Before Abraham came to be, I AM
Among the first syntactical structures we learn in a language are those that use copulative or linking verbs. We also master the inflections of these verbs: I am, you are, he-she-it is, we are, you are, they are. With the subject and the predicate we append a predicate noun or adjective.
In the Gospel of John, we find Jesus using what are now known as the “I am” statements: I am… the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth, and the life, the true vine.
Yet in this Gospel passage we find I AM in its absolute form: without any predicate noun.
I AM is how the Lord first introduced himself to Moses.
This is the basis of how the Jews referred to the Lord when they called him YHWH.
The verb to be signifies existence; I AM means “I exist for always” or I persist.
Here, Jesus says,
“before Abraham came to be, I AM” (v
58), a statement of
Jesus that even supersedes the rules of grammar.
Jesus, using the language of the Lord at Sinai, tells us that he is timeless—and thus, divine.
“I AM.” How do these words of Jesus strike me? How do they deepen my relationship with him?
First Reading • Genesis 17:3-9
When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him: “My covenant with you is this: you are to become the father of a host of nations.
No longer shall you be called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a host of nations.
I will render you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you; kings shall stem from you. I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now staying, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God.”
God also said to Abraham: “On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages.”
Gospel • John 8:51-59
Jesus said to the Jews: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” So the Jews said to him, “Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word. Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.