Jesus keeps doing everything he can to let the people know who he is, what God is like, and why he is here.
After having heard what he just said, the people are hostile, and they resort to name-calling: You’re a Samaritan (the Samaritans and Jews didn’t associate with each other) and you’re demon-possessed! Wow. It really makes you wonder what they were seeing to accuse Jesus of being demon-possessed. Jesus lets them know that it was both an untrue and inappropriate accusation.
“I’m just here to honor God. And He’s the one to whom we’re all accountable for how we act, what we think, and what we say. If you listen to what I’m telling you, you’ll never die.”
“What?” This was too much for them. “Now we know you’re possessed. Abraham died, and he was the greatest that ever was. Moses died. All the prophets died. Who do you think you are?”
“Great question,” Jesus replied. “Thank you for asking it. God’s glory shines through me, which is a way of saying that God and myself are the same. You may not know God, but I do. You see, Abraham knew about me.”
“Ha!” exclaimed the people. “You must be deranged. You’re a young man, and you’ve seen Abraham?? Yeah, right.”
Jesus said, “I can’t tell you anything more true than this: before Abraham was even born, I am the I AM: with God and equal to God.”
Oh, they were mad. They picked up stones to kill him for blasphemy, but Jesus got away.