The Jews had a problem with Jesus. He made some claims that they just could Not Figure Out!

Jesus speaking says …

John 8:58 – “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” ⁵⁹Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

For anyone unfamiliar with the account of God revealing his name to Moses in Exodus 3:14, God says his name is “I AM”.

“Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

That is not God’s only name in the Bible, but it was the name that would best describe him to both Israel and The Egyptians. The God of Time, Space and Existence.

Back to Jesus… in case there is any doubt about how the Jews understood the claim that Jesus was making, they picked up stones to stone him.  Why?

1. He claimed pre-existence and described something that the Bible doesn’t really detail – that Abraham, father of the Jewish nation, saw Jesus’ day and was glad.
2. Jesus equates himself with God, using his unique name – I AM

So, I’m not sure why any commentator would debate the nature of Jesus’ statement, that he was God. The Jews understood clearly and wanted to stone him for blasphemy.

Why did the Jews have such a knee-jerk reaction, and did they have a point? After all, this statement was confusing, and therein lies the problem. The Jews knew about Jesus. He was Jesus of Nazareth, the son of a man named Joseph, and they couldn’t get their heads wrapped around his claims to have existed before Abraham. So, they accused him of being crazy and/or demonic. “You are not yet fifty years old”. They were confused. However, they made one big mistake. They didn’t understand the prophets, specifically the prophet Isaiah, and unfortunately they still don’t understand.

ISAIAH 9

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.

The Bible predicted the coming of the Messiah hundreds of years earlier in their own Bible (scrolls) by means of a virgin birth. It also predicted that the child would be God himself, and of the lineage of David. (2 Samuel 7:8-17) The Jews missed this. Jesus was God incarnate, as predicted, uniquely both God and born of a woman. (John 1:1-18)

ISAIAH 7:14

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name *Immanuel.

And what does the name Immanuel mean?   God is with us!

Our heart felt desire for Israel is that they recognize Jesus as their Messiah, son of David. As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 9:

I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, ²that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. ³For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, ⁴who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, ⁵whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.