Thanks for your Posts JosephMalik,
I will definitely check out that Website you mentioned.
Now, below I am going to Post what some of the Bible Commentaries and Dictionaries say about the "I AM" statements of Christ (just to get some different viewpoints on the subject):
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary -- John 8:54-59:
Christ and all that are his, depend upon God for honour. Men may be able to dispute about God, yet may not know him. Such as know not God, and obey not the gospel of Christ, are put together, 2Th_1:8. All who rightly know anything of Christ, earnestly desire to know more of him. Those who discern the dawn of the light of the Sun of Righteousness, wish to see his rising. Before Abraham was, I AM. This speaks Abraham a creature, and our Lord the Creator; well, therefore, might he make himself greater than Abraham. I AM, is the name of God, Exo 3:14; it speaks his self-existence; he is the First and the Last, ever the same, Rev_1:8. Thus he was not only before Abraham, but before all worlds, Pro 8:23; Joh 1:1. As Mediator, he was the appointed Messiah, long before Abraham; the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Rev 13:8. The Lord Jesus was made of God Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption, to Adam, and Abel, and all that lived and died by faith in him, before Abraham. The Jews were about to stone Jesus for blasphemy, but he withdrew; by his miraculous power he passed through them unhurt. Let us stedfastly profess what we know and believe concerning God; and if heirs of Abraham's faith, we shall rejoice in looking forward to that day when the Saviour shall appear in glory, to the confusion of his enemies, and to complete the salvation of all who believe in him.
The People's New Testament Commentary -- John 8:58:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. A solemn and official declaration, preceded by "Verily, verily." The utterance is a remarkable one. It does not merely assert that he was before Abraham, but before Abraham was, I AM. It identifies with the I AM of the Old Testament. Divinity has no past tense, no future tense, but always the present.
Robertson's Word Pictures Commentary -- John 8:58:
Before Abraham was (prin Abraam genesthai). Usual idiom with prin in positive sentence with infinitive (second aorist middle of ginomai) and the accusative of general reference, before coming as to Abraham, before Abraham came into existence or was born.
I am (egō eimi). Undoubtedly here Jesus claims eternal existence with the absolute phrase used of God. The contrast between genesthai (entrance into existence of Abraham) and eimi (timeless being) is complete. See the same contrast between en in Joh 1:1 and egeneto in Joh 1:14. See the contrast also in Psa 90:2 between God (ei, art) and the mountains (genēthēnai). See the same use of eimi in Joh 6:20; Joh 9:9; Joh 8:24, Joh 8:28; Joh 18:6.
Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge Commentary -- John 8:58:
I am: That our Lord by this expression asserted his divinity and eternal existence, as the great I AM, appears evident from the use of the present tense, instead of the past tense, from its being in answer to the Jews, who enquired whether he had seen Abraham, and from its being thus understood by the multitude, who were exasperated at it to such a degree that they took up stones to stone him. The ancient Jews not only believed that the Messiah was superior to and Lord of all the patriarchs, and even of angels, but that his celestial nature existed with God from whom it emanated, before the creation, and that the creation was effected by his ministry. Exo 3:14; Isa 43:13, Isa 44:6, Isa 44:8, Isa 46:9, Isa 48:12; Rev 1:8.
Vincent's Word Studies Commentary -- John 8:58:
Was, I am (γενέσθαι, ἐγώ εἰμι)
It is important to observe the distinction between the two verbs. Abraham's life was under the conditions of time, and therefore had a temporal beginning. Hence, Abraham came into being, or was born (γενέσθαι). Jesus' life was from and to eternity. Hence the formula for absolute, timeless existence, I am (ἐγώ εἰμι). See on Joh 1:3; see on Joh 7:34.
John Wesley's Explanatory Notes Commentary -- John 8:58:
Before Abraham was I AM - Even from everlasting to everlasting. This is a direct answer to the objection of the Jews, and shows how much greater he was than Abraham.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible -- John 8:58:
Verily, verily - This is an expression used only in John. It is a strong affirmation denoting particularly the great importance of what was about to be affirmed. See the notes at Joh 3:5.
Before Abraham was - Before Abraham lived.
I am - The expression I am, though in the present tense, is clearly designed to refer to a past time. Thus, in Psa 90:2, From everlasting to everlasting thou art God. Applied to God, it denotes continued existence without respect to time, so far as he is concerned. We divide time into the past, the present, and the future. The expression, applied to God, denotes that he does not measure his existence in this manner, but that the word by which we express the present denotes his continued and unchanging existence. Hence, he assumes it as his name, I AM, and I AM that I AM, Exo 3:14. Compare Isa 44:6; Isa 47:8. There is a remarkable similarity between the expression employed by Jesus in this place and that used in Exodus to denote the name of God. The manner in which Jesus used it would strikingly suggest the application of the same language to God. The question here was about his pre-existence. The objection of the Jews was that he was not 50 years old, and could not, therefore, have seen Abraham. Jesus replied to that, that he existed before Abraham. As in his human nature he was not yet 50 years old, and could not, as a man, have existed before Abraham, this declaration must be referred to another nature; and the passage proves that, while he was a man, he was also endowed with another nature existing before Abraham, and to which he applied the term (familiar to the Jews as expressive of the existence of God) I AM; and this declaration corresponds to the affirmation of John Joh 1:1, that he was in the beginning with God, and was God. This affirmation of Jesus is one of the proofs on which John relies to prove that he was the Messiah Joh 20:31, to establish which was the design of writing this book.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible -- John 8:58:
Before Abraham was, I am - The following is a literal translation of Calmets note on this passage: - I am from all eternity. I have existed before all ages. You consider in me only the person who speaks to you, and who has appeared to you within a particular time. But besides this human nature, which ye think ye know, there is in me a Divine and eternal nature. Both, united, subsist together in my person. Abraham knew how to distinguish them. He adored me as his God; and desired me as his Savior. He has seen me in my eternity, and he predicted my coming into the world. On the same verse Bishop Pearce speaks as follows: - What Jesus here says relates (I think) to his existence antecedent to Abrahams days, and not to his having been the Christ appointed and foretold before that time; for, if Jesus had meant this, the answer I apprehend would not have been a pertinent one. He might have been appointed and foretold for the Christ; but if he had not had an existence before Abrahams days, neither could he have seen Abraham, (as, according to our English translation, the Jews suppose him to have said), nor could Abraham have seen him, as I suppose the Jews understood him to have said in the preceding verse, to which words of the Jews the words of Jesus here are intended as an answer.
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary -- John 8:58:
Before Abraham was, I am--The words rendered "was" and "am" are quite different. The one clause means, "Abraham was brought into being"; the other, "I exist." The statement therefore is not that Christ came into existence before Abraham did (as Arians affirm is the meaning), but that He never came into being at all, but existed before Abraham had a being; in other words, existed before creation, or eternally (as Joh 1:1). In that sense the Jews plainly understood Him, since "then took they up stones to cast at Him," just as they had before done when they saw that He made Himself equal with God (Joh 5:18).
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible -- John 8:58:
Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you,.... Whether it will be believed or not, it is certainly fact:
before Abraham was, I am; which is to be understood, not of his being in the purpose and decree of God, foreordained to sufferings, and to glory; for so all the elect of God may be said to be before Abraham, being chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world: or that Christ was man, before Abraham became the father of many nations; that is, before the calling of the Gentiles; for nothing is said in the text about his being the father of many nations; it is a bold and impudent addition to it: and besides, Abraham was made the father of many nations, as Ishmaelites, Israelites, Hagarenes, &c. long before the incarnation of Christ; yea, he was so from the very promise in Gen 17:5, which so runs, "a father of many nations have I made thee"; so that this appears a false sense of the text, which is to be understood of the deity, eternity, and immutability of Christ, and refers to the passage in Exo 3:14. "I am that I am--I am hath sent me unto you", the true Jehovah; and so Christ was before Abraham was in being, the everlasting I am, the eternal God, which is, and was, and is to come: he appeared in an human form to our first parents before Abraham was, and was manifested as the Mediator, Saviour, and living Redeemer, to whom all the patriarchs before Abraham looked, and by whom they were saved: he was concerned in the creation of all things out of nothing, as the efficient cause thereof; he was set up from everlasting as Mediator; and the covenant of grace was made with him, and the blessings and promises of it were put into his hands before the world began; the eternal election of men to everlasting life was made in him before the foundation of the world; and he had a glory with his Father before the world was; yea, from all eternity he was the Son of God, of the same nature with him, and equal to him; and his being of the same nature proves his eternity, as well as deity, that he is from everlasting to everlasting God; and is what he ever was, and will be what he now is: he is immutable, the same today, yesterday, and for ever; in his nature, love, grace, and fulness, he is the invariable and unchangeable I am.
John Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament
(John Chapter 8) Verse 58, it was God Himself, the Jehovah whom the fathers knew, that spoke.
The Fourfold Gospel Commentary -- John 8:58-59:
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am.
Verily, verily. See John 1:51.
Before Abraham was born, I am. "I was" would simply have expressed priority, but "I am" marks timeless existence. It draws the contrast between the created and the uncreated, the temporal and the eternal. Compare Exodus 3:14.
They took up stones therefore to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.
They took up stones therefore to cast at him. Judging him to be a blasphemer.
The 1599 Geneva Study Bible Commentary -- John 8:58:
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Christ, as he was God, was before Abraham: and he was the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world.
Ray Stedman's Summary of John
Then in his Gospel, John picks up seven great words of our Lord that prove that statement. He bases it all on the great name of God which was revealed to Moses at the burning bush. When Moses saw the bush burning and turned aside to learn its secret, God spoke to him from the bush and said, "I am who I am." (Ex. 3:14) That is God's nature. That is, "I am exactly what I am. I am nothing more. I am nothing less. I am the eternal I am." Seven times in his Gospel John picks this word up and uses it about our Lord. In fact, seven times these words came from our Lord's own lips. These constitute the proof that he is Deity.
Does that amaze you? Have you thought that it was his miracles that proved he was God? No, no. They proved he was the Messiah, the Promised One. It is his words that prove he is God. Listen to them: "I am the bread of life." (6:35) That is, I am the sustainer of life, the One who satisfies life. "I am the light of the world" (8:12), the illuminator of life. "I am one [to borrow a phrase from Paul] in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," the explainer of things, the one who casts light upon all mysteries and enigmas and solves them.
"I am the door" (10:7), Jesus said; that is, the opportunity into life, the open way. Whenever you are confronted with a sense of lack, some hungering after something more, these are the words you need to hear. "I am the good shepherd" (10:11); that is, the guide of life, the only one properly equipped to take an individual and safely steer him through all the problems and chasms that yawn on every side, to lead him safely through life. ("The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.")
Then, "I am the resurrection and the life." (11:25) That is, the power of life. Do you realize that resurrection power is the only kind that works when nothing else will? It works in the midst of death. Resurrection power is the only kind that needs no outside props. no process of learning. It does not need anything to initiate it, shore it up or bolster it in any way. When nothing else can be done, then it comes in and begins to act. "I am the resurrection and the life," Jesus says.
"I am the way, the the truth, and the life." (14:6) That is, I am ultimate reality. I am the real substance behind all things. "I am the vine...apart from me, you can do nothing. "(15:5). I am the producer of fruitfulness, the source of fellowship and of identity and communion.
Thus our Lord takes the great, revealing name of God and, linking it with these simple symbols, enables us to understand God. "The Word," John says, "became flesh and dwelt among us." He pitched his tent among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of God become man. That is the tremendous theme of this book. There is not a greater theme in all the universe than the fact that when we stand in the presence of the humanity of Jesus we suddenly discover that, for the first time, we also stand in the presence of God. This is what God is like. This one who heals, loves, serves, waits, blesses, dies and rises again---this is God. That is what John reveals.
The one word that he leaves with us, then, is that believing that he is the Messiah and that he is God, we may have life in his name. He is the key to life. Who does not want to live? Isn't that what we all want, young and old alike? What we are really seeking is the key to life. We want to be fulfilled. We want to see fulfilled all the possibilities and potential of our being which we sense lie deep inside. We want those deep yearnings satisfied. We want to be able to express ourselves. We want to be what we were designed and intended to be.
Then listen! John says, "These [things] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name."
David Guzik's Study Guide for John:
Jesus claims to be the I AM - the ego emi, the voice from the burning bush
"The phrase harbours within itself the most authentic, the most audacious, and the most profound affirmation by Jesus of who He was" (Stauffer)
Chuck Smith's Study Guide for John 8:58:
I AM is the name of the eternal God.