“Before Abraham was, I AM”. John 8:58 Again, Jesus tells us of His identity and eternality. The word was is in a tense of the Greek verb which means there was a specific act performed. The Greek word genesthai, was born, shows that Abraham was not timeless while the tense which Jesus tells us of Himself is the tense that is continuous, never beginning nor ever ending, called the present tense. The Being, the One who was, the One who is, the existing One is the proper translation of I AM. This is the claim of timeless existence!! This is the Jesus who met Moses on the mountain where the busy burnt but was not consumed. Exodus 3:14
Because Jesus made the preceding statement of John 8:58, the Jews took up stones to stone Him. The Law of Moses prescribed stoning for familiar spirits, Leviticus 20:27, blasphemy, Leviticus 24:10-16, being a false prophet, Deuteronomy 13:5-10, and to the surprise of most people a rebellious son, Deuteronomy 21:18-21, and adultery (rape) Deuteronomy 22:21 and Leviticus 20:10. For which of these wrongs were the Jews attempting to stone our Lord? They thought they had caught Him in blasphemy for which they attempted to do the same thing in John 10:30-33. By the way, on other occasions both John and Jesus called the Jews names that did not satisfy them, Matthew 12:34, 23:33, 3:7. On neither of these occasions did they attempt to stone Christ nor John the Baptizer.
Isaiah 8:13-14 and the more famous verse in Isaiah 9:6-7 tell of the Deity of Christ. In Isaiah 8 the word translated Lord is actually Jehovah. This verse is quoted by Peter in 1 Peter 2:8 where he writes: “And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto they were appointed.” Without question Isaiah 9:6 refers to Christ and verse 7 tells us He will set on the throne of David to order and establish it!!
One un-informed Russellite once asked; “if Jesus were God, where was His glory while He was here on Earth?” John 17:5 Christ cries out; “Father glorify Thou Me with Thine Own Self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” They never get it!! If they would just read the Bible a little and not the Watch Tower Tract and Lying Society, they would know that while Christ was on Earth He “took the form of a servant, and being found in fashion as a servant was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”. Philippians 2:7-8 Isaiah 42:8 says: “I Am the Lord: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images.” Also, in Isaiah 48:11 Isaiah writes: “For Mine own sake, even for Mine own sake, will I do it: for how should My name be polluted? And I will not give My glory unto another.”
“Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and His redeemer, the Lord of Hosts; I AM the first, and I AM the last; and beside Me there is no God.” Isaiah 44:6 Again, “Hearken unto Me, O Jacob and Israel, My called; I AM He; I AM the first, I also Am the last.” Isaiah 48:12 Again, “I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end…”Revelations 1:17-18 Again, “These things saith the first and the last, who was dead, and lived again.” Revelations 2:8 Even with a bias, it is hard to understand how they could mistake this as the Christ of God!!
“Write not, the King of the Jews; but that He said I Am King of the Jews.” John 19:21 One would think Charles Taze Russell, Judge Rutherford, or Nathan Knor might have written this verse, but this also came from the Christ-killers in the first century!!
