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This series is about the 7 I AM statements of Jesus in the book of John. But the significance of I AM doesn’t begin with Jesus in the New Testament. It goes all the way back to the book of Exodus, when God revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush.
God Identifies Himself to Moses
In Exodus 3, Moses is tending his father-in-law’s sheep many years after fleeing Egypt when he killed a man. Suddenly, Moses saw a bush on fire, but the bush wasn’t burning up! From that burning bush, God called to Moses and told him to go back to Egypt because God was going to free his people from slavery and oppression.
Moses isn’t too sure about this plan. He questions his own authority to be the leader of the Israelites, and he questions whether the Israelites will accept him as a leader. The conversation then goes like this:
Exodus 3:13-14: 13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
I AM is how God chose to identify himself to Moses, just like later in Exodus 34:6-7 God chose to describe himself to Moses as
“The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
I AM Meaning
Although the words “I am” can be used in many situations, the way that God uses it, I AM as a stand-alone name, conveys his eternal and self-sufficient nature. He is, he always has been, and he always will be. No matter when in history you study, God is there. No matter how far you go into the future, God is there. He doesn’t need anything to sustain him or support him. He is completely sufficient in and of himself. An article from Bible Study Tools describes these verses this way:
This eternal nature is conveyed better in the Hebrew than in the English. The first time God says I AM (“I AM WHO I AM”), the Hebrew says, “Ehyeh asher Ehyeh”, which translates as “I will be what I will be.” When God then tells Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent you” (Exodus 3:14), it is “Yahweh.” Yahweh is the third person version of Ehyeh, which is first person. Yahweh could also be translated as He will be.
This eternal nature of God is echoed in Revelation 1:8:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
The Tetragrammaton
The name God used in Exodus 3 became so revered by the Israelites that they refused to even pronounce or write the name fully. Therefore, it is commonly condensed to four consonants: YHWH. This is called the Tetragrammaton.
This name for God appears over 6,000 times in the Bible, and it is usually identified by LORD in all capital letters. Significantly, this name has also been found through archaeology on many scrolls, inscriptions, and texts (see video at end).
Jesus Identifies Himself as I AM
Now that we understand the significance of the phrase “I AM” from the Old Testament, let’s look at how Jesus uses this phrase. Of course, he uses this phrase in the 7 I AM statements we will look at in the remaining lessons of this study. But he also uses it once as a stand-alone phrase in John 8.
Jesus is having a dispute with the Jews about who he is and who they are. The Jews refer to Abraham as their father, but then they also say that the only Father they have is God himself. Jesus stated that if God was their Father, then they would love Jesus, because God sent him. When Jesus claims that anyone who obeys his word will never see death, the Jews are outraged. They felt that Jesus was claiming to be greater than Abraham and the prophets. They asked him, “Who do you think you are?” I imagine this was not asked out of curiosity but out of spite, with great sarcasm. The rest of the conversation goes like this:
John 8:54-59: 54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
Did you see that statement in verse 58? “Before Abraham was born, I am!” This is the same way that God used I AM in Exodus 3—as a stand-alone statement about who he is. In this statement, Jesus proclaims his eternal nature and identifies himself with God.
Of course, the already outraged Jews become even more furious at this and attempted to stone Jesus. Why would they have this response? It goes back to the Law of Moses, given in Leviticus 24:15-16:
15 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; 16 anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.’”
To the Jews, Jesus was claiming to be God, which would be blasphemy. And the Law says that anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death by stoning. This is exactly the reaction the Jews had—they picked up stones to stone Jesus. What they didn’t realize was that Jesus was telling the truth—he IS God.
Conclusion
As we go through the rest of this study, keep in mind this background information, especially the attitude the Jews had toward Jesus claiming to be God. All of the I AM statements of Jesus in the book of John are different ways that Jesus claimed to be God. What evidence do we see that these claims are correct? Can we really trust that Jesus is who he claims to be? I hope you’ll come along and find out.
Expedition Bible
Recently, I ran across a recommendation for Expedition Bible, Joel Kramer’s YouTube channel, from David Roberts of Simple Christianity. I’ve been watching Expedition Bible videos lately and came across this one that talks about the Tetragrammaton being found in an early tomb. I’d encourage you to watch it (and many of the other videos he has). Knowing more about the archaeology from Biblical times helps bring these ancient stories to life.
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