John Calvin 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)

Thou art not yet fifty years old. They endeavor to refute Christ’s saying by showing that he had asserted what was impossible, when he who was not yet fifty years of age makes himself equal to Abraham, who died many centuries before. Although Christ was not yet thirty-four years of age, yet they grant that he was somewhat older, so that they may not appear too rigid and exact in dealing with him, as if they had said, “You certainly will not make yourself so old, though you were to boast that you are already fifty years of age.”

Consequently, those who speculate that he looked older than he actually was, or that the years mentioned in this passage are not solar years, in either case, labor in vain. The notion of Papias, who says that Christ lived more than forty years, cannot be accepted at all.