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FAQ # 233
QUESTION 233 : What is meant when Jesus refers
to himself as the "I AM" (John 8:58)?
First, one person cited another scripture usage,
Christ was not crucified for
claiming Sonship, but was crucified for claiming to BE God. In John 8:24
Jesus said "if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your
sins." When one looks in the KJV, they will see that "he"
is italicized, which means the writers put it in for clarification. If
you take the exact words of Christ, they read "if ye believe not
that I am, ye shall die in your sins."
It could be argued that these two references to saying
I AM wasn’t a reference to the name given to Moses, but could simply mean
'being', 'existed' or the very words 'I AM', as a stand alone. I AM –
being the savior. I AM – being who he said he is. I AM – I exist, etc.
One cite agrees with me on this:
The
expression at John 8:58 is quite different from the one used at Exodus
3:14. Jesus did not use it as a name or a title but as a means of explaining
his prehuman existence. Hence, note how some other Bible versions render
John 8:58:
1869: "From before Abraham
was, I have been." The New Testament, by G. R. Noyes.
1935: "I existed before
Abraham was born!" The Bible—An American Translation, by J. M. P.
Smith and E. J. Goodspeed.
1965: "Before Abraham
was born, I was already the one that I am." Das Neue Testament, by
Jörg Zink.
1981: "I was alive before
Abraham was born!" The Simple English Bible.
Again, the context shows this
to be the correct understanding. This time the Jews wanted to stone Jesus
for claiming to "have seen Abraham" although, as they said,
he was not yet 50 years old. (Verse 57) Jesus' natural response was to
tell the truth about his age. So he naturally told them that he "was
alive before Abraham was born!"—The Simple English Bible.”
However, some argue that "was indeed the main
issue for which He was Crucified (for "making Himself out to be God"
- refer Jo. 19:1-22; 8:24,27,28; 37-39; Ex. 3:14; Deut. 32:39)."
That is, calling himself God by the using the name given to Moses to himself
- "I am."
There is some credence in this. Reason being, if he
claim to be the “Son of God” that could be a claim to be an Angel which
the term is use throughout scripture to mean angels or a 'divine' persons
(Gen 6:2, 4; Job 1:6, 12, 2:1, 38:7; Dan 3:25).
Relatively, they wouldn’t have much problem with that seeing that he did wondrous things. But when he actually claims to
be the one God of heaven they sought to put him out. However, I don't
think this was done through the two references to "I AM" in
the New Testament. The meaning of these occurrences was earlier dealt
with and are seen in the context, so it must have been other slurs or
incidents that cause them think to kill him for claiming to be God (John
5:18).
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