Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am.
58. Before Abraham was. As unbelievers judge only from the appearance of the flesh, Christ reminds them that he has something greater and higher than human appearance, which is hidden from the senses of the flesh, and is perceived only by the eyes of faith; and that, in this respect, he might be seen by the holy fathers, before he was manifested in the flesh. But he uses different verbs.
Amid the blazing golden lamps of the treasury at tabernacles, when all Jerusalem danced in joy, Christ proclaims in the most absolute sense: I am the Light of the World. The Baptist was a burning lamp sent to witness to that Light; but He alone is the true Light that lightens every man coming into the world, the Messiah promised of old.
AI summary
Commenting on John 8:12-59
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...