QUESTION: What did the Lord mean in John 8:58 when He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM."

ANSWER: By saying "Before Abraham was, I AM," the Lord Jesus was declaring that He was the eternal God who had no beginning. This statement is, perhaps, one of the greatest statements that the Lord made concerning Himself. You will notice that the Lord did not say. "Before Abraham was, I was." That was certainly true also. He existed before Abraham. But not only did He exist before Abraham, He always existed. He was the self-existent One. As such He had no beginning. That is exactly what we read in the beginning of John's gospel. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word was made [or became] flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:1,14).

The Lord's statement also takes us back to Exodus when He made Himself known to Moses. We read these words in Exodus 3:14. "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent Me unto you." This tells us that the One who made Himself known to Moses was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

When they came to arrest Him in the Garden of Gethsemane the Lord Jesus asked them, "Whom seek ye?" They answered, "Jesus of Nazareth." When Jesus replied, "I AM" they fell backward to the ground. John 18:1-6. This, I believe, shows the majesty and power of His person. How good today to fall before Him and own Him as Lord and Saviour! Those who refuse to do so will some day meet Him as judge. They will be judged according to their works and cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12-15.)

It is interesting to trace how often the Lord Jesus used this title I AM in speaking of Himself. Here are seven of them recorded for us in the gospel of John, which especially focuses upon the Lord Jesus as the Son of God.

• I AM the Bread of Life (6:35).
• I AM the Light of the world (8:12).
• I AM the Door (10:9).
• I AM the Good Shepherd (10:11).
• I AM the Resurrection, and the Life (11:25).
• I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life (14:6).
• I AM the True Vine (15:1).

Some of the things these various titles teach us are that the Lord Jesus as the Bread of Life can satisfy every need and longing of your heart; it is He alone who can bring light into your darkness; He alone is the only Door by which you can be saved; as the Good Shepherd He gave His life for the sheep; He is the only One by whom the dead will be raised; He is not a way, but the Way to God, the Truth and the Life; and He is the One by whom alone the Christian can bear fruit.

How truly He is—as one hymn writer put it—"The Great I AM." May He become more precious and lovely to each reader.

—John D. McNeil

"Without the Way, there is no going; without the Truth, there is no knowing; without the Life, there is no living."