Jesus, the I Am - John 8:48-59
In this passage, Jesus is responding to his critics, the Pharisees, and their disbelief surrounding His identity. The last sentence Jesus spoke in this portion of scripture concludes with the brief statement: "I am." These two words, while succinct, are extremely powerful. "I am" is a self-declaration, by Jesus, identifying Himself as God. It is also the simplest expression of God's nature: He is. He is enough. He is all. He is God.
Because they were too focused on themselves and in denial of the truth, the Pharisees completely missed the point, which was and still is Jesus and humanity's need for Him. Instead of confirming the Pharisees' suspicions or telling them what they wanted to hear, Jesus rejected their accusations and pointed to Himself as the Son of God with two words, "I am." Throughout scripture, God doesn’t tell us we are good enough or strong enough or capable enough like some motivational speaker trying to pump us up. Rather than making us feel capable on our own, God directs us to His capability and His adequacy.
Our natural bent is to distance ourselves from the antagonists or the "bad guys" in stories and align ourselves with the hero. Yet, we often act more like the Pharisees than we care to admit. We constantly let our focus wander from God's redeeming work back to our own, believing the lie that we can be enough. We pride ourselves on our personal accomplishments and self-righteousness, failing to see our need for Christ in the good times as well as the bad. Like the Pharisees, we even doubt God is who He says, or that He will do what He promises. But, when our focus is actually on God's sufficiency, we tend to realize what complete insufficiency we would have without Him. When we believe that He truly is the Son of God, equal parts of the trinity, we can rest assured in the hope of his words in verse 51 of this passage: "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." Through Jesus' death and resurrection, we can have faith that He has saved us from an eternity separated from Him.
During this Lent season as we reflect and prepare for the coming of Easter, let's consider how Jesus' claim of "I am" allows us to rest in His sufficiency and the truth of who He is.
Emily Linebaugh
Stadium Armory Community
Questions to Ponder:
Can you name a few ways your “inner” Pharisee keeps you from submitting to God?
How is doubt interfering with your ability to trust Jesus with everything you have?
What are some areas of “insufficiency” that you can hand over to God?