Christ holds all things together. Colossians 1:17

基督在万有之先，万有也靠祂而立。－歌罗西书1章17节

“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” John 8:58

耶稣说：“我实实在在地告诉你们：还没有亚伯拉罕就有了我。”-约翰福音8章58节

Jeralean Talley died in June 2015 as the world’s oldest living person—116 years of age. In 1995, the city of Jerusalem celebrated its 3,000th birthday. One hundred sixteen is old for a person, and 3,000 is old for a city, but there are trees that grow even older. A bristlecone pine in California’s White Mountains has been determined to be older than 4,800 years. That precedes the patriarch Abraham by 800 years!

世界最长寿的人瑞，杰拉琳·塔利（Jeralean Talley）于2015年6月与世长辞，享高寿116岁。1995年，耶路撒冷庆祝建城3000年。人活到116岁被称人瑞，超过3000年的城市则称为古城，然而有些树木更加长寿。加利福尼亚州怀特山脉有一棵狐尾松，其树龄超过4800年，它的存在比族长亚伯拉罕还早800年呢！

Jesus, when challenged by the Jewish religious leaders about His identity, also claimed to pre-date Abraham. “Very truly I tell you,” He said, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58). His bold assertion shocked those who were confronting Him, and they sought to stone Him. They knew He wasn’t referring to a chronological age but was actually claiming to be eternal by taking the ancient name of God, “I am” (see Ex. 3:14). But as a member of the Trinity, He could make that claim legitimately.

当犹太宗教领袖质疑耶稣的身分时，耶稣宣称在亚伯拉罕出生之前，祂早就已经存在了。耶稣说：“我实实在在地告诉你们：还没有亚伯拉罕就有了我”（约翰福音8章58节）。祂大胆的声明，让那些质问祂的人感到震惊，并要拿起石头打祂。他们知道耶稣并不是指年龄，乃是自称为永恒的上帝，因为在旧约中上帝的名称是“自有永有的”（参阅出埃及记3章14节）。事实上，耶稣说得没错，因祂确实是三一真神中的一位。

In John 17:3, Jesus prayed, “This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” The timeless One entered into time so we could live forever. He accomplished that mission by dying in our place and rising again. Because of His sacrifice, we anticipate a future not bound by time, where we will spend eternity with Him. He is the timeless one.

在约翰福音17章3节，耶稣在祷告时说：“认识祢独一的真上帝，并且认识祢所差来的耶稣基督，这就是永生。”我们得着永生，是因为永恒的上帝走进人类的历史。耶稣为我们死而复活，完成了救赎，祂的牺牲让我们可以期盼不受时间限制的生命，永远与祂同住，因祂是永恒的上帝。

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, 

the sun forbear to shine; but God,

 who called me here below,

 will be forever mine.  John Newton

世界将如雪化乌有，

太阳不再闪耀，

 但那呼召我来的上帝，

将永远属于我。

－约翰·牛顿

John 8:48-59New International Version (NIV)

Jesus’ Claims About Himself

48 The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”

49 “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”

52 At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

约翰福音 8:48-59Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified) (CUVMPS)

48 犹太人回答说：“我们说你是撒马利亚人，并且是鬼附着的，这话岂不正对吗？”49 耶稣说：“我不是鬼附着的。我尊敬我的父，你们倒轻慢我。 50 我不求自己的荣耀，有一位为我求荣耀、定是非的。 51 我实实在在地告诉你们：人若遵守我的道，就永远不见死。” 52 犹太人对他说：“现在我们知道你是鬼附着的。亚伯拉罕死了，众先知也死了，你还说‘人若遵守我的道，就永远不尝死味’。 53 难道你比我们的祖宗亚伯拉罕还大吗？他死了，众先知也死了。你将自己当做什么人呢？” 54 耶稣回答说：“我若荣耀自己，我的荣耀就算不得什么。荣耀我的乃是我的父，就是你们所说是你们的神。 55 你们未曾认识他，我却认识他。我若说不认识他，我就是说谎的，像你们一样。但我认识他，也遵守他的道。

耶稣言己在亚伯拉罕之先

56 “你们的祖宗亚伯拉罕欢欢喜喜地仰望我的日子，既看见了，就快乐。” 57 犹太人说：“你还没有五十岁，岂见过亚伯拉罕呢？” 58 耶稣说：“我实实在在地告诉你们：还没有亚伯拉罕就有了我。” 59 于是他们拿石头要打他，耶稣却躲藏，从殿里出去了。

整理：于姊妹