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The Great I AM

08/05/2007 - The I AM, John 8:58

When I was a kid I remember a movie came out called "The Time Machine" based on the classic book by H. G. Wells. I didn't see it in the theater, but I can remember being at Little League practice one night and I couldn't wait to get to home to watch the movie on television. And that's saying something because I loved Little League practice and usually stayed late until after all the other kids went home and the coaches had to kick me off the field.

But that night I wanted to get home right away to see the movie because ever since I was a kid I've been interested in history and the idea of being able to go back in time and witness some of the epic events and great battles of human history was fascinating to me.

Later on a television series, called "The Time Tunnel," based on the concept of that movie was released. It only lasted one season, but I thought it was great. And in the series two scientists, Doug and Tony, are working on America's greatest and most secret project, Project Tic-Toc. And while they're working on it they get lost in the swirling maze of past and future ages and tumble helplessly toward a new fantastic adventure, somewhere along the infinite corridors of time, which means that in each episode they would find themselves right smack in the middle of an historic event like the attack on Pearl Harbor or D-Day, the Battle of Gettysburg or Custer's Last Stand, the sinking of the Titanic or Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Occasionally they went into the future, but most often they went back into the past right before a famous event took place.

And in each episode no matter when or where they materialized they were immediately attacked. So the action started right away and no matter how much they tried they couldn't change the outcome of that event. They couldn't keep the Titanic from hitting the iceberg or stop John Wilkes Booth from shooting Abraham Lincoln. And at the end of every episode, when Doug and Tony were finally safe and completely exhausted, the tunnel would transport them to another dangerous adventure to be continued next week. So stay tuned. It was a great show. In fact, it won an Emmy award for special effects.

I don't know about you, but I think it would be neat to be able to go back in time and see first hand the epic events of history or even the events of our own families. A few years ago my brother and his wife went to Germany and saw the little house where my mother was born in the quaint little German village of Auerbach. And we've done some research and been to Ellis Island in New York harbor and have seen pictures of the ship that brought my mom and her parents to America back in the 1920's. I love stuff like that.

In fact, one of the things I'm looking forward to when we step into eternity is the ability to transcend time and go back and witness or maybe even participate in some of the great events in history … biblical history, world history, art, music, sports, family history, you name it. And today we want to look at the only human being who has ever been able to do that, the only person born on this planet who has ever passed through the time tunnel.

This morning we continue our series called "The Great I AM" with a look at the third "I AM" statement of Jesus contained in the gospel of John. I AM the I AM. So far we've seen that Jesus has called himself "The Bread of Life." He's the one who can satisfy the hunger of our souls. He's also called himself "The Light of the World." He's the one who can illuminate our path in this dark world. And each time his statements have divided the crowd between those who were against him and those who were for him. But the statement he makes today is the one that almost got him killed, buried under a pile of rocks.

If you have a Bible turn with me to John 8. Now before we start reading, remember it was in John 8:12 where Jesus said, I am the light of the world. And he made that bold statement in the Court of Women at the Temple in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles. And instead of using power point to give graphic support to his teaching, his visual aid was a 75 foot giant candelabra that was lit each night during the seven day feast to symbolize the light that God intended Israel to be to the world. But Israel failed to be that light. They were overcome by the darkness of this world. And so now Jesus says, I am the light of the world. I'm going to do for the world what Israel failed to do and that is to point people to the one true God.

Well that didn't go over real well with the religious big shots. So we read in John 8:13, The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid."

In other words, who do you think you are saying these things about yourself? "You're the bread of life. You're the light of the world." Why should we believe you? And they get into this big harangue over Jesus' credibility and his authority to make such claims. And once again the crowd is split between those who believe in Jesus and those who don't. So we read in verse 30, Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him, but not everybody did. The most vocal and influential ones didn't.

And things start to get real heated in verse 42 where we read, Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. ⁴³Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! ⁴⁶Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? ⁴⁷Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

Now it's getting ugly. Jesus is facing a mob that's getting this close to turning the temple court into a crime scene. Some are ready to kill him and he knows it. He doesn't help matters much when he says, "You don't belong to God. You don't hear what I say. You don't believe in me. You belong to your father, the devil." Look out! Get ready to duck!

These are strong words coming off the lips of gentle Jesus. You belong to your father, the devil. Who belongs to their father, the devil? Is Jesus talking about every person who doesn't believe in him? No, I don't think so. Is he talking about every Jewish person? No, not at all. I believe he's talking about these people and all those like them who respond to Jesus in this same way. They accuse Jesus of being a liar and they want to see Jesus dead and silenced forever.

They are children of the devil, Jesus says, because that's what the devil wants to see happen to him. He's the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. We're not talking about passive disbelief here or about people who don't have much of an opinion about Jesus. We're talking about people who aggressively want to see Jesus eliminated. That's the attitude of the devil and when people embrace that response to Jesus he says they're acting like children of the devil.

Look at verse 48, The Jews answered him, "Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?" Calling Jesus a Samaritan was a racial slur. The Jews hated the Samaritans because they were a mixed race of Jews who had married Gentiles. And because of that had watered down the blood line they were despised. And calling Jesus demon possessed was even worse. That's about as low as you could get in that culture.

To be honest, I'm surprised Jesus doesn't just walk out at that point. But instead he says in verse 48, "I am not possessed by a demon," said Jesus, "but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹I tell you the truth, whoever keeps my word will never see death." ⁵²At this they exclaimed, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever keeps your word will never taste death. ⁵³Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?" ⁵⁴Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. ⁵⁵Though 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 keep his word. ⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." ⁵⁷"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" ⁵⁸"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" ⁵⁹At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

Before Abraham was born, I am! That was the last straw! In making that statement Jesus was claiming to be God and they knew exactly what he meant. He wasn't just saying, I've been around a long time, I'm an old man, older than Abraham. No, he was saying, "I am God." And the penalty for claiming to be God in that culture was death by stoning and it was an ugly way to go. In their minds Jesus had committed the ultimate act of blasphemy and they were ready to bury him under a pile of rocks. But in some miraculous way, he hid himself and slipped out of the temple courts because it wasn't his time yet.

The backdrop of Jesus' claim to be I AM is the encounter that God had with Moses in the Midian desert recorded in Exodus 3. We've looked at it before. And in that encounter when God was asking Moses to go back to Egypt to deliver his people Moses asked God, "Who shall I tell them sent me?" And God said, "Tell them I AM who I AM. I AM sent you! That's my name."

That's a weird name, isn't it? I don't know anybody whose name is "I AM." The Hebrew word is simply the present tense of the verb "to be." The past tense would be "I was." The future tense would be "I will be." But God isn't "I was" and he isn't "I will be." He is "I AM." He is always in the now.

His name means that he is the eternally existent one. There never was a time when God did not exist. He is as present and active in this world today as he was when Moses encountered him in the desert or when Jesus taught in the Temple. God never had a beginning and he'll never have an end. Everything else in the universe, but God, has been created. Everything else has a birthday. God has no birthday. He just is.

I can think of a time when I didn't have children. I can think of a time when I wasn't married. I can think of a time before there was Valley View. I can even think of a time when I was in shape. You should have seen me then. My kids don't believe it, but I was!

But I can't think of time when God wasn't around, not only in my lifetime, but forever. My mind blows a fuse when I try too hard to comprehend that there never was a time when God was not. Go back a two thousand years. There was God. Go back two million years. There was God. Go back two billion years or more if you want and God has always been there. And he never gets old or out of shape. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the self-existent one and that is what Jesus is claiming to be. Jesus is the only human being who has ever been through the time tunnel because he has always been.

There's a lot of confusion these days about Jesus. There always has been. There are people saying that Jesus never claimed to be God. But that's just not true. Jesus knew he was God come in the flesh. And when he makes this claim in the temple courts it almost costs him his life because his critics knew exactly who he was claiming to be.

But this isn't the only time that Jesus claimed to be the great I AM. Turn to John 4. In John 4, Jesus has an extended, life-changing conversation with a lonely, hurting woman around a well in Samaria. And in that conversation the woman says in verse 25, I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us. ²⁶Then Jesus declared, "I AM."

The English text expands on it to say, "I who speak to you am he." But in the Greek text his response is simply two words, ego eimi, "I AM." And when she realizes that she's speaking to the Messiah, to God himself, her life is dramatically changed. That's what an encounter with Jesus can do when we believe.

Why can Jesus tell this woman, whom he has never met before, all about her past life? Because he's the eternal, pre-existent one who knows everything about us. He knows all things. He is the great I AM. And so she has her thirst quenched and goes back to her village and says to the people in verse 29, Come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?

Look at verse 39, Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹And because of his words many more became believers.

Jesus refers to himself as I AM again in the upper room, the night before his execution. Turn to John 13. He first makes a prophecy in verse 18 that Judas will betray him when he quotes Psalm 41:9, I am not referring to all of you. I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the Scripture, "He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me."

And then he adds in verse 19, I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I AM.

Again, our English versions say, "I am he." But in the original Greek text Jesus uses only two words, ego eimi, "I AM." He told the woman at the well all about her past. And now he tells his disciples at the last supper something that will happen in the future. He can do that because he's God, he's not bound by space and time, he is the eternal, pre-existent one who knows all things.

But my favorite I AM statement of Jesus comes at his pre-dawn arrest in John 18. In this passage, Judas had led a group of Roman soldiers to the base of the Mount of Olives where he knew Jesus would be spending the night. And in verse 4 we read, Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want? ⁵"Jesus of Nazareth," they replied.

Now again, notice the emphasis on Jesus knowing everything, knowing all that was going to happen to him. Human beings like us don't know the future. Do you know all that's going to happen to you? Would you want to? I wouldn't. We couldn't handle it. Only God knows everything. And when Jesus asks them who they want, they say, "Jesus of Nazareth." That name emphasizes the humanity of Jesus. We want the man Jesus who is from Nazareth. But Jesus wants them and us to see that he is more than just a man.

So he says, "I AM," ego eimi. I've been telling you all along, I am more than a man. Don't call me just by my human name. Call me I AM." And look what happens in verse 6, When Jesus said, "I AM," they drew back and fell to the ground.

That word "fell to the ground" literally means they were pinned to the ground. It's a word used for a Greek wrestling match. And in a Greek wrestling match the winner was the one who was able to grab his opponent's neck and pin his head to the ground.

So when Jesus said, "I AM," the Roman soldiers who came to arrest him were pinned to the ground. Just the authority of that name was enough to put these strong men flat on their backs. One commentator said, "If Christ hadn't relaxed this display of his authority these men would still be there!" Even at his arrest Jesus is still in control of the situation because he's God.

So he asked them a second time in verse 7, "Who is it you want?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." ⁸"I told you, that I AM," Jesus answered. "If you're looking for me, then let these men go." Even at his arrest Jesus is still protecting his friends.

Three times in verses 5, 6, and 8, Jesus tells them that he is the great I AM, that special name of God that was revealed to Moses back in the wilderness. I AM who I AM.

So what does all this mean to us? What is Jesus trying to say and what is John trying to record? John is trying to tell us that the person of Jesus who is being presented to us in his book is the eternal son of the eternal God. He is more than a man. He is God come in the flesh. He is the Lord of all and possesses all the attributes of God. He was in the beginning with God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He knows everything that happens in the past and in the present and in the future. And that includes your past and your present and your future. He is the God man and he is worthy of our worship and our trust and our obedience.

And right now we want to obey him and do what he commanded his followers to do at that last supper. And that was to take bread and to take the cup and remember him in a very special way. But before we do let's worship the great I AM.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Valley View Community Church, feel free to contact us at info@valleyviewseek.org or call 610.631.2707.