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Commentaries
English
John
  
56"Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad."57The Jews then said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?"58Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."59So they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.


After Jesus had told the Jews that they did not know the true God, and that the driving force in their piety was Satan, he ended by revealing his eternity, for them to accept or reject him. He also revealed his deity by an example from Abraham, the pioneer of faith. With this, Jesus informs us that Abraham lived with God, and that he rejoiced to see the incarnation of Christ; for by it, the promise made to Abraham was fulfilled, that his seed would be a blessing to all nations.
At this, the Jews were astounded, saying, "You are a young man and yet say that you have seen Abraham who lived two thousand years earlier? Your mind must be sick."
Jesus replied with a kingly sentence, "Before Abraham was, I am." He supported this claim by adding, "Truly, truly, I say to you," for them to realize that he was the eternal God, as his Father is. Prior to this, the Baptist had announced Christ’s eternity. The crowds missed this truth, nor did they believe that a man could be the eternal God.
They treated Christ’s witness as blasphemy, an attack on God, as well as an impossibility; so much that they would not wait for an official verdict, but took stones to cast at him. When they were about to cast these stones, he vanished from their midst. We do not know how. His hour had not come. He left by the temple gate.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, we worship you; you are the eternal God, faithful and true, full of love. You do not seek glory for yourself, but you honor the Father alone. Deliver us from all pride, so that we may not fall into Satan’s sin. Help us ever to sanctify our Father’s name in heaven, and receive by faith in you life everlasting.
Question
Why did the Jews want to stone Jesus?