Today we consider the I am title Christ took as his own. The Lord God appeared to Moses at the burning bush and commissioned him to rescue his people from Egypt (Exodus 3). He told Moses that “I Am” was the special name by which he was to be known by his people throughout all generations. In John 8:58 we read, “Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”
That’s why, when Jesus announced himself as “I am” to the Jewish people, they tried to stone him for blasphemy, for claiming to be God. If you pay attention, you will see that Jesus uses the name “I am” throughout the gospels to particularly highlight his divinity.
He didn’t hide who he was. He is the great “I am,” the eternally present one.
Again the evangelist portrays Jesus as belonging to a higher world than his hearers. Death is the human condition, but Jesus lives beyond the borders of death. He is simply different. In my prayer I need not try to puzzle these things out. Instead I simply accept in faith the wonderful mystery of Jesus.
Jesus is saying: ‘If you want to see God, here I am!’ What should be a wonderful moment of revelation becomes horribly negative. Execution by stoning was the punishment for asserting that one is equal to God. Lord, I find you in some safe place and try to comfort you. What more can you do to show people who you are?
Jesus used the same phrase “I AM” in seven declarations about Himself. In all seven, He combines I AM with tremendous metaphors which express His saving relationship toward the world. In a way Jesus is saying I am so that you may be.
It is wonderful to know that God does not measure and judge you based on your performance today. Instead, He looks at Jesus, and as Jesus is, that is how He sees you. His Word declares that “love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.”
Jesus thank you for being the light of the world. Thank you for loving the world and for loving me so much to come and save me from darkness. Strengthen me in my present circumstances. Help me to face them with joy, patience and endurance, knowing you are with me in them and you promise to never leave me in darkness. Amen
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