John 1:1-5
The Word Was and Is God
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 8:48-59
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.
John 14:6-7
Jesus Says I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Luke 16:19-31
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Luke 24:36-49
Jesus Appears to the Disciples Out of the Blue
36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.
44 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
John 20:19-23
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Is knowing Jesus the only way to God?...The New International Bible Version interprets His comments: He says no one comes to the Father except through Me...The King James Version says: Jesus saith unto him, I AM the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me...His statement and other statements He made can be confusing and difficult to understand...
Eternity and Eternal Time are Divine and this makes Eternal Time especially important to Christian religion, if we believe that Jesus has been with us from the beginning and that all have been touched by Him in heaven...Eternal Time belief helps explain about His comments about Abraham...And as you read the gospels there are times when it seems as Jesus slips in and out of time...After He died on the cross, He just appears out of the blue to His Disciples...And one time the door is locked, yet He enters the room where His Disciples were together...How would He have done this?...He had died, yet now He had Risen...So, with this Eternal Time element as part of Jesus' Divinity, we might ask how Jesus could have known Abraham before he was born...But Jesus says before Abraham, I AM?...And I believe that Abraham is in heaven...One might ask how could might believe that Abraham is in heaven and in some Way appeared to him, before Jesus was born on earth, in a Way that was somewhat like seeing His Disciples after His death...So when Jesus said the words: “before Abraham was born, I AM!”, He was or is or related to I AM, and He is making a Divine Claim, and one that factors in Eternal Time...Because I AM is the name of God...And He does say, before Abraham was born, I AM...So, I believe that Jesus was with God in the beginning as St. John says in his gospel...And all things are made through Him, which makes Him around when creation happened...So, I believe, that Jesus is Divine...And being with God in the beginning and being Divine and Eternal, can make Him have the Spiritual ability to be the only Way to God, His Father...And He tells us right before this, that He is Truth...So, I do not think He is lying to us about knowing Abraham before Abraham was born...
In the Parable with Lazarus and the rich man, we hear Jesus talk about Abraham being in Heaven...So I believe that Abraham and Sarah are in heaven, yet as we read about Abraham in the Old Testament, we do not read that he specifically knew of Jesus, or that he met Him...Abraham and Sarah did meet some Angels or Some from Heaven, but we are not told who they are...And Jesus also mentions Moses and the Prophets in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus...And Jesus speaks in the gospels as He knows Abraham...
But the Jewish opposition to Him also mention the Prophets, and say Abraham died and so did their prophets, yet Jesus has said that whoever obeys His word will never taste death...This statement confused the Jewish non-believers...So they ask Jesus several questions...Are you greater than our father Abraham, they ask?...Abraham has died, and so did the prophets...So who do You think You are?...But, Jesus undeterred makes His point specifically talking about Abraham and that before the First Patriarch, even existed, Jesus Himself, did exist...And He says before Abraham existed, I AM...And to the Jewish people who did not believe Him, I AM is God and God's Name...And of all the people Jesus could have mentioned in the Old Testament Scriptures, He chooses here to mention Abraham to the Jewish people...So I might believe Abraham, Moses, and the Prophets are all in Heaven and that Jesus has seen them and knows them...
So some believers wonder how we must believe in Jesus, before we get to God...Jesus did say, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no gets to the Father, except through Me, so He must have been some Divine, Holy Spirit type part of Abraham's life, Moses life, and the Prophet's life...And as we think about these things then we also must wonder how Jesus was with God in the beginning...And maybe even further wonder, why His Name is not mentioned in the Old Testament, if He were with God in the beginning...So we might believe that the Anointed One, the Messiah, was with God in the beginning, and did live before all men and was with God during creation, and has the Divine Power and is in Eternal Time to know those who existed before He came to earth, and also know those on earth, who haven't heard of Him, but know Him through the Holy Spirit...