John 8:24

²⁴ I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
John 8:24 is interesting on several levels. First, there is the emphatic claim of Jesus: “if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” He leaves little room for doubt as to the fate of those who do not believe in Him; they will die in their sins.

Unlike many today who would claim that Jesus was simply another in a long line of prophets or holy men, comparable to Buddha, Mohammed, or some other religious leader, Jesus himself claimed to be much more. He did not say all religions were equal in value. He did not say that simply believing in God or a higher power was sufficient to gain access into the Kingdom of God. Jesus said “you must believe I am he.” Note the italicization of the word “he” at the end of this phrase. This indicates that the word was supplied by the translators and not part of the original text. In other words, Jesus actually said, “If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins.”

What did He mean when he told his audience they must believe that “I am?” Look at the following passage from Exodus:

¹³ And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? ¹⁴ 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.
I AM was the sacred name of God as given to Moses to identify Yahweh to the nation of Israel. When Jesus said, “if ye believe not that I am,” he was laying claim to this sacred name. He repeats the claim later in John 8:

John 8:58-59 ⁵⁸ Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. ⁵⁹ Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
Unlike many today who do not recognize Jesus as the “I AM” of the Old Testament, the Jews understood perfectly who he claimed to be. So perfectly, in fact, that they took up stones to stone him for blasphemy!

In summary, Jesus was saying, “If you do not believe that I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, you will die in your sins.” Do you hear the words of Jesus today?