Jesus: "I Am"

by Max Morrow

The dusty slopes of Sinai provided the backdrop for the spectacle of the burning bush. Moses went to the bush to check it out, and heard God speak. The message shocked Moses: He had a job to do, God said, and he was to say the God of his fathers had sent him to do it.

But Moses wondered what the Israelites would think of his credibility with just that much information. Hearing personally from God was not enough, so Moses asked God for a name. God answered, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you'" (Exodus 3:14).

What a revelation! What a marvelous insight given to a mortal! God identified Himself in terms of existence, in terms beyond time. "I am who I am" or "I am the existing one," He was saying, implying His continuous existence. "I have always been and I always shall be; I am the eternal One."

Another Insight

Centuries later, the backdrop for another marvelous insight was the Temple in Jerusalem. The scribes and Pharisees had brought an adulteress before Jesus to test His reaction to her act of sin. After her accusers had melted into the background with feelings of selfcondemnation, Jesus revealed great truths about Himself, much to the consternation of His audience (see John 8.)

Earlier in his Gospel, John had introduced Jesus in revealing terms:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1, 2, 14).

These expressions indicate an insight John had received about the Savior's existence. They testify of a timeless element. They speak of Jesus' relationship with God, His identification with God that goes beyond His miraculous birth as a baby in Bethlehem. They speak of His presence "in the beginning."

The Light of the World

So chapter 8 of his Gospel, John reveals some of Jesus' teachings that had given him the insight for chapter 1. "I am the light of the world," Jesus said in the Temple (v. 12). The scribes and Pharisees did not comprehend this statement. "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also" (v. 19). But they could not fathom what He was saying.

Not of This World

Jesus also described the background and heritage of the scribes and Pharisees, contrasted with His own: "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world" (v. 23). There would be a time when the revelation of Jesus would break in upon their understanding (v. 28), but not until they had taken drastic action against Him.

As Jesus said in verse 29, His ministry was commissioned by God and was being carried out in the fellowship of God. The Father was with Him. His Father - God!

"I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me" (v. 42). Here is why Jesus is "not of this world" (v. 23). He was from another world, another existence. He came from God.

God the Father

"My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me" (v. 54). Now the connection was clear. Jesus' Father was the One they claimed as their God. That was unmistakable. His Father was God. "Though you do not know him, I know him" (v. 55). No wonder Jesus had said just moments before, "You do not know me or my Father . . . If you knew me, you would know my Father also" (v. 19).

To know One - really know Him - is to know the Other. They have such kindred background and existence, such similar nature.

Rising Tension

Anger was mounting in the scribes and Pharisees. What could they do with One who spoke so confidently and openly of connections with God? How could they let such teachings continue? What must be done with such an offender? He had said they would be made free by the truth (v. 32), but there was no question in their minds that they were Abraham's descendants, and as such had always enjoyed a freedom that could not be brought into bondage (v. 33).

"If you were Abraham's children, . . . then you would do the things Abraham did," Jesus challenged (v. 39). "You are doing the things your own father does" (v. 41). Oh, what an accusation! Not children of Abraham? How ridiculous!

The truth is, the scribes and Pharisees could only see the natural, the physical. They were "from below"; they were "of this world."

Before Abraham

Jesus now moved in for the clincher. "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad" (v. 56).

The scribes and Pharisees were stumped. Abraham lived hundreds of years before them, even thousands! And Jesus was saying He knew Abraham?

The Jews clearly knew that Jesus meant He existed in Abraham's time. That is why they mocked Jesus: "You are not yet fifty years old, . . . and you have seen Abraham!" (v. 57). They understood He was speaking of a preexistence, though they would not accept it.

Then Jesus exclaimed, "I tell you the truth . . .before Abraham was born, I am" (v. 58). Why, this was exactly the term God had used to introduce Himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14. The term did not refer to time alone, but also to origin. Jesus was saying, "I am deity. I existed and do exist and shall exist."

Preexistence

Bible scholars overwhelmingly agree that Jesus was teaching previous existence in these words. The Expositor's Bible Commentary says, "'I am' implies continuous existence, including existence when Abraham appeared. Jesus was, therefore, asserting that at the time of Abraham's birth, he existed" (vol. 9, p. 99). [See also Article 3, "Jesus Christ, the Son," in the doctrinal beliefs of the Church of God (Seventh Day).]

The Word becoming flesh and making His dwelling among us was also "with God in the beginning" (John 1:2). He had existed long before Abraham's time and continued to exist. Understandably, then, the existing Word would know of the previous, delightful longing that Abraham had (v. 56).

Other 'I Am' Sayings

John 8:58, however, is not an isolated usage of "I am" by the Savior. When He walked on water toward the storm-tossed disciples and when they thought they were seeing a ghost, Jesus said, "It is I" (Mark 6:50). The same Greek expression is translated in John 8:58 "I am."

In both these texts, the Greek is ego eimi. In John, it is apparent that Jesus was giving a clarification of His origin and existence; in Mark, there is no question that He was giving an identification. As the frightened disciples wondered what or who they were seeing, it was essential that Jesus identify Himself. The simple "I am" was all it took; all doubt was removed.

Again, the Greek ego eimi was used by the Savior at His trial. The high priest demanded, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" (Mark 14:61).

Jesus answered, "I am" (v. 62). Though this expression is ego eimi, there is slight ambiguity; the predicate may be implied. Thus, Jesus may have been saying, "I am the Christ" in direct response to the high priest's inquiry. Nevertheless, the reaction of the high priest would suggest that he understood Jesus to be acknowledging deity, for he responded, "Why do we need any more witnesses? . . . You have heard the blasphemy" (vv. 63, 64).

Conclusion

The deity of Jesus is unanimously acclaimed in Scripture. He was sent into the world as God's "one and only Son" (John 3:16). He was recognized as "the Son of God" (Luke 4:41). He ministered as "the Son of God" (John 9:3537, KJV). And He died as "the Son of God" (Mark 15:39).

It is just as conclusive that Jesus preexisted, that He was preeminent in creation and throughout the ages of human history. He is declared to be "the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created" (Colossians 1:15, 16; compare Ephesians 3:9). He identified Himself as "the beginning [that is, the source or origin] of the creation of God" (Revelation 3:14, KJV). He prayed only hours before His crucifixion, "Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began" (John 17:5). Over and over Jesus declared, "I came from the Father" (John 16:28).

Yet deity is not something that Jesus took upon Himself for the prestige. He also took on human form, coming even as a servant and becoming a nobody to fulfill His mission (see Philippians 2:58). The King James Version says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God" (vv. 5, 6).

Deity was reality. Jesus was deity by virtue of being the Son of deity, the Son of God. He preexisted inasmuch as He was "with God in the beginning" (John 1:2).

Therefore, when Jesus said, "I am" in John 8:58, He was only stating the case as it was. He was deity, Godkind; He was timeless, having existed before time began. He was and is and always shall be deity, the Son of God.

Max Morrow is pastor of the Church of God (Seventh Day) in Owosso, MI. Scripture quotations were taken from the New International Version, except where otherwise noted. A version of this article appeared in the July/August '88 issue of the Bible Advocate magazine. For a free subscription, contact us at bibleadvocate@cog7.org.

7 'I Am' Sayings

© 1996 General Conference of the Church of God (Seventh Day)