The "I am" saying of John 8:58

Jesus is described as using the formula 'I am' much more often in the Fourth Gospel than in the Synoptics, but it is not clear that these revelations make his claims for himself that much more explicit. Jesus' apparently ungrammatical proclamation 'before Abraham was born, I am' may refer back to the divine name revealed in Exodus 3:14, 'I am what I am', but it is not obvious that in rigidly monotheistic context of Judaism this would be the only conclusion drawn. The fact that the Jews immediately tried to stone him does not mean they understood his statement as a direct equation of himself with God. Claiming that Abraham had seen his day itself bordered on blasphemy, and the Jews had already tried to kill him for much less 'crimes', such as healing on the Sabbath and speaking of God's love for the Gentiles! Stephen Motyer plausibly concludes that John 8:58 'would not be heard as a claim to be God. It would be heard as a claim to be a divine agent, anointed with the name and powers of God, and (in this case) active in the genesis of Abraham.'- Craig L. Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of the Gosepls: Second edition (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2007), pp 209-210.