In John 8:56, Jesus says, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
In response, the Pharisees asked, "
You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?", and Jesus answered, "[...]
before Abraham came into existence,
I AM." Jesus explicitly not only said that He
existed before Abraham was born, but that He's
always existed, by referring to Himself as "
I AM", the
name of God: "And God spoke to Moses, saying,
l AM THE BEING; and he said, Thus shall ye
say to the children of Israel,
THE BEING has sent me to you. And God said again to Moses, thus shalt thou
say to the sons of Israel,
the Lord God of our fathers,
the God of Abraham, and
God of Isaac, and
God of Jacob,
has sent me to you:
this is My name for ever, and my memorial to generations of generations" (English translation from
The Tanakh,
Ex. 3:14-15). Before I explain how He's always existed, first, do you accept that that's what Jesus said?
Jesus would share in the name after its a family name!
Why did the Pharisees attempt to stone Jesus to death after He called Himself "
I AM" if it's just a shareable family name?
In Matthew 26:63-66 / Mark 14:61-64, during Jesus' trial before the high priest Caiaphas, the high priest asked Jesus directly: “Are you the Christ, the Son of God?” Jesus responded affirmatively, saying, "You have said so," and also added that they would see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven (referencing Daniel 7:13).
Why did the High Priest not lay your charge of him calling himself God?
Why did Jesus not refer to himself as God?
Why instead does Jesus use his preferred title "Son of Man" (80 times! compared to 5 x Son of God)
I'm working on my responses to those questions for you. Thank you for waiting.