I AM
The I AM has been used to prove that the Personage of the Old Testament is the same as Christ of the New Testament.
Is this correct? Or is this misguided?
John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.
First, it’s confusing to prove anything by mixing Greek with Hebrew. Christ was merely stating that He was present during Abraham’s time rather that His name is “I am.” The phrase “I am” in Greek is “ego eimi”. In fact, when Yeshua spoke to the Jews, he used the phrase “ego eimi” at least twenty times and yet, in only one instance did the Jews seek to stone him (John 8: 58).
Yeshua said, “I am the bread of life” to a large crowd in John 6:35, 48, yet no one opposed him. In verse 41, the Jews murmured because he said, “I am (ego eimi) the bread which came down from heaven.” But in verse 42, the Jews questioned only the phrase, “I came down from heaven” and ignored “ego eimi.” The same is true of verses 51 and 52. Their complaints being that He claims He came down from heaven, not because of the “I am”. Yet they didn’t attempt to stone him.
In John 8:12, 18, 24, and 28, Yeshua used “ego eimi” with the Pharisees present (vs.13) and yet, no attempt at stoning. He again used it four times in John 10:7, 9, 11 and 14 with no stoning. Yeshua said to his disciples, “…that…ye may believe that I am (ego eimi)” in John 13:19 without them batting an eye.
In fact, several other individuals beside Yeshua used “ego eimi” as well. In Luke 1:19, the angel Gabriel said, “Ego eimi Gabriel.” In John 9:9, the blind man whose sight was restored by Yeshua said, “Ego eimi.” In Acts 10:21, Peter said, “Behold, ego eimi (I am) he whom ye seek.” Obviously, the mere use of “ego eimi” does not equate one to the “I Am” of Exodus 3:14.
A slight of hand! A pigeon!
Only the claim of being present before Abraham caused the Jews to stone Him.
Later in the Garden of Gethsemane Yeshua was answering the question “Whom seek ye?” They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said unto them, “I am He.” John 18:4-5 . Jesus didn’t say he was the God of the Old Testament, the God who said he was the Ehyeh that appeared to Moses before the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).
WE (Worldwide English) translation of John 8:58: Jesus answered, `I tell you the truth. I already was before Abraham was born.’
TLB Jesus: “The absolute truth is that I was in existence before Abraham was ever born!” Same with Luke 22:70 where “I am” is just an affirmation of what His accusers were charging Him of in the WE version.
MAGIC!
A touch of Simon Magus
Joel Huan
The Mystery of Ephraim 