Before Abraham was, I Am
When the decision was made to translate the Bible into Greek, they came upon an interesting dilemma. How do they interpret unspoken name for God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14?
Before Abraham was, I Am
In the journey to answer the question of who Jesus is, it’s probably a good idea to start with His own thoughts. Who did Jesus say that He is?
In the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the phrase “I Am” 24 times. There is a significance to that phrase. Not only is Jesus telling us who He is, but He is revealing to us something about His true nature. Here’s why...
In Greek, if you want to say “I am”, you simply say the Greek word “eimi”. That word has the verb and the pronoun both included in it. That’s how Greek works.
That’s not what Jesus did. He added an extra pronoun to it by using the Greek word “ego”. He didn’t say “eimi”. He said, “ego eimi”. That changes the meaning of that sentence in a super significant way.
When the decision was made to translate the Old Testament into Greek, they came upon an interesting dilemma. How do they interpret unspoken name for God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14?
The solution they arrived at was to use the word for “I am” (eimi) but to intensify it by putting the word “ego” in front of it.
Do you see where this is going?
The holy name for God, according to the Greek Bible, is “ego eimi”. That’s why they picked up stones to kill Jesus. Notice what Jesus did not say. He did not say, “Before Abraham was, I was.” That would have made sense grammatically. Instead, He said, “Before Abraham was born, I Am.”
The reaction was immediate. They understood exactly what He was claiming. Jesus was not merely saying that He existed before Abraham. He was identifying Himself with the eternal God who spoke to Moses at the burning bush.
The same voice that said “I AM” in the wilderness was now standing before them in human form. That is why these words matter so. He was declaring that the eternal God had stepped into history.
When Jesus said “I Am,” He was answering the question the disciples once asked on the stormy sea:
“Who then is this?”
He is the One who was before Abraham. He is the One who spoke to Moses. He is the One who stepped into our world to save it.
Tomorrow, let’s look at those 7 times Jesus said “I Am” and revealed who He was to us.
