John 8:52

John 8:52 says, Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.  The Jews still tried to put a physical interpretation on what Jesus was telling them. They said since He said that if a man kept His saying he would never taste death, they knew He had a devil.  Abraham was dead, and the prophets were dead, and they wanted to know if Jesus thought He was greater than them.  Verse fifty-three adds, Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?  Then they asked Jesus who made Him so.  That He was greater was what He had been trying to tell them the whole time, and that the heavenly Father made Him so. Their first mistake was looking at things in simply physical terms. Jesus' physical death was a necessity. When we look to Christ today it has to be with the understanding that He frees us from spiritual death, not physical.  Their other mistake was thinking no one could be greater than Abraham and the prophets.  They were looking for the Messiah, so they had to know that One greater was coming.  No matter how great a Christian might be viewed to be, there is One greater that they represent.  Verse fifty-four states, Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:  Verse fifty-five adds, Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Jesus said if He honored Himself, His honor was nothing, but the Father honored Him.  He said they did not know the Father, but He did, and if He said He didn't know Him, then He would be a liar. We, as His followers must honor God in all things, and through the sacrifice of Christ, we can know the heavenly Father.  Then, Jesus said Abraham rejoiced to see His day and saw it.  Did He physically see it?  No, but he saw it by faith looking ahead.   Verse fifty-six continues, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.  Jesus then told them that their father Abraham had seen Him and rejoiced in doing so.  Like Abrham, if we have seen Jesus spiritually, which we must do in order to be saved, we should be rejoicing.  Verse fifty-seven says, Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?  The Jews commented that Jesus was not yet fifty years old and asked Him if He had seen Abraham.  Of course, they were thinking in physical terms and not spiritual.  We have not seen Jesus physically, but we can know Him spiritually.  Verse fifty-eight adds, Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.  Jesus said that before Abraham existed that Jesus Himself had existed.  He didn't say He was or that He would be, but I am.  We serve the eternal God, the great I Am.  Verse fifty-nine continues, Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.  The Jews responded by attempting to stone Jesus, but He slipped away out of the Temple. We today can either accept Jesus for Who He is or attempt to discredit Him, but we can never change Who He is.  He is the great I Am, the eternal God.