Who Did Jesus Really Claim to Be?
John 8:48-59
Introduction
Here is another quote from Dan Brown’s, The Da Vinci Code: “Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet… a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal.”
This is pretty much the general opinion concerning Jesus. Islam sees Jesus as a great prophet, Buddhism sees Him as one who was enlightened, social groups see Him as an example, pacifists see Him as a supporter to their cause, but what did Jesus say about Himself?
There are 8 statements made by Jesus regarding who He really believed Himself to be, the first such claim is found in John 8…
Jesus said, “…before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58)
“Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."
The first passage I would like to look at before we look at any of the others is John 8:58. It is here that Jesus makes one of the most startling claims in all of the gospels regarding the essence of who He really was. So what is so special about what Jesus is saying? In order to get a sense of the controversial nature of what Jesus said here and why it was that everyone who heard Him wanted to kill him, we need to visit Exodus 3.
You remember the story of Moses and the burning bush and how Moses went to check it out only to find that even though it was on fire, it was not consumed by the fire—God manifested His presence in that bush. Why did God do this? He appeared before Moses for the purpose of commissioning him to lead Israel out of Egypt. After a long and unsuccessful attempt on Moses’ part to convince God to pick someone else, we find these words in Exodus 3:13-15,
"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?" 14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, ’I AM has sent me to you.’" 15 God also said to 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.”
The reason why everyone wanted to kill Jesus for what He said in John 8:58 is because He was actually saying that He was the “I AM” of Exodus 3:14. It would have been easier for Jesus to say, “Before Abraham was born, I was” if He was only interested in stating His preexistence, but He didn’t. Instead, Jesus claimed the divine name of God, “I Am”, as being His name.
Which leads me to the second claim Jesus made about Himself…
Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:35)
“Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
The day after Jesus had fed five thousand people with five barley loves of bread and two fish, many of the people who ate the bread, sought Jesus because of what they had witnessed the day before. When these people found Jesus in Capernaum, Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal” (6:26-27).
The bread that Jesus gave to the crowds to eat was just that—bread. The miracle that was performed was simply an illustration of something much bigger than full stomachs or an amazing phenomena; it was an illustration of the One who could fill the deepest hunger of the human soul.
The crowd never really got what Jesus was trying to show them. In fact many of those who decided to follow Him early on in His ministry thought what He was saying was too difficult to accept so they stopped following Him and went home (6:60-65). I think one of the biggest reasons why they beat feet was because of the strong attraction we often have for the things of the world: we find contentment in money, in work, in friends, and so many other things of this world that we fail to discover that those things are illusions which often keep us from seeing that our deepest needs can only be met in Jesus.
The third thing Jesus said about Himself came just after a woman who was caught in adultery was thrown before Him in an effort to get Jesus to contradict the Old Testament Law which demanded capital punishment.
Jesus said, “I am the Light of the World (John 8:12)
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Jesus claims to be the Light of the World. And this right comes right on the heels of coming to rescue a woman who was about to have her head bashed in for being caught in the act of adultery. Jesus didn’t rescue her because she was not guilty; He intervened that she might become the beneficiary of grace.
This woman was drug out of the bed of a married man, drug through the streets of Jerusalem, and then thrown at the feet of Jesus. The people had their stones in hand and the execution was about to commence, but not until the religious leaders could use the opportunity to catch Jesus off guard. You see, they knew Jesus hung out with the likes of this woman and if they could get Jesus to contradict what the Law in the Old Testament clearly said, then they would something to hang Jesus on.
But they didn’t understand that Jesus was the Light of the World who not only exposes a persons’ need for mercy but exposes their sin as well. So, everyone was ready to take this woman’s life and catch Jesus on a technicality. Jesus finishes up what he was writing in the sand then says, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Notice what happened next after everyone dropped their stones and walked away: “Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more" (vv. 10-11). Jesus was the only one qualified to pick up a stone to end her life. Instead, what does He do? He tells her to go and sin no more. As the Light of the World, Jesus is not content to leave us wallowing in our sin, instead He would rather go to a Roman cross to die for our sin, and call us to sin no more.
But Jesus is not just the Light of the World, He is the Gate by which one can enter to have eternal life…
Jesus said, “I am the Door” (John 10:9)
“So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
Jesus made this statement shortly after He found out that the religious leaders banned a man born blind, whom He had healed, from ever going to church (Synagogue) again. As the Light of the World, Jesus made a blind man see and then as the Gate, showed Him that He alone was the only way to salvation.
Ironically the thieves and robbers that Jesus was talking about here are many of the religious leaders of His day. They taught that you had to do, do, do in order to gain eternal life, but Jesus taught you had to come to Him in order to receive salvation. The irony of John 9-10 is that the man who was born blind then later healed had spiritual eyes to see, while the pastors and Bible college professors of his day were able to see the miracles Jesus performed, but were too blind spiritually to see that Jesus was in fact the Son of God.
But this is not all we see in this passage, for just a few verses down we discover the fifth “I Am” claim Jesus made about Himself…
Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11)
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
When Jesus says here that He is the Good Shepherd, He again is making a claim regarding His deity; He is saying that He is the Shepherd spoken of in Psalm 23,
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
Jesus claims to be the Good Shepherd, which means we are the sheep of his flock. Did you know it is difficult to get sheep to lie down? In order for a shepherd to get his sheep to lie down, the shepherd must meet four basic needs…
1. Sheep will not lie down if there is any hint of fear in them.
2. Sheep will not lie down unless they are free from any friction from the other sheep.
3. Sheep will not lie down if bugged by flies or parasites.
4. Sheep will not lie down if they are hungry.
So in order to get sheep to lie down, they must be free from fear, tension, aggravation, and hunger. Jesus frees us from the fear of destruction and anxiety;
• In Jesus there is guidance: “He leads me beside still waters and guides me in paths of righteousness”;
• In Jesus there is safety: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me”;
• In Jesus there is provision: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows”;
• In Jesus, we are given a home: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Jesus is not only the good shepherd because it is in Him we find a savior who is sufficient to satisfy our hearts, but also because He will never let His sheep go, for He says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one” (10:27-30).
This leads me to the sixth “I Am” statement Jesus made about Himself…
Jesus said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25)
‘Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
Because Jesus is the great “I Am”, He is also the Resurrection and the Life. Lazarus had died four days ago, the family is devastated over the death of this man, and Jesus assures Martha that those who believe in Him will not only discover what it means to truly live in this world, but what it means to truly live period. This life is not all that there is; we were meant for something more than this. Lazarus was meant for something more than this, and Jesus assures Martha that it is only in Him that one discovers the life we were meant to live.
Martha doesn’t know it yet, but Jesus will die a cursed man’s death and then rise on the third day conquering the curse of sin and death’s finality. But, just to illustrate His point that He is indeed the resurrection and the life, He takes a man who has been dead not three days, but four and raises him back to life.
Jesus lets Martha know, and He lets us know, that when we one day feel the cold sting of death as this earthly tent fades and we take our walk through the valley of the shadow of death, there is one who wears the title: The Resurrection and the Life. Because Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life we are promised an epitaph on deaths tomb which will read, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
There is only One who guarantees this promise, there is only One who will see to it that death is swallowed up by life. This is why Jesus made the seventh great “I Am” claim about Himself, and that is…
Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6)
“Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
There is no other way to salvation; there is no other avenue to knowing God. Jesus makes it perfectly clear that there is only one door, one Shepherd that enables one to find forgiveness and fellowship with the God for whom we were created. There is no eternal life apart from Jesus Christ; the Way of Life is narrow and exclusive. Salvation is found in no one else except in Jesus Christ alone. Thomas Kempis once expressed the following meditation on this verse,
“Follow thou me. I am the way and the truth and the life. Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which thou must follow; the truth which thou must believe; the life for which thou must hope. I am the inviolable way; the infallible truth, the never-ending life. I am the straightest way; the sovereign truth; life true, life blessed, life uncreated.”
As the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Jesus is the source of experiencing what it truly means to be human, which leads to the final great “I Am” statement that He made about Himself…
Jesus said, “I am the True Vine” (John 15:1)
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
We were created for the purpose of reflecting the glory of God in all that we do; Jesus says here that we are only able to fulfill that purpose if we are rooted in Him as the True Vine. I like to think of this rootedness in Christ as a sacred romance with the God we were created for. It is only in Christ do we discover and experience all that it means to be created in the image of God.
We have seen eight things Jesus said about Himself, all of which was a statement that He was not just some religious leader. In closing, I would like to suggest to you that these eight “I Am” statements show us what it means to be a Christian. Permit me to close with a quote from Gary Burge’s commentary on John 15:1 which I think sums up all the “I Am” passages,
…Christianity is not simply about believing the right things (though this is important). Nor is it simply a matter of living a Christ-like life (though this is important too). Christian experience must necessarily have a mystical, spiritual, not-quantifiable dimension. To be a disciple means having the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit living in us (14:23-26). It means having a supernatural, interior experience that is completely unlike anything available in the world. It is a way of believing (doctrine) and a way of living (ethics), but these are nurtured by the life-giving connection with Jesus Christ. Today’s world is not hardened in a rigid demand for rationalistic religious proof as it was in another generation. It is a bona fide spiritual experience that authenticates religious truth in our world, and this is precisely what Jesus is describing.
