John’s Gospel cites the phrase “I am” together with
seven sets of names to record metaphors for Christ. Jesus says “I am the bread
of life” (6:35,
48),
“the light of the world” (8:12;
9:5),
“the gate” (10:7,
9),
“the good shepherd” (10:11,
14),
the resurrection and the life (11:25),
“the way, and the truth and the life” (14:6),
and “the vine” (15:1,
5).
These are often called The Seven I Am
Statements. Some however, speak of The Eight I Am statements of Jesus and include John 8:58 “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Others include Jesus’ statement to the Samaritan woman in John 4:26 where, in response to her talking
about the Messiah, Jesus says: “I am he.” Still others go beyond John’s Gospel
and look to Revelation 1:8 for another I am statement: “I am the
Alpha and the Omega” which is repeated in 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
or
All these pictures are expanded in ways that teach us
more thoroughly about the Triune Grace that rescues, restores, establishes,
nourishes, indwells, enlightens, guides, protects, saves, and raises us. Yet
almost all of the portraits also lead to conflict with enemies who
misunderstood what Jesus is saying and who He is.
John reveals several divisions of the people over who
Jesus is. The same is still true today. Some want to make Him simply a good
man, model, teacher, prophet or preacher. But the “I am” statements continually
force us to ask, “Is Jesus who He says He is?” Is He the bread of my life? Do I live by His light? Do I enter through Him as the
Gate of salvation, or do I keep trying to rescue myself? Do I trust Him to
Shepherd me? Do I depend on His resurrection, or do I keep trying to lift
myself up? Do I let Him be the Way for me or do I keep asking for directions?
Is He the Truth by which I judge all lesser truths? Is He my Life, or do I
employ entertainments to bring me life? Do I abide in Him, cling to Him as a
branch to a Vine, and draw all my spiritual nourishment from Him?
Several times in the original Greek of the New
Testament John records Jesus’ words with the simple phrase “I am” without
subsequent nouns or pronouns. In response to Moses at the burning bush God had
named Himself “I am” (Exodus
3:14),
and the Hebrew word for which we substitute “LORD”
means “I am.” (Please see the very first sermon I preached at Meadow Way, in
July 2015, for a more detailed teaching on this: http://dentalmethodist.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/intimacy-with-god.html
) Since “I am” is God’s name, Jesus is stating His divinity clearly whenever He
says “I am.” He says it to the woman at the well (4:26),
to the frightened disciples in a storm (6:20), to Pharisees in reply to their
challenge, “Who are you?” (8:24, 28), to Jewish opponents in response to their
cynicism, “Have you seen Abraham?” (8:58), to the disciples so they might
derive comfort from His divinity when they see His prophecy of betrayal
fulfilled (13:19), and to those who arrested Him to inform them that He was
indeed the one for whom they searched (18:17, 25).
The last two instances especially hint at John’s
purposes in recording Jesus’ answer, “I am.” Anyone reading the Gospel in the
original language would be struck by the irony that those who think they are
looking merely for “Jesus of Nazareth” are actually finding God Himself. The
irony is made more poignant by the fact that in the same chapter Peter denies
Jesus by saying “I am not” one of His followers (18:17, 25).
Like the Samaritan woman, do we let ourselves be set
free by the fullness of Jesus’ divinity? Wouldn’t it calm our fears more
thoroughly in the storms of our lives if we thought about the profound union of
Jesus our friend with all the power of the Godhead? Do we sometimes look for
much less, and yet God appears to us?
Mohamed Ali, the boxer who died during the preparation
of this booklet, was fond of saying, “I am the greatest”. For a very brief
period of time, in the very limited context of professional boxing, that may
have been true. If he was claiming to be the greatest person who ever lived, in
all contexts, we immediately recognize his delusion. As we work through the
book of John and Revelation, we encounter different conversations in which Jesus
makes very specific, far reaching, outrageous statements about himself. Jesus
does not just claim to know these
things, or explain these things. He
blatantly claims that He is these things.
If true (and my position is unashamedly that each of these statements is true), the implications, and impact
are tremendous. The implications reach deep into our real, daily lives. The
impact involves life-changing transformation with everlasting consequence.
In this series I am hoping that the “I am” sayings of
Jesus will cease to appear as theological statements set on the lips of Jesus;
rather that you will experience them as divine answers to human (your) need and
also as Gospel invitations born in the soul of Him of whom it is said that “God
was with Him” (Acts 10:38). They are the language of divinity, but they are
also the language of one in whom God humbled Himself to share people’s needs
and carry their sorrows. They appeal to the hearts of all who know what it
means to hunger and thirst in their souls, to walk in the dark, to be outside,
wandering, and subject to the fear of death.
May you be blessed and God be glorified as you use
this material.
Cedric
