John 8:58 - Before Abraham was I AM

John 8:58 (KJV)  Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Here Jesus is simply saying before Abraham was, I am he. Who? Everything I ever claimed to be. He never claimed to be God. He claimed to be messiah, son of God.

It's not an I AM capital letters allusion to a verse in Exodus like trinitarians claim. Is the blind man also claiming to be God in John 9:9? Same Greek common personal identifier, ego eimi.

John 9:9 (KJV)  Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he. (Ego eimi)

Here's other examples of Jesus saying ego eimi, I am he, I am the one, it's me etc.

Mark 13:6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am (ego eimi); and shall deceive many.
John 4:25-26 (KJV)  The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. (ego eimi)
John 10:36 (KJV)  Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? (ego eimi)
John 13:19 (KJV)  Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he. (ego eimi)

No one claims those verses are Jesus claiming to be God.

God the Father is the original Light (Glory), and that Light existed long before Abraham. The flesh human named Jesus declared the Father. The Father dwelling in His son did the works, and in this way that body of flesh was the Light of the world, the Light from the Father shining,  similar to the rays from the sun, from God (the originator of the light) through a human being. Because the Father abiding in him did the works, and the body of flesh declared the Father to the world in terms of all the things Jesus was doing, this flesh was shining that Light of God the Father who is that Light. This flesh, Jesus, was that Light of the Father to the world, that Light which existed long before Abraham.

"I am the Light of the world."

Not the original light, but the radiance of that Light to the world, "the light of men" (John 1:4). The brightness of glory, not that original glory itself, which is God's. The image of God, not God himself (Heb 1:3). The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus (2Cor 4:6). It is the radiance of God seen in Jesus, because God made his dwelling in him (Col 2:9).

"Abraham was glad to see my Day; He saw it and was glad."

Galatians 3:8 (KJV) And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

Hebrews 11:10 (KJV) For he [Abraham] looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

"Before Abraham was, I am he."

I am the blessing.
I am the promised light to men.
I am the lamb slaughtered from the foundations of the world.
I am the messiah, the son of God, planned from the beginning.

Notice the clear and simple stated purpose of John's writings....

John 20:31 (KJV)  But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

As a side note, the claim Jesus was using a special codeword for Yahweh (I AM) to identify himself is incorrect.

If we look at the referenced verse in Exodus it reads...

Exodus 3:14 (KJV)  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

In the Greek translation of the OT, the septuagint, this gets translated to "I am (ego eimi) the being (ho on). Tell them the being (ho on) sent you." See below.

Brenton Septuagint Translation 

And God spoke to Moses, saying, I am THE BEING; and he said, Thus shall ye say to the children of Israel, THE BEING has sent me to you.

So the new testament writer John, writing in Greek would surely have referenced the septuagint if Jesus really did mean to call himself Yahweh in this way, and would have wrote in John 8:58 "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, the being [ho on]".

Or "Before Abraham was, I am the being [ego eimi ho on]".