Having just completed the holy festival of Pentecost, we now enter into the second half of the Church year with the festival of the Holy Trinity. Assigned for Series C are the following three readings: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Acts 2:14a, 22-26 and John 8:48-59. The text chosen to preach on is John 8:58, “Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’”
There is no doubt that Christians regard Jesus as the fulfillment of the promised Messiah (in Hebrew) or Christ (in Greek). They would also agree that He is the Son of Man promised in Daniel 7 to be sent by the Ancient of Days (the Father) to save sinners from eternal damnation. They also refer to Him as Savior. But on this holy Sunday there is another dimension to the personhood of Jesus that needs attention. Jesus is God!
For Christians today there is not much difference in referring to Him as the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of Man, the Redeemer, the Savior and God. However, the teaching that Jesus of Nazareth is God Himself was most hard to accept. No, it was impossible to accept by the unbelieving Jews. The text has them accusing Him of being a Samaritan and having a demon because of what they considered to be His blasphemy.
They must have torn their hair out–if not tear their robes–when in verse 58 Jesus used the name of God for Himself. It is not that easy to recognize the name of God being used in the English translation of “before Abraham was, I AM.” In this translation, at least the I AM is capatalized. For in Greek, the personal pronoun is part of the verb form. However, Jesus in reality says, “Before Abraham was, I, I AM.” The double “I” is a reference back to Exodus 3 when God reveals to Moses His name, “Yahweh” which is literally “I AM WHO I AM.”
The closest we have in our literature to what this means is in the comic strip, Popeye, the Sailor Man. He and Bluto are arguing over who is going to take out Olive Oyle. Bluto says, “Who’s going to stop me from taking her out?” and Popeye replies, “I am who I am” puffing a few times on his pipe as he speaks. The best way I have found to understanding that is to say, “I fulfill what I promise.” In other words, I have made a promise and I will make sure it is kept!
While there are references in the Old Testament to the Messiah being God Himself, almost 70 passages make it clear that the Angel of the LORD is the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ Himself. For more info on this, examine the book “The Angel of Angels” written by Pastor Peter Kurowski available from www.lawgospel.com. That the man Jesus is also true God means that His promises are always sure and never failing. We can be assured of our salvation as we recall the blessed promises given to us through the waters of baptism. It is indeed a washing of regeneraion resulting in an eternal salvation beginning right here and now.
Name:Tom Baker