Is Jesus Divine? (John 8:58)

Is Jesus Divine?
In John 8:58, it states: "Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am," (John 8:58 NASB1995). In this verse, Jesus is claiming to be before Abraham. How could he do this if he merely was a man or a prophet? This only leads to two possibilities: he is God, or he is an angel or some other divine being.

The phrase "I am" is a divine statement. In the book of Exodus, God and Moses are speaking. When Moses asks what he is to call God, God says, "אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר (E'heyeh aser' e'heyeh)," (Exodus 3:14). The Hebrew in this passage is hard to translate into a language such as English, but it is commonly translated as "I Am Who (or that) I Am." As we see in the verse in John, Jesus says, "I am" which many scholars have made it clear that this is a divine statement.

In the book Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, Meyer writes: "This reply asserts even more than the Jews had asked, namely, πρὶν, etc., before Abraham became, or was born ... I am; older than Abraham’s origin is my existence. As Abraham had not pre-existed, but came into existence[42] (by birth), therefore γενέσθαι is used; whereas ΕἸΜΊ denotes being per se, which belonged to Jesus, so far as He existed before time, as to His divine nature, without having previously come into being," (Meyer).

In the book, Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible, Henry writes: "Before Abraham was, I AM. This speaks Abraham a creature, and our Lord the Creator; well, therefore, might he make himself greater than Abraham. I AM, is the name of God, Ex 3:14; it speaks his self-existence," (Henry).

In the book, Barnes' Notes on the New Testament, Barnes writes: "There is a remarkable similarity between the expression employed by Jesus in this place and that used in Exodus to denote the name of God. The manner in which Jesus used it would strikingly suggest the application of the same language to God," (Barnes).

In the book, The Expositor's Greek Testament, "Before Abraham came into existence I am, eternally existent. No stronger affirmation of pre-existence occurs," (University of Chicago).

In the book, The Cambridge Bible for Schools and College, it is written: "‘I am’ denotes absolute existence, and in this passage clearly involves the pre-existence and Divinity of Christ, as the Jews see," (Cambridge).

In The Pulpit Commentary, it states: "Jesus Christ declared his own timeless existence to have been in his consciousness before Abraham came into being at all. The "I am" reminds us repeatedly, when used by Jesus, of the "I AM THAT I AM" of Exodus 3:14".

In Word Studies in The New Testament, "It is important to observe the distinction between the two verbs. Abraham's life was under the conditions of time, and therefore had a temporal beginning. Hence, Abraham came into being, or was born (γενέσθαι). Jesus' life was from and to eternity. Hence the formula for absolute, timeless existence, I am (ἐγώ εἰμι)," (Vincent).

In the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary, it states: "The statement therefore is not that Christ came into existence before Abraham did (as Arians affirm is the meaning), but that He never came into being at all, but existed before Abraham had a being; in other words, existed before creation, or eternally (as Joh 1:1). In that sense the Jews plainly understood Him, since "then took they up stones to cast at Him," just as they had before done when they saw that He made Himself equal with God (Joh 5:18)," (Jamieson).

According to Dr. Plummer, a professor at Southern Seminary: "'I am", wow, what a clear and direct allusion to the divine name in Exodus 3:14," (Plummer).

In The ESV Study Bible, it is said: "When Jesus says, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58, using the Gk. found in Ex. 3:14), the Pharisees show by their desire to stone him that they understood Jesus to be claiming identity with God who had revealed himself to Moses".

References:

Barnes' Notes on the New Testament. United Kingdom, Kregel Publications, 1962.

ESV Study Bible. United States, Crossway, 2008.

Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible. United States, Thomas Nelson, 2003.

Jamieson, Robert, et al. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary. United States, Hendrickson Publishers, 1996.

Meyer, Heinrich August Wilhelm. Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. United States, Funk & Wagnalls, 1885.

Plummer, Rob L. “John 8:58.” YouTube, Daily Dose of Greek, 16 July 2021, youtu.be/z8FuAAaWf8E?si=fLxXZK5xQ62D-rC8.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. United Kingdom, The University Press, 1905.

The Expositor's Greek Testament. United States, Dodd, Mead, 1900.

The Pulpit Commentary, Volume 6. United States, Delmarva Publications, Inc., 2015.

Vincent, Marvin Richardson. Word Studies in the New Testament. United States, C. Scribner's sons, 1887.

White, James R.. The Forgotten Trinity: Recovering the Heart of Christian Belief. United States, Baker Publishing Group, 2019.