I AM

There are seven great I AMs in this gospel of the Son of God. In these He couples the divine title I AM with metaphors that elucidate His relationship to the world and particularly to the redeemed. We see the expression first in Exodus chapter 3, verse 14, where God reveals Himself to Moses as ‘I AM that I AM’. In our present context, the title ‘I AM’ is found in 18. 5 and 18. 8. In 18. 4, Jesus asked Judas’ assembled band of men and officers, ‘Whom seek ye?’ When they replied, ‘Jesus of Nazareth’, He said ‘I am He’ or, more literally, ‘I am’. Again, in 18. 8, He said, ‘I have told you that I am’. He was responding to questions that assumed His humanity. His answers were attestations of His Deity.

It is interesting that John, the beloved disciple, stated his purpose in writing the book in these words, ‘But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name’, 20. 30-31. The one they knew as Jesus was indeed a man, but He was not merely a man. Jesus was not only the Christ, but He was also the Son of God. The Jewish audiences of the Lord Jesus recognized that the title Son of God was a statement of His deity, John 19. 7; Matt. 26. 63. His deity was pronounced by the prophet when he wrote, ‘Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel... God with us’, Matt. 1. 23; Isa. 7.14. His humanity was complete, sin apart. His deity was absolute for He was God and He was with us.

The first few verses of John’s Gospel are a statement of the character of the ‘I AM’. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’, John 1.1. He was not created. He was the Creator. He had no beginning. He was the beginning. But, John says, ‘the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us’, 1. 14. The Word did not cease to be the Word when He became flesh. His glory was not laid aside. However, the outward manifestation of that glory was temporarily veiled.

He is God. He is the ever-existing One. He is the unchanging One.