In John 8:58, when quizzed about how He (Jesus) has special knowledge of Abraham, Jesus replies,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am"
His audience understood exactly what He was claiming about himself.
"So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple" (John 8:59).
Why would they want to stone Jesus?
What does He mean by "I Am"?
2007-11-26 15:20:17 · 6 answers · asked by RG 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
They stoned Jesus Christ and in fact, crucified Him because He makes Himself equal with God. So nowadays, people who don't believe Jesus is God, might be the one who's throwing stones against Jesus Christ and saying "crucify Him!"
Jesus saying "I Am" because before the Earth and Universe is created, He was there!
I believe in Trinity
2007-11-26 15:30:09 · answer #1 · answered by ♠ jhun ♠ 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
RS reads: “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am [Greek, e•go' ei•mi'].’” (NE, KJ, TEV, JB, NAB all read “I am,” some even using capital letters to convey the idea of a title. Thus they endeavor to connect the expression with Exodus 3:14, where, according to their rendering, God refers to himself by the title “I Am.”) However, in NW the latter part of John 8:58 reads: “Before Abraham came into existence, I have been.” (The same idea is conveyed by the wording in AT, Mo, CBW, and SE.)
Which rendering agrees with the context? The question of the Jews (John 8 verse 57) to which Jesus was replying had to do with age, not identity. Jesus’ reply logically dealt with his age, the length of his existence. Interestingly, no effort is ever made to apply e•go' ei•mi' as a title to the holy spirit.
Says A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, by A. T. Robertson: “The verb [ei•mi'] . . . Sometimes it does express existence as a predicate like any other verb, as in [e•go' ei•mi'] (John 8:58).”
2007-11-26 15:25:24 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
(Not an "anti-Trinitarian")
Why would they want to stone Jesus? They were blinded to the fact that He is Christ.
What does He mean by "I Am"? Obviously He was stating that He is divine.
Good question, tho.
2007-11-26 15:26:47 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
He meant he is the"I Am". Jesus was God manifested in the flesh. He, therefore, was before Abraham "was".
2007-11-26 15:33:38 · answer #4 · answered by paula r 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
He meant that He is God. I Am is a name of God.
Exodus 3:14 And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM; and He said, You shall say this to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.
2007-11-26 15:24:05 · answer #5 · answered by Bible warrior 5 · 3⤊ 5⤋
haha. is that really a word? i had no idea....but i AM an anti-trinitarian!
2007-11-26 15:22:27 · answer #6 · answered by Jeff S Phoenix_AM 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋