Lesson - The “I Am’s”  of Jesus

Mike Wencel

 

John 8:58 – Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."

 

▶ Coffman: The majestic "I AM" with which Jesus concluded this confrontation suggests God’s "I AM THAT I AM" (Exodus 3:14), and there can be no reasonable denial that Jesus here claimed equality with God. Jesus presented himself as one with Almighty God no less than a dozen times. Fittingly, it should be concluded with the greatest of John’s "I am’s," but which, for some incredible reason, is never listed in the "seven I am’s"!

 

▶ I AM is a declaration that Jesus always was, currently is and always will be. By saying I AM he asserts his eternal nature.

 

	1.   I Am the Bread of Life

 

 

John 6:35 – And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

 

▶ We need bread and other food for our physical survival, but we need the word of God for our spiritual nourishment and growth.  That may be exactly what Jesus was trying to get people to see when he fed the multitude from a few loaves and fishes. He first fed their bodies, then he fed their souls with the truth.

▶ As Christians we have two major concerns in our life: (1) the future of our physical bodies (its health and continued ability to function as we would like it to), and (2) the future of our spiritual body (our soul) which will continue on forever. Which one should we give priority to?

 

	2.   I Am the True Vine

 

 

 

John 15:1-8 –  I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  [2]  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  [3]  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  [4]  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  [5]  "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  [6]  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  [7]  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  [8]  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

 

As Christians, we have two responsibilities:

1.      to stay attached to the vine through a life of faithfulness and obedience. If we become detached from the vine, (i.e. apostatize) we cut off our connection to God, we cut off our ability to get spiritual nourishment through the vine, and we eventually wither and die.

2.      to bear more fruit while on the vine. It’s not enough for us to just be connected to the vine, we must bear more fruit while on the vine. To do that we must be diligent in our worship to the Lord, in our service to the Lord and in spreading of the Gospel, making it possible for others to to be grafted on to the vine.

	3.  I Am the Light of the World

 

 

 

John 8:12 – Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

 

▶ Lipscomb: As the pillar of fire lighted and guided the children of Israel on their journey toward the promised land (Exodus 13:21), so shall Jesus’ followers be lighted by him, and shall have not only light, but “the light of life” which is the gospel.

 

▶ Thayer:  darkness:  metaphorically used of ignorance of divine things, and its associated wickedness, and the resultant misery in hell.

▶ Vine:  darkness:  spiritual or moral "darkness," emblematic of sin, as a condition of moral or spiritual depravity

 

▶ Gill: not walking in darkness means knowing what they are, and where they are, and whither they are going; for such know they are in the light; and though they were blind, now they see; they know in whom they have believed, and that they are in Christ, in the covenant of grace, and in the love of God, and are going to heaven and eternal happiness. Such shall not walk in the darkness of unbelief; but walk by faith on Christ; nor in the darkness of error, but in the truth of the Gospel.

 

 

 

 

John 11:25-26 – Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die."

 

▶ Once again we see Jesus making an affirmation which he would prove right after he told this to the people that were gathered around Lazarus’ tomb, when he miraculously brought Lazarus back from the dead. This same lesson was learned by the people witnessing the raising of the widow from Nain’s son (Luke 7:11-17) and Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:35-43).

 

▶ The resurrection is the key event in Christianity. Without it we would have no hope of eternal life. And Jesus’ resurrecting of these people was a harbinger of his own victory over death – which is why Jesus says He is the resurrection AND the life.  All of the apostles knew this and Peter and Paul preached it fervently:

Acts 4:33 – And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.

 

1Peter 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

 

Romans 6:5 –  For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection

 

 

 

 

John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

 

▶ Notice the definite article “the” – in this verse Jesus is the way, not a way - the only way to come to the Father. People who do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God have no way to access the salvation that the Father offers, because that salvation is through the blood of Jesus – that is God’s way, in which he saves people who obey him.

 

▶ Mounce’s Greek-English Dictionary’s definition of the word “way” is very illustrative:  a means of access, approach, entrance, a journey, a systematic course of action or conduct, a system of doctrine

 

▶ Thayer gives a great definition of “truth”: the truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians.

 

 

 

 

John 10:9 – I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

 

▶ One of the definitions Thayer gives for “door” is: the door of the kingdom of heaven (likened to a palace) denotes the conditions which must be complied with in order to be received into the kingdom of God

 

▶ Once again we must understand the importance of the definite article “the”. Jesus is not “a” door, one of many – He is “the” door – the one, the only. Jesus reinforced the exclusivity of this teaching when he said, just a few verses earlier:

John 10:1 –  "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

 

▶ The imagery of finding pasture is interesting here. Animals in a pasture are protected, safe, well nourished and at peace. Jesus promised the same for all of his true disciples. Reference Psalm 23 for an extension of this imagery: Psalm 23:1-3 - The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul...

 

 

 

 

John 10:11 – I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

John 10:27-28 – My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

 

▶ The main job of a shepherd is to protect the sheep under his care. David gives a good job description of a shepherd to Saul when he affirms his absolute trust in God before facing Goliath:

1^st Samuel 17:34-35  – But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep his father's sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 

 

▶ Even though we think of sheep as timid and weak, the job of a shepherd was not for the timid or weak, it took courage, boldness and strength to ward off dangerous and formidable predators. At some point, the shepherd himself might be fatally attacked by one or more of these predators, which is why Jesus makes mention of the shepherd giving his life for the sheep. That is exactly what Jesus did when he was hunted and captured by the Pharisees and sentenced to death on the cross – he died for the benefit of his sheep.

 

 

 

John 8:23-24 – And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." 

 

Barnes gives an excellent breakdown of this passage:

You are from beneath - The expression from beneath, here, is opposed to the phrase from above. It means, You are of the earth, or are influenced by earthly, sensual, and corrupt passions. You are governed by the lowest and vilest views and feelings, such as are opposed to heaven, and such as have their origin in earth or in hell.

 

I am from above - From heaven. My views are heavenly, and my words should be so interpreted.

 

You are of this world - You think and act like the corrupt men of this world.

 

I am not of this world - My views are above these earthly and corrupt notions. The meaning of the verse is: “You are earthly and corrupt in your views. You are governed by the mad passions of men, and can think only of these.” We see here how difficult it is to excite wicked men to the contemplation of heavenly things. They interpret all things in a low and corrupt sense, and suppose all others to be governed as they are themselves.

 

 

 

John 10:36-38 – do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 

but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." 

 

▶ There are many scriptures where Jesus claims that He is the Son of God, and that He was sent from God. One verse that proves his deity irrefutably is:

John 1:1-4 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

 

▶ For the word “Word” (Greek: logos) Vine gives this explanation:

1.    Logos denotes the expression of thought – as embodying a conception or idea. The phrase "the word of the Lord," i.e., the revealed will of God (very frequent in the OT), is used of a direct revelation given by Christ. In this respect it is the message from the Lord, delivered with His authority and made effective by His power.

2.    "The Personal Word," a title of the Son of God; indicating His distinct and infinite Personality, His relation in the Godhead, His deity, His creative power, His incarnation, the reality and totality of His human nature, and His glory.

 

▶ Barnes: The Son of God may be called “the Word,” because he is the medium by which God declares His will and issues His commandments, as expressed in Hebrews:

Hebrews 1:1-3 – God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.