I Am – John 8:48-59
JESUS: Is He who He claims to be?
Reading the book of John is like sitting on a jury that is deciding if Jesus is who He claims to be. Within the pages of the gospel, Jesus repeats the words I am over and over again. I am the way…I am the truth…I am the light…I am the good shepherd…I am the door. And on it goes.
The word translated “I am” in the New Testament is the Greek word ego. In English, ego means self. The Lord’s ego statements led some of those who encountered Him to the conclusion that He was a self-obsessed mental case—or an ego-maniac: The Jews then said, “That clinches it. We were right all along when we called you a Samaritan and said you were crazy—demon-possessed!” (John 8:48, msg).
“You’re acting like you’re the judge,” Jesus said, but “God is going to glorify me. He is the true judge” (John 8:50b, nlt). “God is going to rule in my favor. Indeed, He already has. And since God is Life, those who hold on to what I say about myself, about life, will “never have to look death in the face” (John 8:51, msg).
They asked Jesus “Who do you think you are?” (John 8:53). “I am I AM,” He told them. “I am unstoppable, uninterrupted Aliveness. I am eternal.”
“You’re nuts,” they said. “Abraham, our father in the faith, is the greatest man we know of, and he died.”
“Believe me,” said Jesus, “I am who I am long before Abraham was anything” (John 8:58, msg).
Get that? Jesus claimed that He was in existence before Abraham was born. He claimed to be the “I Am,” a Jewish title kept exclusively for God. “I Am” is eternal aliveness. Jesus is God, and God is ultimate, unstoppable aliveness—all three tenses of existence at once and forever.
The whole court case hinges on the issue of aliveness. Jesus claims to BE aliveness, to HAVE aliveness, and to GIVE aliveness. If He had just cooled that aliveness thing, maybe He wouldn’t have had to experience death by crucifixion. But even that was, for Him, only temporary. As Jesus summed it up for John in the book of Revelation, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore” (Revelation 1:18, nkjv).
Life Challenge: Claiming to be the source of eternal aliveness, Jesus said, “Believe me” (John 8:58, msg). Do you? If you do, tell Him now, and tell someone else today.