Jesus was in the temple teaching the people, and Jesus said in this context, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The religious leaders were becoming increasing agitated at what they saw as his blasphemy in claiming divinity for himself.
The conservation turned from Moses in the wilderness to Abraham. Jesus gets into a heated argument with them, at one point calling them children of the devil. You can imagine that these religious leaders did not take that well. They retort that Jesus is a Samaritan and has a demon. They question Jesus’ right to say the things he does. They ask, “Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”
Jesus responds, “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.” Historically Abraham lives 2000 years before Jesus, yet he said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”
Let’s look at this saying of Jesus. Traditionally this is interpreted as Jesus speaking about his preexistence as the Eternal Logos, introduced to us in the first verse of the gospel. Jesus is equating himself with the Divine Name spoken to Moses at Sinai. That would be enough to get him executed for blasphemy and heresy. Although that will not get you accused of heresy in Christianity any longer. But what Jesus is really teaching will get you accused of heresy by Christians today.
Jesus is not just talking about himself. He is speaking as the Son of Man, which he called himself a few verses earlier, as representative of all humans. Jesus is teaching about human nature. He is teaching about our nature. To call ourselves I AM will get us sent to the pillory in any generation. What Jesus said of himself, every person can say of themselves. That is because we are not separate individuals. We are one with Christ. Each one of us can say with Jesus, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”
This saying of Jesus is equivalent to a Zen koan. A famous koan says, "Show me your original face before you were born." Or “Show me your original face before your mother and father were born." Jesus’ saying “Before Abraham was, I AM” is pointing to the same reality. These koans are meant to direct our attention to what we truly are apart from our physical human manifestations.
Let’s make this practical. Let’s do this right now. What were you before you were you? What were you before you were born? Better yet, before you were conceived? Before your parents were born? What were you before the universe was born? If you know that, then you know what you are. This is what this saying is all about. That is why I believe this verse is so important. Let’s ponder it for a moment.
What were you before you were born? You were obviously not your physical body before you were born. You were not the psychological self that you normally consider yourself to be. That was formed by your brain in interaction with the environment. What were you before that? Don’t be tempted to do metaphysical speculation about the individual soul before birth – transmigration and reincarnation and all that stuff. Those are just ideas. Keep this to direct experience – direct awareness of what you are now and always have been. What were you before you were born?
If you have no idea what I am talking about, you are on the right track. This is not an idea! If you still don’t know, wonderful! This is about unknowing. If you see nothing – nothingness – even better! This is literally no thing. If you sense this is everything, great! Be aware of what you were before you were you. Fall back into it. Rest in it. This true nature is what you are now.
This is our obvious self-identity that cannot be denied. Everything else can be denied but not I. I am. I am that I am. I am and always have been and always will be. God identified himself to Moses as, “I am that I am.” It can be variously translated "I will be what I will be” or “I am the Eternal One.” The Exodus story pictures God as speaking this to Moses through a burning bush, but that is a dualistic representation. This I AM was burning within Moses. This is Moses’ self-revelation of spiritual reality. At that moment, Moses woke up to his true identity.
This identity is available to all. It is all. This is our experiential reality. See who you truly are. It is what does not change, like the burning bush that does not burn out. It has nothing to do with this temporal world. It is what were you before this temporal world, what you be will after your mortal body dies. That is what you are! Lots of people are anxious about death, wondering what – if anything - comes after death. This is what comes after death because it was before death and it is now. Death is conquered through I AM. Rest in that eternal, timeless identity here now.
This may seem difficult to realize in experience, but it is the easiest thing possible because it is what you really are. How much easier can it be than to be what you are? Nothing to do. Nothing to see. Nothing to think about. Just step back from the masks we wear and the ideas that fill the mind. Step back and rest into our eternal existence. Rest in Being. The Ground of Being. Being Itself. Spirit. Eternity. This is not existence, which is fleeting and temporary, but being. Do not be something. Not be a person with a name or a role. Just be. It is not about “I am this” or “I am that.” It is just I AM.
This is not a mystical state of consciousness. This is simple awareness. It is the sense of Self that is at the root of existence. You know this intuitively. Everyone knows this reality. They just overlook it because it is so primary, so much more basic than our fabricated identities based on body and mind. This is not body or mind. This is before body or mind. After body and mind, but includes body and mind. Some call it Self, God or Christ. It is what Jesus was referring to when he said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” This is called nonduality. “That thou art,” as the Upanishads say.
Jesus proclaimed these words of Self-Realization to the religious leaders of his day, and it got him killed. Jesus repeatedly said in chapters 7 and 8 that people were going to kill him. It is all because of this simple statement “I AM.” This radical statement is the heart of all true spirituality. It is a window into the Divine and our true nature. It is present here now. See for yourself the truth of the words: Before Abraham was, I am.