Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 8:57

"The Jews therefore said unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" — John 8:57 (ASV)

The Jews’ retort that Jesus was “not yet fifty years old” affords an interesting sidelight on Jesus’ age. Fifty years was the limit observers would assign to him on the basis of appearance. If, as many think, Jesus was born between 6 and 4 B. C., and if the Crucifixion took place in A. D. 33, Jesus would not have been older than his late thirties. Perhaps the tensions of his life had aged him prematurely, yet he was obviously less than fifty years of age . 58 The rejoinder of Jesus, “Before Abraham was born, I am” could only mean a claim to deity. “Was born” (or “came into being”) implies the event of entering into a new state or condition of existence (the same verb is used in 1:14 to denote the Incarnation). “I am” (GK 1609 & 1639) implies continuous existence, including existence when Abraham appeared. Jesus was, therefore, asserting that at the time of Abraham’s birth, he existed (see also comments on 8:28 for a discussion of “ I AM”), “ I AM” was recognized by the Jews as a title of deity. 59 The crowd unmistakably understood Jesus’ words as a blasphemous claim and immediately prepared to stone him. He did not protest their action as a mistake of judgment; he simply withdrew. How he managed to escape their wrath is not explained, though he had done so on previous occasions (7:30; cf. Lk 4:30).