I Am He Series

*John 4:25, 26*

*Jesus, The Great “I Am”: I Am He*

“The woman [at the well] said to [Jesus], ‘I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’”[1]

God appointed Moses to deliver His people from bondage. Not surprisingly, Moses was reluctant to accept the daunting task of facing the sole superpower of the day by himself. Moreover, the reluctant leader expressed grave concern that the Hebrew slaves to whom he was sent would accept him as God’s appointed spokesman. Therefore, he questioned the Lord God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His Name?’ what shall I say to them” [*Exodus 3:13*]?

It was not an illegitimate question, for it would naturally be expected that Moses would know something about the God whom he claimed had appointed Him. The people had lived without witnessing the Lord’s might for over 400 years. The Lord responded to Moses fears by revealing His Name, “I am who I am.” God expanded on this response by commanding Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you” [*Exodus 3:14*].

God continued by instructing Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My Name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations” [*Exodus 3:15*]. It is a convention in English that “The Lord,” when spelled with capital letters, represents the Divine Name, YHWH, which is here connected with the Hebrew verb */hayah/*, “to be,” in verse fourteen. In effect, the True and Living God identifies Himself by His existence. He is the self-existent One. It is enough to say, “God is.”

Thus it was that in the days of His flesh when Jesus walked among men, whenever a Jew would hear a reference to “I am,” he would understand that the reference was to the Living God. In light of this knowledge, it is amazing to discover the number of times Jesus referred to Himself as the Great “I Am,” especially in the Gospel of John. During the course of the coming year, occasionally as we prepare to observe the ordinance of the Lord’s Table, I propose to look at Jesus, the Great “I Am,” in a fresh light. Through studying the accounts provided by the John, we will endeavour to discover a fuller understanding of Jesus according to His own estimate. Today, we want to look at the first reference the Master made to Himself as the Great “I Am.”

In order to fulfil the proposed study for this day, we will need to review the full account of the record of Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well. She was an outcast, but because she met the Living Saviour her life was transformed and she became a powerful and effective evangelists. Oh, that each of us were as successful in introducing friends, family and neighbours to life in the Master!

It is a healthy thing for the people of God to renew their understanding of Jesus’ nature. We become so engrossed in the daily routine associated with life in this world, that we sometimes forget Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. This day, my desire is to focus our attention, if only for a short while, on the Master, recalling who He is and remembering what He is able to do. It is my purpose to encourage us, especially as we worship Him on this day.

*God, Who Offers Refreshment* — “A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink,” you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water’” [*John 4:7-15*].