Jesus: The Great I Am
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John 8:53-59 ““Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; 55 and you have not known Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.”
Jesus said in verse 58: “before Abraham was, I Am.”
Not, I was
Not, I will be
But just like the Father told Moses at the burning bush, Jesus says, “I Am”
There are 7 “I AM” statements that form the core of John’s gospel:
1. “I am the bread of life” (6:35).
2. “I am the light of the world” (8:12; 9:5).
3. “I am the gate” (10:7, 9).
4. “I am the good shepherd” (10:11).
5. “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25).
6. “I am the way and the truth and the life” (14:6).
7. “I am the true vine” (15:1).
But here in John 8:58 we have the origination of the “I AM” statements that directly equates Him with God.
No ambiguity.
John Walvoord, (2008). Jesus Christ Our Lord :
One of the most crucial problems in approaching the study of the person and work of Christ is the question of His existence from all eternity past as the second Person of the Trinity.
It was this issue which aroused the immediate antagonism of the Jews when Christ said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).
His listeners immediately understood that Christ was claiming to be eternal and thereby was asserting Himself to be God.
As Stauffer points out, this “I am” is the climax of a series of affirmations in [the Gospel of} John …
The Jews accordingly took up stones to stone Him, which was the prescribed penalty for [what they percieved was] blasphemy.
So again, Jesus’ “I AM” statements tell us plainly that Jesus is God.
As I say, these “I Am” statements in the Gospel of John connect to the statement that God made to Moses from the burning bush. We read that response in:
Exodus 3:14 (LSB) And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
So many times we call God the “I AM.
And so He is.
But according to The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary:
1. The fuller form of the name may be rendered “I am who I am,” “I will be who I will be,” or even “I cause to be what is.”
2. God’s response [to Moses] is not a “name” that makes God an object of definition or limitation.
3. Rather, it is an affirmation that God is always … free to be and act as He wills.
And while Jesus is fully human.
His “I AM” statement in John 8:58 tells us that He is at the same time fully God.
Jesus is the eternal Second Person of the Trinity.
Too many see only the human side of Jesus.
Perhaps they view Him as a good teacher who was misunderstood, persecuted and who ultimately was crucified.
And they stop there.
But as I have pointed out many times.
CS Lewis tells us:
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about
Him: [that] 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.'
That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg —or else he would be the Devil of Hell.
You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.
You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
So, if Jesus is the Great “I AM,” as He declared in John 8:58 then He is NOT a great moral teacher from history who was tragically killed.
No!
He is the “I AM” as much as God speaking to Moses in the burning bush is the “I AM.”
2000 years ago, as He stood before the crowd, Jesus was that burning bush.
The bush that burned with the Presence of God. but was not consumed
Upon which they looked in amazement, but were unwilling to do what Moses did:
Take off their shoes because they didn’t recognize they were on holy ground.
Instead they crucified the Lord of Glory,
as Peter said on the Day of Pentecost: Acts 2:23 (LSB) this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put Him to death.
But that was not the end of the account.
Because He is the Great I AM, Jesus is alive.
As Peter went on to say in Acts 2:24 (NASB95) “… God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
It was not possible for Jesus to be held by the power of death.
Why?
Because He is the “I AM.”
He Is the “I Am”
He Is the “I Am”
Because Jesus is the “I AM” He has defeated death!
The stone has been rolled back.
The tomb is empty!
The angels ask: “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
The Bible tells us He ever lives to make intercession for us at the father’s right hand.
Jesus is not some tragic figure in history — He is the Great I AM.
As We Pray
As We Pray
That means as we pray this evening we pray in the Name of the One
who always has been
Who is right now
And who always will be
He knows the problems and failures of our past
And He will enable us to get past them, to have victory over them so that they do not stop our “now” OR our future.
Too many people live hamstrung lives because of what has happened in the past — we need to let the “I AM” the victor of the past — give US victory over those past hurts, past failures, past “what ifs”, what-could-have-been — so that we are free to live overcoming lives RIGHT NOW
Yes, Jesus is not only Victor over the past, He is our victory Right Now.
He knows what we are facing right now.
And through the power of the Holy Spirit we can have victory — right now.
If only we will do what Brother Johnson said this morning.
Humble ourselves, make ourselves vulnerable — be willing to ask for help — for His strength
Ephesians 6:10 (LSB) … be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength.
In ourselves? NO! IN THE LORD.
In our own strength? NO! in the might of His strength.
And, of course, as the I AM He holds the future in His hand.
ONLY He knows what the future is.
And the One who loves us will give us the strength and access to unlimited resources to face every challenge of tomorrow.
Before we pray, maybe you have a testimony about how Jesus is the “I AM’ in your life
Let’s do that.
Let’s turn to the “I AM” in prayer.