The Gospel of John was written to witness of the extraordinary life of Jesus. John carefully recorded numerous signs and miracles which argued for the deity of Jesus Christ. However, this Gospel also records Jesus making several unusual statements. These “I AM” sayings are only found in the Gospel of John, and by these statements Jesus clearly claims to be God.1 The Jews clearly understood Jesus’ statements; it was after these and similar statements that the Jews attempted to stone Jesus for blasphemy. Jesus was claiming to be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Great I Am. Perhaps the best example of this occurs during a debate with the Jews in the eighth chapter of John.
Jesus previously avoids a trap laid for Him by the Pharisees. They had hoped to catch Jesus in a contradiction regarding the fate of an adulteress. Jesus avoided the trap, but the Pharisees were growing increasingly agitated with Him. Jesus enters into a series of debates regarding His witness, His opponents, and His nature. The Jews accused Jesus of being possessed by a demon. They also called Jesus a Samaritan. This was more than a comment about Jesus ethnicity; for a Jew to be called a Samaritan was a great insult. The Jews were essentially stating that Jesus was unclean, evil, and heretical.2 Jesus responds by denying demon possession. He instead tells them that whosoever obeys His words would never die. The Jews apparently thought Jesus was referring to physical death, and offered numerous examples of great prophets who had died. They asked Jesus “Who do you think you are?” Jesus responds by stating that their father, Abraham, rejoiced at seeing Jesus.3
This brought a round of mocking remarks. The Jews pointed out that Jesus was not even fifty; ...
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Jesus' own brothers didn't believe in Him and made fun of Him saying, "Go where more people can see your miracles!" they scoffed. "You can't be famous when you hide like this! If you're so great, prove it to the world!"(John 984). The Pharisees convicted Jesus of blasphemy before He was even tried, because they said that Jesus couldn't be the Messiah, for He would have been born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, not of a carp...
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