John 8:31-59

"They picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and left the Temple." (8:59)

I can imagine the followers of Jesus spreading the word, ‘JESUS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING’.

That little bit of humour is not to belittle the seriousness of the situation, however sometimes humour helps to short circuit a tense situation. This was a tense situation.

A few minutes earlier, Jesus told the crowd that if they knew the truth, the truth would set them free.

Jesus tells the truth, about Himself, and the truth caused Him to hide, like a fugitive, or risk serious injury.

My father, a schoolteacher, would remind us that if we always told the truth, we would not have to remember what we said to cover up an untruth.

In this encounter with this crowd, Jesus happens to mention that he had seen Abraham. Abraham had lived 2000 years earlier, so some perceptive individuals knew that this man, who was in his early thirties (even though they thought He was fifty), could not have met a person born 200 decades earlier.

Jesus’ response infuriated them even more when he said, "I am telling the truth, before Abraham was born I AM." (8:58)

Here Jesus is admitting to being I AM, that is GOD. I AM is the name God suggested that Moses would use when he was sent to Egypt to lead God’s chosen people out of slavery into the freedom of the promised land.

The crowd did not accept Jesus as the great God, I AM, so they reacted by wanting to destroy not only the messenger, but the message as well.

Lent is a super time for us to reconnect or enhance our relationship with I AM.

Spend 3 minutes in silence working on the relationship.

POSTSCRIPT – I AM – the I implies a oneness of you and God, and AM means that with God there is no past or future, only the present.

(Today's post is submitted by guest writer, Rev. Hollis Hiscock.)