When Moses stood trembling and bare footed before the burning bush he not only met the Living God, he was given an assignment to go back to Egypt so God could free the Israelites from their slavery and bring them into the Promised Land. When Moses hesitated and asked for some credentials to take back to the descendents of Abraham, God replied, “I AM Who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:14)
Thus on Mount Horeb in the desert of Midian, God gave out His Name. He is I AM. In the Hebrew tongue we think it might be written either Yahweh or Jehovah. But no matter what language is used, God is telling us that He is the ever present One. He exists, has always existed, will always exist. He had no beginning, thus He has no past. He will have no ending, thus He has no future. He always is in the Now for He is I AM.
This is hard to understand, and from the time of Moses on, many have tried to explain and make sense of God, though always inadequately. But mostly the Jews revered God so much that they refrained from even uttering the name that had been revealed to Moses, instead replacing the word for I AM with the term LORD. Thus was their reverence for God so high that they couldn’t even speak His Name.
That is, until Jesus. For into that same land, and to the descendents of those who were freed from slavery and brought into the land of Palestine, came a man making an extraordinary claim. Up until when this man lived, people either taught about God from their limited understanding, or avoided the question altogether because they knew that they knew so little.
But then Jesus began speaking of God in a whole new way. Not as one with new insights or theories, but as one with knowledge, intimate knowledge of the nature and character of God. In fact He spoke of God not with the pronoun He, but spoke of God using the forbidden term I AM.
This was not a reckless flaunting of social protocol, nor the boldness of a rebel. This was an all out declaration of His identity. Jesus was proclaiming not that He had special insight about God, but that He was Himself God in the flesh, God come to us, God fully revealed. Seven times in the Gospel of John Jesus made this declaration. I AM the Bread of Life (6:35). I AM the Light of the World (8:12). I AM the Good Shepherd (10:11). I AM the Resurrection and the Life (11:25). I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life (14:6). I AM the True Vine (15:1). I AM He (18:5) who came to die for your sins.
Now the Jews already knew these things about God. They knew He was the One who provided manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:4), was the One to turn darkness into light (Psalm 18:28), that He was their Shepherd (Psalm 23:1), the giver of Life (Genesis 2:7), would lead them on paths of righteousness (Psalm 23:3), called Israel His vineyard (Isaiah 5) and was their Redeemer and Savior (Hosea 13:4). They knew this about God. They just never expected to hear it from a human mouth. But they heard it from Jesus! They heard Him claim to be the great I AM, to be our God, to be our Lord. And by the resurrection He proved His claim so that we would have no uncertainly about believing and following the One who said of Himself: “I AM the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8)
So now we believe in and follow the One who said He is I AM! How does that help us identify our Lord, communicate these truths to our culture, and define who we are as His Church? During October and November we will be exploring these seven claims of Jesus, to answer these questions, and be confident in knowing just Who He is when He claimed to be I AM!
