Discovery BoxJohn 3:28 
Context3:28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ 1 but rather, ‘I have been sent before him.’
John 8:58
Context8:58 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, 2 before Abraham came into existence, 3 I am!” 4
John 10:8
Context10:8 All who came before me were 5 thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 6
John 12:1
Context12:1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom he 7 had raised from the dead.
John 12:37
Context12:37 Although Jesus 8 had performed 9 so many miraculous signs before them, they still refused to believe in him,
John 17:5
Context17:5 And now, Father, glorify me at your side 10 with the glory I had with you before the world was created. 11
1 tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).
sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.
2 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
3 tn Grk “before Abraham was.”
4 sn I am! is an explicit claim to deity. Although each occurrence of the phrase “I am” in the Fourth Gospel needs to be examined individually in context to see if an association with Exod 3:14 is present, it seems clear that this is the case here (as the response of the Jewish authorities in the following verse shows).
5 tn Grk “are” (present tense).
6 tn Or “the sheep did not hear them.”
7 tn Grk “whom Jesus,” but a repetition of the proper name (Jesus) here would be redundant in the English clause structure, so the pronoun (“he”) is substituted in the translation.
8 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Or “done.”
10 tn Or “in your presence”; Grk “with yourself.” The use of παρά (para) twice in this verse looks back to the assertion in John 1:1 that the Word (the Λόγος [Logos], who became Jesus of Nazareth in 1:14) was with God (πρὸς τὸν θεόν, pro" ton qeon). Whatever else may be said, the statement in 17:5 strongly asserts the preexistence of Jesus Christ.
11 tn Grk “before the world was.” The word “created” is not in the Greek text but is implied.
sn It is important to note that although Jesus prayed for a return to the glory he had at the Father’s side before the world was created, he was not praying for a “de-incarnation.” His humanity which he took on at the incarnation (John 1:14) remains, though now glorified.
