The Accusation
Among some students of Torah, there exists a serious concern about the statement attributed to Yeshua in the Gospel of John:
“Before Abraham was, I am.”
John 8:58, ESV
The argument goes that by saying “I am,” Yeshua took upon Himself the sacred Name revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3:14—Ehyeh asher Ehyeh (“I AM THAT I AM”). Therefore, some reason, this must be blasphemy, for no man may take the Name of Yehovah upon himself.
This is not a new accusation. It is the same charge that was made against Him in His own generation. Yet the question remains worth asking honestly, not through tradition or emotion, but through the light of Torah and Tanakh itself.
If the Torah is the standard of truth, then it must also be the standard by which we measure whether these words constitute sin or agreement with Torah.
The Accusation of Blasphemy and Yeshua’s Defense
In the gospel record, Yeshua’s adversaries accuse Him of blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God, but their charge exposes their own misunderstanding, and ignorance of Torah. The very thing they condemned Him for is found and affirmed within the Tanakh itself.
Consider the following account:
“The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?’ The Jews answered him, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your Law, “I said, you are gods”? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, “You are blaspheming,” because I said, “I am the Son of God”?
John 10:34–36 (ESV)
Yeshua makes His defense directly from the Tanakh. He argues that if the Scriptures themselves call men gods (elohim) because they bear the word, authority and Name of God, then how much more rightful is it for the one who is the Son of God, the Prophet, and the Messiah, the one consecrated and sent by the Father, the Word Made Flesh, to bear those same titles? In this moment, He is accused of blasphemy for calling Himself the Son of God, yet His argument is that the Tanakh itself establishes the precedent.
There are, in fact, many other examples He could have drawn from the Scriptures to make this same point, but He chose this one, grounding His defense in the very words of Torah that His accusers claimed to uphold. We will revisit those other examples shortly.
Here, Yeshua defends Himself not by introducing new theology, but by citing Torah logic, He quotes Psalm 82, where God Himself calls the judges of Israel elohim because they were appointed to execute His justice.
“I said, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.’”
Psalm 82:6–7 (ESV)
In this psalm, the term gods (elohim) does not refer to idols or deities but to human judges, those entrusted with administering Yehovah’s justice on earth. They were called elohim because they represented His authority and bore His Name and His Word in their judgments.
This verse illustrates a crucial truth: bearing divine authority, divine word, or title does not make one equal to Yehovah. It means one has been entrusted to act as His representative.
Yeshua’s use of this passage was a direct Torah-based defense. He was showing that His claim to be the Son of God, one consecrated and sent by the Father, was perfectly consistent with the Hebrew Scriptures. If mere men could be called elohim because they bore the Word of God, how much more fitting is it for the one in whom that Word dwells fully to bear the same authority?
Far from committing blasphemy, Yeshua’s reasoning aligned with the Torah itself. His accusers, though zealous in outward religion, were ignorant of the very Scriptures they claimed to defend.
Yeshua continues teaching Torah and challenges His accusers to evaluate both His words and His works according to the Torah’s own standard. This is exactly what the Torah commands:
“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ … you shall not listen to that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.”
Deuteronomy 13:1–3
The Torah does not forbid testing a prophet, it requires it. Yeshua welcomes this kind of judgment, saying, in essence, Judge me according to Torah. He points to His deeds and teachings and declares:
“If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works.”
John 10:37–38
He knows they are condemning Him not for lawlessness, but because He has condemned their disobedience and called them to repentance for breaking Torah. So He directs them back to the only proper standard of discernment: the Torah itself. His statement, “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35), is a bold reminder that truth is measured only by what is written, and by that measure, His life and teaching stand blameless, and all stand on the authority of an in total agreement with Torah.
Bearing the Name of Yehovah
The Third Commandment does not forbid using the Name of Yehovah, but rather bearing it falsely:
“You shall not take (תִשָּׂא tissa, to lift up or carry) the name of the LORD your God in vain.”
Exodus 20:7
This commandment concerns representation, not pronunciation. To “carry His Name in vain” is to represent Him falsely. To carry His Name truthfully, by His appointment, is righteous service.
Throughout Torah, others bear the Name of Yehovah without sin:
- The priests: “They shall put My Name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:27)
- The Angel of Yehovah: “My Name is in him.” (Exodus 23:21)
- Israel itself: “All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the Name of Yehovah.” (Deuteronomy 28:10)
- Judges: “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” (Psams 82:6-7)
- The Righteous Branch: “This is the name by which He will be called: Yehovah Tzidkenu.” (Jeremiah 23:6)
- Note: Yehovah Tzidkenu is Speaking of the Messiah himself and calling him YEHOVAH in Tankak.
If the Tanakh calls Messiah Yehovah, then certainly the messiah using or being called the name Yehoah or title or description of equal or lesser value to the Memorial Tetragrammaton cannot be sin according to Tanakh.
Therefore, to bear the Name is not blasphemy when done in truth. Yehovah Himself places His Name upon His servants, His Judges, His angels, His priests, and even His people. It is blasphemy only when one does so falsely or presumptuously.
Understanding “I Am” in Its Linguistic Context
The phrase “I am” (Greek ἐγώ εἰμι / ego eimi) is a simple expression of identity, used commonly in Scripture and ordinary conversation. It does not automatically mean “I am the Eternal.”
- “I am Joseph your brother.” (Genesis 45:4, LXX: ego eimi Ioseph)
- “I am Esau your firstborn.” (Genesis 27:19, LXX)
- “I am the God of Bethel.” (Genesis 31:13, LXX)
When Yeshua said, “I am the bread,” “I am the light,” or “I am the shepherd,” He was identifying His mission and purpose, and interpreting the Torah revealing himself to be prophesied within the Torah. These statements are not theft of the divine Name, but metaphorical descriptions of His function in Yehovah’s plan. More on this later.
“Before Abraham Was, I Am” — What He Claimed
This particular statement (John 8:58) stands out because it points to pre-existence and authority in relationship to Abraham by someone claiming to be the Son of God and thats why it was not well received. To understand it properly, we must read it in the light of the opening words of the same record:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1–3, 14
All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
To a trinitarian Christian this may seem a new radical revelation about Jesus pre-existing creation, and being equal to God. However you could only come to that conclusion completely ignorant of the Tanakh.
To a reader steeped in Torah, this is not foreign concept.. The Word of Yehovah (Davar YHWH) is a familiar concept found throughout Tanakh. It is the creative and active expression of God’s will. And the Tanak And Torah itself declares that the Word of God, Wisdom, or Torah, existed prior to creation, and actually the creation was made through the word. The torah also personifies the Word of God, just as John does here.
“The LORD possessed me (Wisdom) at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth… then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always.”
Proverbs 8:22–31
“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host… For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
Psalm 33:6, 9
Proverbs describes this Word as Wisdom that was with God “in the beginning,” rejoicing before Him as creation was formed (Proverbs 8:22–31).
So, when Yeshua said, “Before Abraham was, I am,” He was declaring that His origin was not merely human or national. He was identifying Himself as the The Prophet ,or living Word, the Torah itself made flesh, or Word Made Flesh Just as the gospel author John Introduced him. The same divine wisdom that spoke creation into existence and guided Abraham’s walk of faith was now standing in human form. The Word made flesh, a prophet not just who carried the Word of God but who embodied it perfectly and manifested it and represented it in the flesh. Not just a prophet, but The Prophet spoken of in Deuteronomy 18, and the Messiah.
He was not saying, “I am the Father.” He was saying, “I am the Word which existed with the Father before Abraham, as His Word and Wisdom made manifest in me.”
Yeshua doesn’t’ claim to be the father, or equal to him, he claims to be his Son, sent by him as the prophet, to redeem Israel as Messiah. He claims to speak the Word of the father, on behalf of the father.
John 8 Context: Yeshua’s Authority to Rebuke the Religious Rulers by the Torah
I am fundamentally opposed to building doctrines from two words pulled out of context. The Scripture must be read before and after, line upon line, until it reconciles with itself—because, as Yeshua said in this very passage, “Scripture cannot be broken.”
In John 8, Yeshua is not delivering a cryptic claim of divinity. He is reasoning with His accusers about the source of His authority and the origin of His message. He tells them plainly,
“I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.” (John 8:28)
He contrasts their disobedience to Torah with His own perfect obedience:
“I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” (John 8:29)
They claim Abraham as their father, but Yeshua rebukes them:
“If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did.” (John 8:39)
Abraham heard the Word of God and obeyed. These leaders rejected that same Word, all God’s prophets and when it stood before them in living flesh. Yeshua exposes their spiritual lineage, not as sons of Abraham, but as imitators of the deceiver who “does not stand in the truth.”
The argument, then, is not about His age or His identity as God. It is about whose word and authority He carries. Yeshua repeatedly invites them to test Him by the Torah itself, asking, “Which one of you convicts Me of sin?” (John 8:46) He welcomes judgment according to the standard of Deuteronomy 13—measure a prophet by his words and deeds.
When He says,
“Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day; he saw it and was glad,” (John 8:56)
He is pointing back to the same Word that Abraham believed, the Word that spoke creation into being, called him out of Ur, and revealed the covenant promises. That eternal Word is now manifest in Yeshua’s own words and deeds.
So when He concludes,
“Before Abraham was, I am,”
He is not boasting of age or claiming equality with God. He is identifying Himself as the living, obedient expression of the Father’s eternal Word, the same Word Abraham heard and believed, now speaking again in human form.
It should come as no surprise that the very Pharisees whom Yeshua rebuked and called the children of the devil for rejecting and breaking the Torah did not receive Him as the The Prophet. Their idea of a Prophet was one who would applaud their man-made traditions and congratulate them for building systems that sidestepped the commandments they were called to uphold.
But Yeshua’s message was the opposite. He came to expose their hypocrisy and to call Israel back to the plain and simple obedience of Torah through repentance.
The Prophet they expected would praise their loopholes.
The Prophet who came called them to teshuvah—to repent and return to the covenant obedience they had forsaken.
The Torah Preceded Abraham
The Torah is eternal because it is the expression of God’s unchanging nature who is himself eternal. It is not a late invention at Sinai; it is the order by which all creation operates. The Torah’s origin is heaven, and its revealed to man at Sinai.
“Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.”
Psalm 119:89
“The word of our God will stand forever.”
Isaiah 40:8
Even Abraham, long before Sinai, obeyed its principles:
“Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
Genesis 26:5
Therefore, when Yeshua says He existed before Abraham, this aligns perfectly with the truth that the Word preceded both Abraham and Sinai. Through the Word, creation came into being. Through the Word, Abraham received his calling. Through the Word, Torah was later revealed at Sinai, but originated in heaven. The father knows the end from the beginning and so the His Word precedes all.
To claim pre-existence as the Word of Yehovah is not a denial of Torah, it is an affirmation that Word of God, Torah, or Wisdom is pre-existent, for the plan of redemption was made before the earth was created, and before man chose to partake of the tree of knowledge.
Why His Words Are Not Blasphemy
Blasphemy in Torah means to curse or defame the Name of Yehovah, not to bear it in truth.
“Whoever blasphemes the Name of the LORD shall surely be put to death.”
Leviticus 24:16
Yeshua never cursed the Name; He glorified it. He declared, according to the same record, “I have manifested Your Name to the people whom You gave Me” (John 17:6).
If His identity is the Word made flesh, then His statement “Before Abraham was, I am” is not theft, it is testimony. The Torah was being revealed in human form. The invisible Word became visible, not to compete with Yehovah but to carry His will perfectly before men and speak exclusively the Word of the father.
The Living Torah
This idea is not foreign to Torah. The prophets foretold of a day when the Torah would no longer be written only on stone tablets but upon living hearts:
“I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.”
Jeremiah 31:33
The claim that the Word became flesh is not a replacement of Torah, it is fulfillment in living form. It is the same Word that has always existed, now dwelling among men as an example of perfect obedience and submission to the father.
Therefore, the question is, Can recognize the Torah when it walks among us in living form?
What does Yeshua actually claim in the Gospels?
When all the accusations and traditions are stripped away, what does Yeshua actually claim in the Gospels?
He claims to be the Prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18, the one whom Yehovah would raise up from among His brothers, whose words would carry divine authority. He claims to be under the authority of the Father, not equal to Him, his authority is derived form the father. He claims to speak only the words the Father gives Him, and to obey those words in complete and perfect submission.
Because He speaks the Word of God faithfully, He is rightly called the Word made flesh, the living expression of Torah in human form.
And this claim, like every prophetic claim, must be tested according to Deuteronomy 18 and Deuteronomy 13, and indeed, against the entire Torah.
So to my friends who reject Yeshua, I simply ask:
Show me where Yeshua broke the Torah.
Show me where He taught others to break it.
Show me where He spoke words in contradiction to it.
If you cannot, then allow me to show you countless examples of Yeshua obeying, teaching, and fulfilling Torah perfectly.
For He is the Torah made flesh, the perfect expression of the Word of God who walked among and interacted with men He is the Prophet spoken of by Deuteronomy 18 who you must hear and obey or it will be required of you.
Final Thought
To say, “Before Abraham was, I am,” is to declare that the very Word through which creation was formed, through which Abraham was guided, and through which Torah was given to Israel, was now being revealed in living flesh.
The Torah was never broken, it was being fulfilled before their eyes.
The Word that once spoke to Abraham and was recorded at Sinai was now being spoken and lived through a man, through a prophet, through the Messiah, calling Israel back to the heart of the covenant, not away from it.
Yeshua was a teacher of Torah, a practitioner of Torah, and a living example of obedience to Torah that every believer can embrace and follow. He claimed not to replace it, but to restore us to it.
“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
Matthew 4:17 (ESV)
This was His first public message. Repentance (תשובה teshuvah) means to return, to turn back to God’s commandments, not away from them.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Matthew 5:17–19 (ESV)
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
“But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.”
Luke 16:17 (ESV)
“My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.”
John 7:16–17 (ESV)
“And behold, a man came up to him, saying, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’
Matthew 19:16–17 (ESV)
And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.’”
Yeshua never claimed to be God or equal to God. In His own words, He came to preach repentance to Israel, to restore them to Torah. He declared that He did not come to abolish the Law and that not one iota or dot will pass away until all is fulfilled and heaven and earth themselves pass away.
He made it clear that His message was not new. It was the same teaching given by the Father from the beginning. He did not accept being called good rather he focused the attention on the Father alone. His mission was to lead others back to the good path: Torah obedience. And He taught this path not by just by speaking THE WORD, but by walking it perfectly in His own life.
John’s Gospel, which reveals Yeshua as the Word made flesh, shows the divine origin of that Word, not to equate Yeshua with Yehovah in authority or essence, but to affirm that the eternal Word which came from Yehovah was embodied in the man, the Prophet, the Messiah Yeshua. He did not blaspheme Yehovah or break Torah; He magnified it and made it honorable.
Much of the confusion surrounding this subject arises from later Christian and pagan interpretations that separated what men called the “Old” and “New” Testaments. Yet when both are read simply, in context, they stand in harmony. The Torah remains the foundation upon which all revelation rests and to which all teaching must agree.
Yeshua’s life, words, and mission were never about replacing the Torah, but restoring the people of Israel to walk faithfully in it.
Appendix A: The “I Am” Statements in John
Each of these statements shows how Yeshua used the phrase ego eimi to describe purpose and function—not to seize the divine Name, but to reveal the Father’s Word through His life.
In total, these statements show that Yeshua’s repeated use of I am identifies His divine mission as the Word of God in human form, not an act of claiming equality with the Father, but rather following the direct instructions of the father and speaking the words of the father, sent by the Father, acting on behalf of the Father.
| Passage | Statement | Meaning / Context | Tanakh Parallels |
|---|---|---|---|
| John 6:35 | “I am the bread of life.” | He is the source of spiritual nourishment, just as manna sustained Israel. (Bread represents Word from heaven.) | Deuteronomy 8:3 – “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” The Word is the true bread from heaven. |
| John 8:12 | “I am the light of the world.” | He reveals truth and exposes darkness, fulfilling Isaiah 42:6. | Proverbs 6:23 – “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light.” The Torah is called light. Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” |
| John 8:58 | “Before Abraham was, I am.” | Declares His heavenly origin (as the Word of God) pre-dates Abraham as it was the eternal Word through which Abraham was called. | Proverbs 8:22–23 – “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work… before his acts of old.” The Wisdom/Word of God existed before creation. Psalm 33:6 – “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made.” |
| John 10:7, 9 | “I am the door.” | The entryway to the path of life. | Exodus 12:22–23 – The blood on the doorposts protected Israel; entrance through that door meant life. Psalm 118:20 – “This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.” |
| John 10:11, 14 | “I am the good shepherd.” | The shepherd of Israel promised in Ezekiel 34. | Ezekiel 34:11–12, 23 – “I myself will search for my sheep… I will set up one shepherd, my servant David.”Psalm 23:1 – “The LORD is my shepherd.” |
| John 11:25 | “I am the resurrection and the life.” | The power of life that overcomes death, as promised in Isaiah 25:8. | Isaiah 25:8 – “He will swallow up death forever. Deuteronomy 30:19–20 – “I have set before you life and death… therefore choose life.” Torah obedience brings life. |
| John 14:6 | “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” | The living path of Torah—truth embodied. | Psalm 119:142 – “Your law is truth.” Proverbs 6:23 – “The commandment is a lamp and the law a light.” Deuteronomy 30:16 – “Walk in His ways… that you may live.” Torah = way, truth, life. |
| John 15:1, 5 | “I am the true vine.” | The root of the faithful remnant of Israel. | Psalm 80:8–9 – “You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.” Isaiah 5:7 – “The vineyard of the LORD is the house of Israel.” Yeshua identifies as the true, obedient vine. |
| John 4:26 | “I am He (the Messiah).” | Direct identification to the Samaritan woman awaiting the Redeemer. | Deuteronomy 18:15–18 – “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me… you shall listen to him.” The promised Prophet and Messiah. |
| John 9:5 | “I am the light of the world.” (repeated emphasis) | Reaffirms that He is the embodiment of divine illumination. | Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Isaiah 60:1–3 – “Arise, shine, for your light has come… nations shall come to your light.” |
| John 13:19 | “I am He.” | Affirms he is the Prophet of Deut 18 | Deuteronomy 18:17 And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. |
| John 18:5-6 | “I am He.” | Affirms he is Yeshua, Yehovah Saves | Isaiah 43:11 “I, even I, am the LORD; and besides me there is no saviour” |
| John 7:37–38 | “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink… out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” | He is the source of living water, the outpouring of the Word and Spirit. | Jeremiah 2:13 – “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters.” Isaiah 55:1 – “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.” |
| John 8:24 | “Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” | Direct identification with the Prophet of Duet 18, and Affirmation that refuses to hear results in death. | Deuteronomy 18:19 – “And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. |
| John 12:46 | “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” | Reinforces His identity as the embodiment of the Word of Yehovah. | Proverbs 6:23 – “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching (Torah) a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.” Psalm 27:1 – “The LORD is my light and my salvation.” Isaiah 49:6 – “I will make you a light for the nations.” |
| John 5:39–40 | “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” | Declares that the Scriptures (Torah) testify of Him, showing unity, not separation. | Deuteronomy 18:18, Psalm 40:7–8 – “In the scroll of the book it is written of me; I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” |
Summary Insight
Every “I Am” statement Yeshua made in John directly echoes the Torah or Tanakh’s descriptions of the Word, Wisdom, or Commandments of Yehovah. He was not inventing new divine titles but revealing that the eternal Word that spoke creation and covenant had now taken on flesh and was speaking again via Yehshua as The Prophet spoken of by Deuteronomy 18.
He was the Bread (Word) that gives life, the Light (Torah) that guides, the Shepherd (Yehovah’s servant) who gathers Israel, the Door to way of life, the Vine that sustains the faithful, the Way, Truth, and Life of Torah itself.
Appendix B: A Word to My Fellow Christian
Before closing, I want to speak briefly to my Christian friends who may approach this subject from a Trinitarian perspective. Many have been taught that Yeshua’s use of the phrase “I Am” proves that He was equating Himself with God or affirming the doctrine of the Trinity. But if we take the time to read the text carefully, in its full context, it tells a very different story.
- The passage itself makes clear that Yeshua claims to be the Son of God, not God Himself. When accused of, He does not affirm their charge. Instead, He answers from Torah:“Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? … do you say of Him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (John 10:34–36).
His own words distinguish His identity as the Son, the one sent by the Father, not as the Father Himself. - The same Gospel of John affirms this order plainly. Yeshua says, “The Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), and again, “I can do nothing on my own… because I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent me” (John 5:30). His role is one of obedience and submission, not equality or rivalry. Yehsua never equates himself to The Father, a contradiction to the “co-equal” doctrine of the trinity.
- Most importantly, the charge of blasphemy is not truth—it is accusation.
The claim that Yeshua made Himself equal with God comes from the mouths of His adversaries, not from His own. To build doctrine upon the accusations of unbelieving men rather than upon the words of the Messiah Himself is a serious mistake.
If we built our theology on the charges made against Him, we could create an entire false religion out of lies:
- “Yeshua made Himself equal with God.” (John 10:33 – false accusation)
- “Yeshua broke the Sabbath.” (John 9:16 – false accusation)
- “Yeshua opposing Moses and the Torah” (Acts 6:14 – false accusation)
Each of these accusations was made by those who opposed Him, and each was disproven by His own life and words. Yeshua kept the Sabbath. He obeyed the Torah as assured us he didn’t come to abolish it but to fulfill. He honored His Father and taught others to do the same.
So I ask this sincerely:
Should the doctrines of Christianity be built upon the words and deeds of Yeshua, or upon the accusations and interpretations of His enemies?
When we allow the Messiah to speak for Himself, the record is unmistakably clear:
He never claimed equality with the Father.
He never abolished the Torah.
He never declared Himself to be God.
He called Israel, and all who would follow, to repent, return, and walk in obedience to the commandments of God.
Yeshua is The Prophet of Dueteronomy 18 who you must hear and obey who speaks according to Torah (Dueteronomy 13).
Yeshua is the Messiah who comes to restore authority to Isreal and send forth the Torah from Zion.
The Messiah didn’t come to change the Torah. He came to call us back to it.
