John 8:59
John 8:5959At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area.
The Watchtower acknowledges the stoning attempt but interprets it as a Jewish misunderstanding. In their reading, Jesus' "before Abraham came into existence, I have been" claim was a statement of pre-existence as Michael the Archangel, and the Jews' reaction was either an over-reaction or evidence that they wrongly took him to be claiming more than he actually was. Jesus' silent exit is read as escape from a misunderstanding rather than confirmation that the divine name claim landed.
The hostile-witness argument is the strongest one here. Jesus has just said in verse 58, "before Abraham came into existence, I have been" — and the immediate Jewish response is to pick up stones to kill him for blasphemy. Pre-existence alone was not blasphemous; Jewish tradition held the Messiah and the Torah as pre-existent. Stoning was the prescribed punishment for claiming the divine name. The Jews recognised what Jesus had just done. Jesus does not correct their interpretation; he simply hides himself and leaves. Compare — "we are stoning you, not for a fine work, but for blasphemy; for you, although being a man, make yourself a god." Their consistent reaction to Jesus' egō eimi statements is that he is claiming divine identity, and Jesus consistently refuses to walk that claim back.