February 27, 2026 | Be Connected
Jesus Says He is Eternal
Scripture: John 8:48-59(NIV)
48 The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”
49 “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”
52 At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
Devotional
“Timid” would not be a word frequently used to describe Jesus’s interaction with the Pharisees. In yesterday’s passage (John 8:31-47) He accused them of not hearing what God says because they don’t belong to God. The Pharisees countered in today’s passage by accusing Jesus of being demon-possessed. So much for a pleasant, philosophical discussion about Jewish law.
In verse 57 of today’s passage, the Pharisees exclaim that since Jesus is not yet fifty, his claims of seeing Abraham were preposterous. To mere mortals, they are. Jesus lived as a human on earth approximately 2,000 years after Abraham or about the same amount of time that I am removed from Jesus’ physical time on this planet.
If I started reminiscing about my time walking around with Jesus during his ministry, people would rightly think I was nuts. However, I never claimed to be divine as Jesus did. He further twisted the knife on the Pharisees by stating in verse 58, “before Abraham was born, I AM!” This quote mirrors Exodus 3:14, which the Pharisees would have known well as it says, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ This is what you say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
With this declaration, Jesus very clearly stated to the Pharisees that he is eternal and on par with God. Needless to say, this statement enraged the law-minded leaders and led them to wanting to stone Jesus. Their obsession with following the law prevented them from appreciating Jesus’s divinity.
In hindsight it easy to look at the Pharisees with derision, but here’s the thing: I’ve always tried to be a law-abiding citizen by following both God’s commandments and man’s laws. Some days I do better than others. I am so grateful for the blood of Jesus to wash me from my sins. However, had I been living in Jesus’s time, I suspect my mindset could have caused me to also miss the forest through the trees when it came to Jesus’ divinity, so to speak. In my eagerness to be a good person, I sometimes fail to appreciate the enormity of Jesus’ gift to mankind.
We must always make sure our actions are in service to and appreciation for what Jesus did for us and not to gain God’s favor.
Jesus is God. Jesus is eternal. Are you prepared to spend eternity with Him?
