I AM Sayings 8-11-24
Jesus Says, I AM . . .
1 Kings 19:4-8; John 6:35,41-51
I Kings 19:4-8
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
John 6:35, 41-51
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Prayer – Lord Jesus, you tell us who you are using a variety of “I am” statements. These statements are intended to teach us about who you are and what we are to do as your followers. Help us to see more clearly that we may in fact follow you more faithfully – amen.
The gospel of John was likely the last gospel written, usually estimated to having been completed around 90-110 AD, although its origins may very well date earlier to 70 AD. Like the other three gospels, it is anonymous, although it identifies an unnamed ‘disciple whom Jesus loved, as the source of its traditions. It most likely arouse out of the Johannine epistles but very well could have had a different author.
For much of the 20th century, scholars interpreted the gospel of John within the paradigm of this Johannine community, meaning a 1st century Christian community separate from the Jewish synagogue on account of its belief that Jesus is/was the promised Messiah. This interpretation has been more seriously challenged in the last 20 years and considerable debate remains over the gospel’s social, religious and historical context. Nevertheless, Johannine literature as a whole points to a community that held itself distinct from the Jewish culture which it arose while cultivating an intense devotion to Jesus as the divine revelation of God.
So much for the history lesson for this morning. John’s gospel contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven “signs” culminating in the raising of Lazarus, perhaps a foreshadowing of Jesus’ own resurrection. In addition there are the seven “I am” discourses that were concerned with the church-synagogue debate at the time this gospel was written. And John’s gospel concludes with Thomas’ proclamation of the risen Jesus as ‘my Lord and my God. The gospel’s concluding verses set out its purpose, ‘that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.’
John’s gospel is set up in order to ask us two questions; 1) who is Jesus, and 2) what do I do with his words and teachings? The “I am” discourses are closely tied to the book of Exodus when God calls Godself the “I Am”, it’s a pivotal moment in redemptive history. God reveals Godself to God’s people and comes to redeem them out of exile and lead them into a new life. God’s name discloses who God is and what God is like. God is the I Am, the eternal, unchanging, self-existent one, infinite and glorious in every way, and above and beyond all created things. He is God.
When Jesus applies the title “I Am” to himself, he claims to be God (John 8:58). Not a helper to God or a great teacher, but the divine, eternal, pre-existent, infinite, perfect Being. He is Israel’s God. He is greater than Moses because he is the God of Moses. He has life in himself and he can give life to us. The Jews knew taking on this title was making such a claim, which is why they immediately pick up stones to kill him (8:59).
The seven “I Am” statements in John might best be understood as falling under and echoing this initial, ultimate claim of Jesus. He is God, and he is the God of Israel. All the OT and God’s redemptive acts were pointing to the coming of Jesus as the God-in-flesh, the true and better Israel, and the fulfillment of all the OT types and shadows.
Our passage this morning is a continuation of Jesus’ first I am statement we encountered last week when he proclaimed “I am the bread of life.” Jesus enters a dialogue with Jews who had followed him because of his miracles—including the recent feeding of the 5,000—and yet they missed the reality behind them. More important than solving their physical hunger for food through bread, Jesus offers himself as the Bread of Life to fulfill deeper longings and an eternal need.
There is more to the bread from God than the bread itself. It’s not an earthly bread but a heavenly bread. It comes from above—from God—and comes down to us only by his grace and goodness. We need more than physical bread and we need it from someone other than ourselves. God will provide what we need most, and we should raise our eyes in faith.
Jesus takes this Old Testament background of bread for God’s people and he claims to be the bread of life. He explains the bread in the wilderness of Exodus was only a temporary provision, and that it points to a true and eternal bread from heaven God would later give. This bread is now before the Jews. The manna pictures Jesus, who is sent from God, comes down from heaven, must be taken by faith, who must be eaten/fully taken in, and who gives life.
Light is one of the most prominent themes in John’s Gospel. The world is lost and hopeless in darkness (John 1:4-14). The darkness cannot change its condition. Light must enter and invade. One cannot see or lead others in the darkness, so light is necessary to guide us and walk forward. John picks up light from a rich OT heritage and shows how Jesus is the light.
Based upon the fact that in John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” Here Jesus ties the idea of being the light with his people following after him in the light, the most likely OT background in mind here is the light of God’s presence leading Israel in the wilderness via the pillar of fire. Just as the Israelites were led by the pillar of fire (light) in the exodus and saved from the Egyptians as they crossed the Red Sea, so also Jesus says those who follow him (light) will have life.
In John 10:1-18, Jesus makes two of the “I Am” sayings together. He claims he is the both the door through which the sheep enter as well as the Shepherd who knows the sheep and lays down his life for them. The metaphor of the door does not have the rich OT background as shepherding imagery does. But, Jesus is both door in which a person enters into the people of God and the one who gives his life for the life of sheep, whom he knows and protects. He is the one who gathers the sheep and cares for them (shepherd) and he’s also the means by which they enter and are kept safe (door).
We should recall that Jesus is talking to the Pharisees in this conversation. The claims to be a good shepherd and Israel’s true shepherd was (in part) a rebuke against them. As the influential teachers in Israel, they should have led the people to truth. They should have put the people before themselves. They should serve God’s agenda rather than their own. But the Pharisees are like the bad shepherds, leading them astray through false doctrine, prioritizing themselves over the sheep, and abusing them. Through this metaphor, Jesus at once lumps the Pharisees into the camp of the false prophets and bad shepherds of the OT while claiming to be the true and good shepherd those same OT passages promised.
Jesus comes not to pile burdens on but to relieve them and carry them himself. Jesus comes not to scatter the sheep but to gather them. Jesus comes not to devour the sheep but to defend them. Jesus comes to seek out, rescue, heal, and feed the sheep. He will do so because he loves the sheep and they belong to him. This is proven and accomplished by him giving up his life for his sheep.
Similar to other I Am statements, Jesus doesn’t just talk about what he can do or give, but who He is. He doesn’t just give bread (like Moses) but he is the bread. He doesn’t merely reflect light; he is the light. So also, in John 11, Jesus says I am the resurrection and the life. The OT background isn’t as clear here as other statements, but most commentators believe Genesis 1-3 is partially in view. However, the first Adam chose sin which brought about death for mankind and brokenness for the creation. Jesus comes as the second Adam, righteous and blameless in all his ways, to undo what Adam did and break the power of sin and death. He provides not only resurrection and life to individuals but for the entire world.
While many of the Jews wanted things from Jesus without having to receive and believe in Jesus, the offer of Jesus is himself. He doesn’t give bread and allow people to reject submission and belief to him, nor does he offer to give life apart from that life being found in him. These are free and gracious gifts, and they come only in and through Jesus. He is the resurrection and the life. He is the 2ndAdam, bringing resurrection and life where the first Adam offered us only death.
Perhaps the most well known “I am” statement is found in John 14 where Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” It’s likely Jesus is here contrasting himself to the many ways in the OT that God prescribed for how the Jews could approach and relate to him. The systems of the sacrifices, temple, the curtain, tabernacle, and other means of worship were temporary “ways” to God. As the NT makes clear, these things in and of themselves did not cleanse or make people acceptable to God, but they were avenues by which God’s people could walk in faith and follow after Him.
Jesus contrasts himself to anything before him they thought led them to the Father. He is the only one who reflects the way of the Father, but he is also at the same time the full revelation of the Father (truth). Jesus is telling them there’s nowhere else to look; nowhere you need to look or can look to find the true reflection of God. Jesus is that one way and that one reflection. He offers what Israel looked for and needed, and he replaced all prior things set up as temporary means by which humanity related to God.
Here in the last I Am statement, Jesus speaks of a vine, a common OT symbol for Israel - God’s people. The language of the unfruitful branches is tied to Israel as the desolate vineyard in Isaiah, but Jesus says the people of God have life and fruit now by being in him. Jesus is not simply saying Christians are fruitful by resting in him (though this is true), but he’s making the redemptive-historical claim he is the new Israel.
He both fulfills Israel’s destiny (because Israel never could) and is the one in whom the people of God find true, flourishing, fruitful life. He is the true and better Israel, succeeding where they failed, bringing flourishing life and fruit where they dried out and offered nothing on the vine.
The "I Am" statements of Jesus are a series of declarations made by Jesus in the Gospel of John, which underscore His divine identity and mission. Each of these statements serves not only as a reflection of His nature but also as a way of revealing how He fulfills the spiritual needs of humanity. Just as God said to Israel, I am, so says Jesus to us. It is now up to us to believe and join his mission of bringing the kingdom of God to fruition, today right now. All you have to say is I am too – thanks be to God – amen.