Study One: Who is Jesus?
by Jonnie Wright
“Jesus said unto them, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.’” (John 8:58 KJV)
Jewish leaders in the synagogue were the base of power during the time of Jesus. These leaders were composed of: the scribes, who were considered the experts in Biblical interpretation; the Pharisees, who believed that Torah—the man-made oral and written interpretations of the law—was equal with the God-given Law of Moses; and the Sadducees, who scrupulously followed the letter of the law, but not its underlying principles. The synagogue was the focal point of daily Jewish living. Every Jewish man, woman, and child was impacted by the events occurring in the synagogue.
The Romans occupied and ruled the nation of Israel, but everything Roman was abhorred and shunned by the Jewish community. The Jewish leaders in power had to maneuver within the political confines of Roman occupation and still appear to scrupulously follow the laws and oral traditions of their religion and way of life.
When Jesus pronounced that He had the same name as God, the Jewish leaders of the day wanted to stone Him for blasphemy. Jesus called Himself, “I am,” which is the same name God used when speaking to Moses. If Jesus declared Himself to have the same name as God, then He was declaring that He was God. Angering the Jews further was the fact that Jesus put Himself before Abraham chronologically, making Himself more important than the Patriarch of Judaism. The synagogue leaders—who were the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees—could not grasp how Jesus, appearing as a man, could possibly be their expected Savior, the Messiah.
1. Jesus declares that He and Father God are the same by using God’s name, I-AM. What does that scriptural claim mean to you?
2. Easton’s Illustrated Dictionary clarifies the Biblical term of blasphemy: “In the sense of speaking evil of God this word is found in (Ps 74:18; Isa 52:5; Rom 2:24; Rev 13:1, 6; Rev 16:9, 11, 21). It denotes also any kind of calumny, or evil-speaking, or abuse (1Ki 21:10; Acts 13:45; Acts 18:6). Our Lord was accused of blasphemy when he claimed to be the Son of God (Mat 26:65; Compare Mat 9:3; Mark 2:7). They who deny his Messiahship blaspheme Jesus (Luke 22:65; John 10:36).” In Jesus’ day stoning was the capital punishment for blasphemy and was prescribed in the Law of Moses, Lev. 24:14‑16.
What does blasphemy mean to you? Can you think of a time when you might have committed blasphemy? Who took your punishment so that you could ask for forgiveness and be unburdened of that sin?
