In yesterday’s blog, I mentioned that God revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush as the great “I Am” (Exodus 3:1-14). Moses had asked God what His name was. When God said that He was “I Am Who I Am” (v. 14), He was saying that He was the Self-Existent One. He is the only One in the creation who is dependent on no one for His existence. Everyone else and everything else is ultimately dependent on God for their existence.
Jesus Is The LORD!
God’s Name, “I Am Who I Am“, translates into the Hebrew language as something like “Yahweh”. Most English translations write “Yahweh” as LORD. All the letters are capitalized. In John’s Gospel, Jesus, the Son of God, reveals Himself to the Jewish religious leaders as “I Am” in John 8:58. In response, the Jewish leaders pick up stones to stone Jesus, because they think Jesus is blaspheming. They don’t believe that He is deity. They reject His claim. John’s Gospel presents Jesus’ deity in the clearest and most explicit ways among the 4 Gospels.
In addition to the stand-alone “I Am” saying in John 8:58, there are 7 sayings of Jesus in John’s Gospel in which He adds a predicate to “I am“. They are: I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35); I am the light of the world (John 9:5); I am the gate for the sheep (John 10:7); I am the good shepherd (John 10:14); I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25); I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6); and I am the True Vine (John 15:1). Each of these “I am” sayings reveal something of the glory of Christ. Only if Jesus is part of the triune Godhead, do these sayings make sense. If Jesus is just a man, and not the God-man, these claims of Christ are presumptuous indeed.
In both John 8 & 9, Jesus declares “I am the Light of the World (Jo. 8:12, 9:5). He knows where He has come from and where He is going. He knows that He is from God and is going back to God (Jo.8:14, 13:1). He has come to open the eyes of the spiritually blind through His life, death and resurrection..
Life’s Greatest Questions Answered
When we trust in Christ, the believer will not be left in the dark regarding life’s greatest questions: humanity’s origins, humanity’s purposes, and humanity’s destiny. In other words, trusting Jesus will give satisfying answers to: Where did I come from? Why am I here? And where I am going?
In order to reveal that Jesus has the authority and ability to answer these kind of great questions, Jesus heals a man who has been physically blind from birth (John 9:1-12). The Pharisees are upset that Jesus did this miraculous sign on a Sabbath and they don’t appreciate the healed man’s chutzpah, so they throw him out of the synagogue (Jo. 9:16, 24-34). The obtuseness and pride of these religious leaders is seen in how they respond to this humble man and how they talk about Jesus. They reveal from their words, attitudes and actions that they are spiritually blind (Jo. 9:39-41).
The teaching of Jesus as the Good Shepherd in John 10 is highlighted. The difference of the real compassion and love that the True Shepherd has for His sheep is contrasted to the lack of love and care that Israel’s religious shepherds (the Pharisees, the chief priests and scribes) exhibit for people, like the healed blind man. The false shepherds are like hired hands who run away at the first sign of trouble. Jesus loves the sheep to the point of willingly laying down His life for the sheep (Jo. 10:11-13).
Jesus knows His sheep and they know Him. They recognize the Good Shepherd’s voice and follow Him. Their is an intimate relationship between Jesus and His faithful followers.
QOTD: Are you growing in your relationship with the Good Shepherd?
7 Comments
During His ministry Jesus was “constantly” followed by crowds, large crowds and great crowds such that even at one point he was forced to minister from a boat. With such emphasis on the size of the crowds, many healings and miracles it was difficult (frustrating) for me to understand why the thousands that experienced Him joined the crowds and demanded His crucifixion. Yet He found time and a quiet place to spend with His Father in prayer.
The answer to my dilemma as to why the people turned on Him came in John 12: 37-40.
Because they constantly rejected God’s revelation “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts”. v 40….and so they were “unable” to believe !
John 12:37
Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in Him.
While God is loving He does not tolerate persistent sin……and this truth makes me think about the COVID and causes me to reflect on the goodness and mercy of God as He”constantly” attempts to draw us near.
Blessings!
Hi John. i think some of the crowd wanted to follow Jesus on their own terms, and not on the Lord’s terms. Jesus did say that whoever came after Him needed to deny themselves and take up their cross, in order to follow Him. For many, it was too great off a cost to give up one’s self-sovereignty, in order to follow the Lord Jesus.
That is exactly what I came to realize one day while driving home from work. My relationship with Christ was like the crowds following him…hungry for every word He spoke, but still not totally giving up myself…I was trying to live my walk with Him on my terms and not His…I was fighting it, just like I did when I held a death grip on the pew in front of me as Jesus called me to the alter. I am so thankful He knew me and did not give up on me, opening my heart to feel and my eyes to see. The “I Am” passages of scripture are an important reminder to all of us no matter where we are in our journey with our Heavenly Father. Even those who walked with Jesus struggled in their humanness, until they totally surrendered. Jesus be my sufficiency, “this fragile earthen vessel that is nothing on its own, made alive by your presence within me”, (from a song I heard years ago).
Thank you for this walk through the Bible.
Hi Rhonda. Thank you for sharing that wonderful testimony.
Were there some in the crowd that Jesus healed who cried out ,” Crucify Him.” ? Were they the ones who Luke tells us in Luke 23:48 who returned home after the crucifixion beating their breasts ?Were they part of the ones who were saved when Peter preached his sermon at Pentecost ? Just some thoughts.
I think those are good questions to ponder, Louise. On this side of heaven, we probably won’t know for sure.
Rhonda. Your comments about having a death grip on the pew as Jesus called you to the alter was so familiar to me. When I answered Jesus call I remember my flesh did not want to go. I didn’t want to go up in the huge congregation and stand out. But I could not not go! Does that make sense. The draw of the spirit was so strong that I Could not ignore it. I literally ran up! I felt the supernatural in those moments and I was powerless to ignore God’s call. So powerful and such proof of the existence of God. Thank you Jesus for calling me.
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