A VERY SPECIAL “I AM” OF JOHN’S GOSPEL – “EGO EIMI” – “I, I AM” – SO MUCH COMFORT IN IT – PART 2
We looked in PART 1 at the marvellous I AM of John’s Gospel. It means “I, I am.” It stamped the authority of Jesus as the Elohim of the Old Testament, and that came with all authority. One of the most important usages of this term was in John 6 where the disciples battled the storm and Jesus drew near with the assurance and authority of “I, I AM”. We continue from the last posting.
{{John 6:16 “Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea John 6:17 and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. John 6:18 The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. John 6:19 When therefore they had rowed about three or four miles, they beheld Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat and they were frightened, John 6:20 but He said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” John 6:21 They were willing therefore to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.”}}
VERSES 19 AND 20
Look at verse 19. When does despair become relief? When does the dangerous trough of despondency become the glorious hill of deliverance? The answer is in verse 19. Jesus drew near to the boat. The answer is all concerned with the nearness of Jesus. When Jesus walked on the water and came closer to the boat, all the perspective changed. The immediate reaction of the disciples was one of fright. Yes, they were frightened as it was, but this appearance on the sea unsettled them even further, so they thought they were seeing a ghost or apparition.
I might say something here about a Christian’s reaction to his own trouble. He may be in the battle with something dark and fearful, with his soul tortured and his hopes forlorn, but he may not have the courage of faith to reach out and claim the I AM as a very present help in time of trouble. It is a strange quirk of the fallen nature of man that the very thing that can help him is often rejected. A Christian should know better, but when in the storm, he tries every device, every avenue, every means at his disposal to extricate himself from his problems, but the Lord is on the bottom of the “to do” list. Where should He be? Why, at the top.
I think the substance of verse 20 is sublime. Jesus spoke because He cared. He loved his own, indeed, loving them unto death. What is this verse telling you about the character of the Lord? He is caring, and has the full concern for His own. He is the Comforter for His own and has sent the Holy Spirit to be of greater comfort to us. The Lord will not allow us to cope with more than we can endure. Some trials are fiery hot, and we may have our fingers burned in the fire, but whatever the Lord has allowed for us, He will never fall short in drawing near and speaking with us. I went through years of deep uncertainty in one event, and it seemed I was buried in the depths of the earth, but the Lord spoke to me. He did, not audibly, but in so many of the promises in the Psalms. They were given as gems falling from heaven. It is true that even today the Lord is speaking with some of His persecuted, and vilely treated children, in dreams as we hear occasionally from the Middle East (the Man in white). The Lord knows how to deal with each one of us. He is our Great High Priest and He is faithful and merciful. We need that don’t we? We need that ministry to us all the time.
The disciples certainly needed the Lord’s ministry, and the Lord knew that. He drew near to give them an assurance. He always does that. He assures us. We do not read in this story that the disciples cried out or called on the Lord for deliverance as Jonah did. Maybe it happened but it is not recorded. None of the gospels says they prayed or asked of God in their circumstances. It was the Lord who took them up. It was the Lord who took that first step. After Elijah's great victory against the prophets of Baal, he was hounded by Jezebel, and because of the spiritual battles he had been through, and the physical strain upon him, the pressure became too much for mortal man. Elijah ran away, then took shelter under a castor oil plant (it is not a gourd) and just wanted to die. He was so battered he could not rise up to heaven in his prayers or stand on the ground of rejoicing. He just sat in his misery. What happened then? Well, apart from the vine being stripped by a worm swarm (blue worm), it was the Lord who drew near to this hurting prophet. Can you appreciate just some of the tenderness of this event. There are some similarities with that night on the Sea of Galilee. It was the Lord who made the approach.
Don’t you remember Cleophas and his wife as they were journeying to Bethany on the resurrection afternoon in great sadness after having their expectations shattered about the Messiah? They were dejectedly conversing about the recent events in Jerusalem when Jesus drew near. Note that well. Jesus drew near. The great I AM drew near to comfort the sadness of His own dear ones. Again it was the Lord who took that first step as He does in sorrow or hardship or suffering or in trouble.
God never wastes words. He says precisely what is to be said. To those rowers that night He said two things. The first one was the superb I AM statement we are looking at, and the second was an instruction to them. In fact, the second one proceeds from the first. It is not much good my saying to you, “Do not be afraid”, for I don’t have the ability in my character to make that work for you. The reason why Jesus could say not to be afraid, was because He IS the great I AM from all eternity. All authority is His. All ability is His. All resources are found in Him. Why then are we often destitute when the Lord’s storehouse is full? Well it is for the same reason as those disciples on the sea. They looked to themselves, and not to the Lord. Fear made them inward looking, not outward looking to Jesus.
PETER’S MISPLACED ELATION
Matthew adds more to this account – {{Matthew 14:26 and when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were frightened, saying, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out for fear. Matt 14:27 Immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, “Take courage, it is I. Do not be afraid.” Matt 14:28 Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water,” Matt 14:29 and He said, “Come!” and Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus, Matt 14:30 but seeing the wind he became afraid, and began to sink, and he cried out saying, “Lord, save me!” Matt 14:31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”}}
This is the incident where Peter tried walking on the water. The Lord had already spoken the great “I AM” statement but Peter did not understand the import of that momentous declaration. We read there that it all began fine but when Peter’s eyes passed from the Lord to his own predicament and to the external factors all around him, then he failed. When we do that we begin to sink in our own uselessness. I have called this “Peter’s misplaced elation”. So thrilled was he to see the Lord that he asked permission to walk to the Saviour but his faith was misplaced. It was not properly residing in the Lord.
DO NOT BE AFRAID
The second part of that statement from John 6:20 was the assurance in the words, “Do not be afraid”. Because Jesus is the I AM, then there is no reason why we should be afraid. Is there? Ahh, but we know ourselves very well, and we know how fickle our faith can be. With some of us, it takes very little for us to become unsettled in difficulties, and we are fearful. Why are we fearful after many decades with the Lord? Is it because we have never learned to trust Him in any deeper aspects of our life? Picture an international batsman, (from cricket) an opening batsman who will face the first ball. Is he afraid? He might be nervous and careful and cautious, but experience with cricket has prepared him. (I used to be an opening batsman so I know the feeling well). Our experience with the Lord should have prepared us so that nothing should make us afraid when it comes along. Why are we not afraid? It is because our Lord is the I AM. It is that which makes all the difference.
Christian songs with a western flavour were popular in the USA in the 1950s to the 1980s and the composer who stood out as the best known writer and singer of Christian songs in those years, was John Peterson. He wrote over 300 songs but these days they are all but forgotten. Among some of the better known ones are:
“I just keep trusting my Lord”
“Marvellous message we bring”
“No one understands like Jesus,”
“Over the sunset mountains”
But one other is “I will trust and never be afraid,” written in 1958; with the first two lines being:
“I will trust and never be afraid,
Tho' I tread in sunshine or in shade.”
It really is a lovely song of faith and assurance, saying I will trust and I will never be afraid. They are ideal Christian sentiments, ones we need to have reinforced upon us. However I recall Peter who said, “No, Lord. I will not deny You. Lord, I will never betray You.” In spite of best intentions we know it happened. Judas also denied and betrayed the Lord but the difference was that Peter trusted the Lord and could never conceive of doing such a terrible thing. When we are in sunshine it is easy to say, “I won’t fear. I won’t be afraid,” but our own weak human nature sometimes betrays us when the shadows and shade come. There is an anchor, and it is “ego emi” - I, I AM. This is where our entire trust must rest.
But you know, it is possible to be so occupied with the things of earth, that we do not even recognise Jesus when he comes to help us. We are so occupied with our own affairs, our own circumstances, that we do not know Him when He comes to give deliverance. We grope around on grovel ground.
The disciples were so afraid because they thought He was a phantom or a ghost. Circumstances can so blind the eyes that we fail to discern that it is really Jesus when He comes to bring the rest we are longing for.
The Saviour speaks to every anxious heart who is crying for help – “It is I. Do not be afraid,” and such He speaks to every anxious heart who is crying for help. Once a man asked another, “Well, brother, how are you getting along?” The other looked up with a gloomy face and said, “Well, I am doing pretty well under the circumstances.” The other said, “O, I am sorry to hear you are under the circumstances. Christ delights to lift us above all circumstances.” That is just what He does. Jesus is the God of Circumstances. We do not need to be under the circumstances. Paul the Apostle had more difficulties than any of us will have to suffer, but he explained to the Philippians, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
VERSE 21
In this passage in John 6, the 21st verse adds that when the Lord entered the boat, the boat was immediately at the place where it was heading. A miracle of course, but what we can note is that the Lord removed the boat from the trouble, not the trouble from around the boat. The trouble might rage all around you, but He can deliver you from its clutches. Do not be afraid. He is the “I AM”. “I AM who I AM”. Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the all-powerful One. He will keep you always because He is with you, even until the end of the age.
The mystery of iniquity, or if you like, the outworking of wickedness, is becoming more powerful in the world today. We won’t be dramatic. Those of you who are my age or around that, can remember the times when contentment and decency and trust and honesty and certainty, had a much greater control of society than they do today. I come from a pagan country where even now there is growing opposition to anything Christian and discrimination against Christian values is popping up everywhere. Corporate greed, governmental incompetence almost worldwide (can’t solve debt and world problems), laws enforcing homosexual marriage, rising criminal activity and terrorism, global disruption through ethnic hatred, and Islam, the dramatic increase in the occult, spiritism, witchcraft, paganism, climate change agendas destroying nations, and the undying thirst for entertainment and pleasure – these are just some of the pressures that are driving world events today. Let me share this – that none of these has an affinity with Christianity, and as they get more powerful, Christians get more isolated. But, do Christians get weaker? Christianity may get weaker, but Christians don’t. Why would that be? It is because the Great I AM is the same yesterday, today and forever. That is the secret.
In your hour of need, the Lord is there; in the storm, He is there; in that family crisis, He is there; when your health and physical body are failing, He is there. He draws near just as He did to the disciples long ago on the Sea of Galilee, and He is just as powerful and concerned. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever.
I, I AM – THE BLESSED LORD WHO SUSTAINS ME
I, I AM. Blessed Lord, who has hold of me in fine weather or foul; in comfort or conflict; in transcendence or tragedy. When it does not go well for us, it is not the Lord who is at fault. Recall, that it was the disciples who were trying to do it all in their own strength. You also will battle against contrary winds if you do it all in your own way with your ability. Remember the words of that lovely hymn or song we used to sing long ago, but like many of the great old favourites, they are disappearing from churches generally. Here it is but the chorus is particularly fitting in this message”
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Saviour,
And life more abundant and free.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion
For more than conqu’rors we are!
His Word shall not fail you, He promised;
Believe Him and all will be well;
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
There were some comments written by people about that hymn in Cyberhymnal and these words by a Nancy J were for another woman – “Shirley, God will wrap His arms around you and guide you. He will give you His peace as you follow Him closely. While we suffer the consequences of our actions here, He is a very gracious God. He works all things together for our good - He has forgiven any sin involved. He will guide You. Trust Him, even if it seems there is no clear path.”
For those disciples in the boat, there was no clear path through that storm, but the I, I AM, found one. He knew all the time what He was doing. In any difficulty, turn your eyes upon Jesus walking on the sea of your storms. Invite Him into your boat. Trust Him always. He is still there in the darkest storm, and the greater the darkness, then the greater should be the sight of His presence walking on the storms of life.
The Lord bless us all
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
