The Name That Provoked Stones

And They Picked Up Stones to Throw At Him

When Yeshua declared, “Before Abraham came into being, I AM,” He wasn’t offering metaphor or a mystery that they wouldn't have understood —He was invoking the sacred Name revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14: “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh” (“I Am that I Am”). This was the divine utterance that split seas and shook Sinai. To the Judean leaders, it was unmistakable: Yeshua was claiming to be the eternal God.

“At this, they picked up stones to throw at him…” (John 8:59)

Their reaction was not confusion—it was outrage. In their eyes, this was blasphemy. But in truth, it was revelation.

In John 8:52-58 Yeshua affirms:

• That obedience to His teaching leads to eternal life (v.52)

• That He knows the Father intimately (v.55)

• That Abraham rejoiced to see His day (v.56)

• That He existed before Abraham—and not just existed, but is the “I Am” (v.58)

This crescendo of claims culminates in the divine Name, and the crowd responds with violence.

And here lies the unavoidable tension: either Yeshua was who He claimed to be, or He was delusional. There is no middle ground. He did not leave room for ambiguity. He told us plainly who He was.

In John 5:17-18 we find another moment of divine declaration.

Yeshua says, “My Father is always at His work… and I too am working.”

“He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”

John 10:30–33

Yeshua declares, “I and the Father are one.”

“We are stoning you… because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

John 10:31–33

“Again the Judeans picked up stones to stone him. Yeshua answered them, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you stoning me?’ The Judeans replied, ‘We are not stoning you for any good work, but for blasphemy—because you, a mere man, claim to be God.’”

Matthew 26:63–66

Before the council, Yeshua affirms His identity using Daniel 7:13 imagery:

“You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power…”

The high priest tears his robes and declares blasphemy.

John 18:4–6

At His arrest in Gethsemane, Yeshua asks the soldiers, “Whom do you seek?” They reply, “Yeshua of Nazareth.”

“He said to them, ‘I AM.’ And when He said, ‘I AM,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.”

Even His enemies could not stand before the power of the Name.

Yeshua’s use of “I Am” also echoes Isaiah 43:10–11:

“You are my witnesses,” says Adonai, “and my servant whom I have chosen; so that you can know and trust me and understand that I am he—no god was produced before me, nor will any be after me. I, yes I, am Adonai; besides me there is no savior.”

Yeshua’s declarations are not a departure from truth. His divine identity was not hidden—it was proclaimed. And it was this proclamation that led to rejection, trial, and crucifixion. Yet it is also this identity that offers eternal life to all who believe.

“Whoever obeys my teaching will never see death.” (John 8:51)

He is the "I Am"—the eternal, incarnate Word. And though some reached for stones, others reached for salvation.

He told us who He was. The question is not whether He claimed divinity—the question is whether we believe Him?

I, for one, certainly believe Him! I have met Him personally, How about you?

Blessings,

Leisa