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John 8:58-59 ESV | An Attempt to Stone Jesus

“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.”

The attempt to stone Jesus in John 8:58-59 is the culmination of a long and increasingly heated discussion between Jesus and the Jews that actually begins in ch. 7:16.

It is very important that we recognize the significance of the setting for this conversation. It happened at the temple (Jn. 7:14) during the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths, Jn. 7:2). The celebration of this feast was twofold: it was supposed to remind the people of Israel how God provided for them through their wandering in the wilderness after the Exodus (Lev. 23:36-43), as well as serve as a celebration of the crop harvest. A few centuries before the time of Christ, the celebration also incorporated an expression of hope for the coming messiah.¹

Throughout the conversation, Jesus makes a series of statements that point to His messiahship, and each statement makes the environment more tense. Despite the tense conversation, a number of Jews believed in Him (v.8:30). Jesus then turned to those who believed in Him (v.8:31) and continued talking, but His tone did not soften — if anything, the tension continued to build.

Jesus makes a clear distinction between the works Abraham bore out of his faith and the works the Jews produced from errant faith. Jesus eventually tells them “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” (Jn 8:47).

In response, the Jews (again, the ones who believed in Him) accused Him of having a demon (Jn.8:48). Jesus responds, as He often does in John’s Gospel, by describing His relationship with the Father. Finally, He asserts that Abraham rejoiced when he saw “My [Jesus’] day” (Jn. 8:56).

The Jews thought this was preposterous because Jesus was not even 50 years old, let alone 1,800+.

Then, Jesus makes His statement “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” (Jn. 8:58).

This whole discourse, going all the way back to ch.7, is filled with profound proclamations of Who Jesus is. He is making messianic claims in the temple during a feast that commemorates God’s preservation through the wilderness and has come to incorporate messianic hope within that celebration. It is a scene of YHWH Himself proclaiming who He is to His people in His house, and His people’s response is to pick up stones to stone Him.

It is a somber scene that reflects the hardness of the human heart (Jn. 2:23-25).

Do you have ears to hear God’s voice, and is your heart humble enough to receive them?

Footnotes

1. Timothy P. Jenney, Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, s.v. “TABERNACLES, FEAST OF,” 1271. ↩︎