Before Abraham was, I Am

Second Wednesday in Lent

February 13, 2008

John 8:58

"‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’"

Last week, we went back to the Old Testament story of Moses and the burning bush to see the first time God used the name for Himself: I Am. Since, this Lent, we are learning about our Lord Jesus’ statements, in which He called Himself I Am, it is wise to go back to the beginning.

It seems like such a funny name—an odd way to tell someone how long you’ve been around: "Before Abraham was born, I am!" We would say, "Before you were born, I was already here." We wouldn’t say, "Before you were born, I am already here." It’s bad grammar. Why does Jesus use bad grammar? Because, I Am is who He is.

From the burning bush, God told Moses, "I AM WHO I am." In last week’s sermon, we discovered that the person of the Trinity who was speaking to Moses would not have been God the Father, but it was God the Son. When we hear God’s Word teach us that this world was made by the Son and for the Son—you can look that up in Colossians chapter one—then we begin to understand why it is the Son who speaks to Moses, and it is the Son who delivers the Ten Commandments, and it is the Son, in appearance after appearance, called the angel of the Lord, who delivers message after message from heaven to earth.

Now, we need to get to why the funny name, I Am, which God the Son called Himself from the burning bush, and which He recalled before the Jews, when He told them, "Before Abraham was born, I am!"

We know that God is eternal. He has no beginning. He has no ending. He does not change.

• Creation is caused by God, but God is not caused by anything.
• Creation is conditioned by the laws instituted by God, but God is conditioned by nothing outside of Himself.
• Creation is dependent upon God for its beginning and for its continuing to function, but God is dependent upon nothing.

How does one sum up these qualities, which are unattainable by us, and which we, with our limited brains, cannot even fathom? God does so with an incredibly simple name: I Am.

I Am. It indicates no beginning and no ending. It signifies that it is conditioned upon nothing outside of itself. And, because of that, it is dependent upon nothing outside of itself.

So, God—who has many names, like God, and Lord, and Almighty, and so on—gives Himself a name for us to know that tells us the most basic thing that we need to know about Him. I Am—He simply is.

Why is this the most basic thing? God has to be uncreated, or He can’t be God. Indeed, isn’t that the first hard question that most children ask: "Where did God come from?"

He came from Himself. He is—I Am.

God cannot be conditioned by anything else, or dependent upon anything or, again, He cannot be God. He has to be the One who creates causes and conditions, upon which all things depend. And so, He is—I Am.

Now, enter Jesus—I Am in the flesh. The Jews are giving Him fits. They are arguing about being descendants of Abraham. Jesus is telling them they are slaves to sin. They tell Jesus that they had never been enslaved to anyone . . . conveniently forgetting that it was four-hundred-thirty years of enslavement from which God had Moses free them.

Jesus told the Jews that, if they were Abraham’s children, which would make them children of the heavenly Father, then they would do the things that Abraham did. The Jews countered that they are not illegitimate children, but that God, indeed, is their Father. Then, Jesus struck.

Can you imagine being on the receiving end of this little accusation from Jesus? "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God . . . You belong to your father, the devil . . . He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. ... The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

How would you react to Jesus—or to anyone—who told you that, not only is God not your Father, but your father is actually Satan, himself? Probably, you would say what the Jews said to Jesus, "Man, you are possessed by a demon!"

Oh, but that was not the end of it—not by an extra-large supreme pizza. Jesus stoked the fire: "I am not possessed by a demon, but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. ... I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."

Once more, from the mouths of Jews: "Now we know that you are demon-possessed!" Again, the Jews invoke Abraham. Then, they ask Jesus, "Who do you think you are?"

Jesus spoke: "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."

The Jews were incredulous: "You are not yet fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham!"

Then came the nuclear warhead: "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!"

Now, Jesus had done it. Not only did He claim to exist before Abraham—a foolish notion, if ever there were one—but Jesus just spoke the name that the Jews swore never to speak. Jesus said the name that God said to Moses—the most holy name there is. To misuse this name meant to be liable to the death penalty.

Even worse, Jesus did more than invoke this holy name—He applied it to Himself. Blasphemy! Surely, this was blasphemy, speaking in the most unholy terms against God.

Is it any wonder that the Jews spoke no more replies but, instead, they picked up rocks, desiring to stone Jesus to death, right on the spot. Jesus, however, hid Himself and slipped away, unharmed.

Jesus spoke the truth. Though He possessed human flesh and could trace His earthly years back thirty-some years to His own birthday, in His essence—the Son of God and second person of the Trinity—He is who He said He is: I Am.

And, in the person of Jesus, I Am did the unthinkable. The uncreated took on the created. The one who is conditioned by nothing, and not dependent upon a thing, depended on air and food and rest and friendship—and everything on which you depend—and He was conditioned by everything on which you are conditioned: a beating heart, pumping lungs, functioning organs of every sort.

Because God is uncreated, unconditioned, and independent, He cannot die. But, when God takes on the created, the conditioned, the dependent, He introduces the wildest possibility: it becomes possible for God to die.

I Am could become He was.

The Jews didn’t capture Jesus that day, but they finally would, the Thursday after Palm Sunday. On Friday, they would hang I Am from a tree, and in your created flesh, bearing your sins, I Am was killed.

"Behold the great I Am, who takes away the sin of the world!" Amen.