The Names of God #11 - I AM That I AM

Think about Christ. Why is that they can say certain things about Christ but really not understand the Truth? What is it that was missed in Christ’s message by so many people? As I’ve mentioned many times before, the book of John is a very unusual book. Though it is very easy to read, there are many, many things in the book of John that are very, very important for us to understand. So, we’ll fall back a little bit on our Greek, and I want to show you two words in the Greek that mean the same thing:

1. ego—you’ve heard the word ego used in psychological terms; that means I am
2. eimi—means I am

In the Greek you want it to be very emphatic! You use the term ‘ego-eimi’ or ‘eimi-ego’ because you can switch the words around in the Greek. We’ll see what sort of meaning this has, especially in the book of John. It is used occasionally by others when they want to state something very emphatic, and it’s stating what you are as a being: I am…. (whatever).

We will see how John records for us some of the very emphatic statements of Jesus Christ. But first let’s go to Exo. 3:14, because this has an awful lot to do with Who Christ is. One of the first difficulties that most pseudo-Christian religions have concerning Jesus Christ is that most of them—some of them do—do not believe that Jesus Christ was the Lord God of the Old Testament.

You know the account where God called Moses; told him He was going to send him to Egypt.

Exodus 3:13: “And Moses said to God, ‘Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they shall say to me, “What is His name?” What shall I say to them?’ And God said unto Moses, ‘I AM THAT I AM.’….” (vs 13-14). That is perhaps the most literal comparison in the Hebrew and the Greek: ‘ego-eimi’—I AM, I AM. Here He says: “…I AM THAT I AM….”

“…And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”’ And God said to Moses again, ‘You shall say this to the children of Israel, “The LORD 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 this is My title from generation to generation.”’” (vs 14-15).

This becomes very important when we see what Jesus said and how He said it. It also becomes very important in our relationship with God and with Christ, and our relationship in prayer and in study. Our daily, personal relationship with God is most important, and that is accomplished:

• through prayer
• through study
• through living the words of God

That is how our relationship is established and maintained.

The reason I want to go to John 18:5 is to show you that in this particular instance we have where the word ‘eimi’ is used separate from ‘ego’—and it’s translated in the King James ‘I AM’ from the ‘eimi.’

John 18:5 “They answered Him, ‘Jesus the Nazarean.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I AM’….” Notice in the Greek: ‘ego-eimi.’ ‘Ego’ means I AM; ‘eimi’ means I AM. Notice the power that this was used. This was when Jesus was arrested. They came out after the prayer (John 17) and in John 18 they came out and said, ‘Where is Jesus?’ He said, ‘Ego-Eimi’—I AM’

“…And Judas, who was betraying Him, was also standing with them. But when He said to them, ‘I AM,’ they went backward and fell to the ground” (vs 5-6).

This tells us a little bit about the power of the emphasis of what that word carries, that those people who came out to arrest Jesus were literally knocked off their feet! That’s pretty powerful! You heard someone say ‘I AM’ and you go loopty-loop and fall on the ground. If I were one of the soldiers there I’d begin thinking: Do I want to arrest this guy or not?

Verse 7: “Then He asked them again, ‘Who are you seeking?’ And they said, ‘Jesus the Nazarean.’ Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I AM….” (vs 7-8).

Here we see the power and the emphasis in it. Where the ‘I AM’ has that tremendous force. We’ll see a little later where the word ‘eimi’ is used in conjunction with or in parallel with ‘ego-eimi.’

Now, let’s go back to the very first part of the Gospel of John. Sometimes this is very, very good to do, just to get an overall view. Sometimes you can do this before you study or after you study. Or if you’re just thinking on something and want to begin looking at it from a different point of view, sometimes this is very helpful. This is what I like to use in the way of memorizing a chapter. You don’t memorize the whole chapter, you just remember a summary of what is in the chapter as you go along. Then this is very, very helpful. The book of John is very, very unusual in the way that it’s laid out. I want to cover with these two things we will see very clearly. Jesus is called:

1. the Word (Greek: ho logos)
2. the Truth (Greek: ho alethes)

I want to show you the tremendous inspiration and the simplicity of John. Jesus is called The Word; He is also called The Truth. Remember what Jesus said in His prayer before He was arrested: ‘Father, sanctify them with Your Truth—Your Word is Truth.’ So, this also ties together in a circle, because you have

• Christ
• the Truth
• the Word
• sanctification

—those all fit together just like in a circle.

• you’re sanctified through God’s Word
• Jesus Christ is the personification of God’s Word.
• God’s Word is Truth
• Jesus said He was the Truth

And we’re back to being sanctified with the Word of God. Plus, He is called here: The Word! the Spokesman of God!

• John 1—we have the introduction of Christ and John the Baptist, and the calling of several disciples.
• John 2—(first part) He changes the water to wine; that’s very, very hard for ‘teetotalers’ to take out of the Bible. God condemns drunkenness but Proverbs says, ‘Wine makes merry the heart.’

(second part): He went up to the Passover, to Jerusalem.

As we go through, I want you to see the pattern that John has been written: Passover, all festival seasons, Passover, all festival season, Passover. We’ll see that whole sequence, just in summary in the book of John.

As the ministry of Jesus Christ built up, He became more and more notorious in the eyes of the scribes and the Pharisees. They wanted to kill Jesus Christ.

• John 4—Here’s where Jesus talks to the woman at the well and He shows that we are to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Then there is an allusion to the harvest. After the Passover comes Pentecost! Pentecost is a harvest. It doesn’t directly tell us it’s the Pentecost season.

John 4:34: “Jesus said to them, ‘My meat is to do the will of Him Who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do not say that there are yet four months, and then the harvest comes. I say to you, look around. Lift up your eyes and see the fields, for they are already white to harvest’” (vs 34-35).

That’s the exact length of time it is between the Pentecost harvest, or the harvest of the firstfruits, and the harvest at the end of the year in the fall. So, this is just an allusion to the harvest of the Pentecost season.

John 5:1 does not tell us directly which Feast this is, but it says: “After these things there was a Feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”

If it’s after Pentecost then this has got to be one of the fall festival Holy Days. There are no Feasts between Pentecost and the fall Holy Days. There are two days of fasting and mourning, the ninth and tenth of Ab. According to the Hebrew calendar the ninth and tenth of Ab are the two days in which Jerusalem fell: during the days of Nebuchadnezzar and also during the days of Titus when it fell in 70_A.D.

Sidebar: After the Jews came back out of captivity from Babylon, which was in the 400s_B.C. they set aside the ninth and tenth of Ab as a day of fasting and prayer for Jerusalem. On that day they would read the Lamentations of Jeremiah. This was established in the regular routine reading in the synagogues. In the synagogues they have regular, routine readings of various parts of the Scriptures all through the year. Every year when they come to the ninth and tenth of Ab they, as a congregation, gather together and they read the Lamentations of Jeremiah.

When Jerusalem fell again in 70_A.D. all of the Jews scattered around the world, meeting in their synagogues were reading what was actually taking place in Jerusalem when Titus was conquering Jerusalem and destroying the Temple. You talk about a literal fulfillment of prophecy in their lives. The very day they were reading those words it fell in 70_A.D.

That is the only event between Pentecost and Trumpets, the ninth and tenth of Ab. So it is not a Feast per se. Where it says: “After these things there was a Feast of the Jews… [referring to Lev. 23] …and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”

We know that He healed the man that had the infirmity for 38-years. He was accused of breaking the Sabbath. He didn’t break the Sabbath, however, but one thing that gives us a clue that this is the fall festival season—though it doesn’t tell us the exact day—is because it talks about ‘judgment.’ It talks about ‘resurrection.’

Verse 22: “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son.” Why had God the Father committed all judgment to Jesus Christ? Because Christ was a human being, and He understands human nature! He also understands from firsthand experience what it is like to overcome Satan the devil.

• He knows what the temptations are
• He knows what the weakness of the flesh is
• He knows how people can succumb to those things

That’s why judgment is given to Him, because He has experienced it.

Then, of course, we all—in every one of our lives—are much more moderate in our judgments when we’ve experience something that we have done that we ought not do. Now we’re confronted with the situation: How do we handle it when we have to have authority to handle it with someone? Either our children or someone we’re living with, whatever? Yet, now then, we have to handle the situation in a proper way. How do we handle it when we’ve had the experience?

• with more understanding
• with more mercy
• with more readiness to forgive

—and that’s why all judgment is given to Christ.

Verse 23: “So that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him. Truly, truly I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him Who sent Me, has everlasting life and does not come into judgment; for he has passed from death into life. Truly, truly I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live” (vs 23-25).

We know very clearly that the day of the biggest resurrection is going to be the day picturing the Last Great Day after the Feast of Tabernacles. So, it could very well have some reference to that, I don’t know, it doesn’t say. But you can fish around and with these ‘Judgment Feasts’ in the fall, and you pretty well know it has to be in the fall, according to the setting.

Verse 26: “For even as the Father has life in Himself, so also has He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and has also given Him authority to execute judgment because He is the Son of man. Do not wonder at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth: those who have practiced good unto a resurrection of life, and those who have practiced evil unto a resurrection of judgment” (vs 26-29). So, we have a festival season here in John 5.

John 6:4: “Now, the Passover a Feast of the Jews, was near.” So we have:

• John 2—Passover
• John 5—Fall Festival season
• John 6—Passover

We will see some lessons that Jesus teaches on this when we come back and study more about the terminology ‘ego-eimi.’ John deliberately left out many events because I’m sure a lot of events happened between Passover and Feast of Tabernacles. John is laying out the book of John according to the Passover/Fall Festival season.

John 7:2: “Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was near.” So, there’s a Fall Festival season because it covers the Feast of Tabernacles. It talks about the Last Great Day (v 37). This undoubtedly has to be just toward sunset as the Last Great Day was beginning.

• John 8 & 9—We find in the morning that He preached
• John 10:22—the Feast of Dedication

That’s just kind of a little inset there. That’s what the Jews call Hanukah today. To actually keep the real Feast of Dedication would not necessarily be wrong, but I don’t know how far the Jews have strayed in their Hanukah celebration. But I do know the basic thing behind it was that after they were cleansing the temple from the abomination of desolation in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes and dedicating it, and they only had enough oil for one day, but it burned for eight days until the temple was purified. That’s where they get the feast of Hanukah. But I imagine it is pretty well commercialized and made an awful lot like Christmas nowadays, as the Jews answer to the ‘Christian’ (so-called) Christmas.

• John 11—the resurrection of Lazarus
• John 12—begins the Passover, Jesus’ last Passover

The basic outline that is there:

• Passover
• Fall Festival season
• Passover
• Fall Festival season

This is very interesting, especially when there are those who don’t believe in keeping the Holy Days—how can you avoid it when the book of John is written around it? It’s pretty hard to avoid!

Names of GOD/Jesus Christ

1. I AM—ego eimi

John 1:20—This is when they came and asked John the Baptist who he was. The word ‘ego-eimi’ is not used exclusively in reference to Christ in the New Testament. Others have used it. Gabriel, when he came and told Mary who he was, said, ‘Ego-eimi’ Gabriel—I am Gabriel.’ It was dogmatic stating who he was. Here’s a case of John the Baptist where he uses ‘eimi ego.’

John 1:20: “Then he freely admitted, and did not deny, but declared, ‘I am [eimi ego] not the Christ.’”

Here is a place where the word ‘ego’ is used without ‘eimi’, v 21: “And they asked him, ‘Then who are you? Are you Elijah?’ And he said, ‘I am not.’….”—‘ook eimi—there’s no ‘ego’ there. So, he’s not making it as emphatic. There’s the ‘eimi’ used alone: ‘ook’ or ‘ook’ means not—that’s the negative.

“Then they asked, ‘Are you the Prophet?’ And he answered, ‘No’” (v 21). {see sermon That Prophet}

Verse 22: “Therefore, they said to him, ‘Who are you? What do you say about yourself so that we may give an answer to those who sent us?’ He said, ‘I am… [‘ego’—used separately; ‘eimi’ used separately] …a voice crying in the wilderness…’” (vs 22-23). But when Jesus uses it, the way John writes it in the book of John, makes it very, very emphatic!

John 4:25 is where the woman came to the well: “The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming, Who is called Christ; when He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I [ego] Who speak to you am [eimi] He’” (vs 25-26).

He was telling here He was in fact the Messiah, and used this very emphatic expression: ‘ego eimi’—‘I AM He Who is speaking to you.’ And then the disciples came and you know the rest of the story. He told the woman He would give her water and she would never thirst again. He very emphatically says to the question: Are you the Christ? He said, ‘I AM’—ego eimi’

John 6 has to do with the Passover. Here again we know that Jesus fed the 5,000. I’ve often wondered what it would have been like to sit there and see these loaves continually increase and the fish to continually increase and then go back and get all the leftover food. When you know how hard it is to fish, and you know how hard it is to raise grain and then to go ahead and harvest it and thrash it and make flour… They didn’t have corner grocery stores to go down and buy a bag of flour; you had to grind it up. So, there was a lot of work to gathering food and making food.

Let’s notice the reaction of the people, John 6:13: “Then they gathered them together, filling twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten. Now, when the men saw the miracle that Jesus had done, they said, ‘Of a truth, this is the Prophet Who was to come into the world.’”

So, Jesus’ notoriety was spreading far and wide. They were looking for ‘that Prophet’ that Moses said would come. So, when they said ‘that Prophet’ that has some significance.

Verse 15: “Because Jesus perceived that they were about to come and seize Him, so that they might make Him king…” Wasn’t He born King of the Jews? But, by Whose will? By Whose designation? By God’s designation; not by mob designation!

Let’s see what Jesus did at the Passover in Jerusalem, John 2:23: “Now, when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the Feast, many believed on His name, as they observed the miracles that He was doing. But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all men; and He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man” (vs 23-25)—because of man’s human nature.

He knew what was in man; therefore, He could not trust Himself to any person! We’ll see a little later when the disciples avowed, ‘You have the words of life, where will we go?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘Do you really believe?’ If you’re one of the disciples, you might take that as kind of a putdown. But He knew what was in man.

John 6—here come all these people praising Him for the good thing He did; ‘marvelous Master that You fed the 5,000’—you can almost hear them. He probably could hear them mumbling in the background, ‘Oh, boy, we take this man and we make Him king, then He’s going to feed everybody; we’re going to have the utopia; we’re going to have the Millennium; it’s going to be marvelous; everything is going to be great, great, great and better, better, better!

What did Jesus do when they came to take Him by force to make Him a king? When it came down to accepting Jesus as king, as Savior for the forgiveness of sin, what did they do? They crucified Him! Yes, everybody’s willing to go out and join the good, everybody’s willing to go out and get behind a political cause, but they don’t want to submit to God!

John 6:15: “…He withdrew again to a mountain by Himself alone. Now, when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea; and they went into a ship and were crossing the sea to Capernaum; for it had already become dark, and Jesus had not come to them. But the sea was tossing because a strong wind was blowing. And after rowing about twenty-five or thirty furlongs, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and approaching the ship; and they were afraid. But He said to them, ‘I AM He. Do not be afraid.’…. [in the Greek ‘Ego eimi’—I AM] …Then they willingly received Him into the ship; and immediately the ship was at the land to which they were going” (vs 15-21)—clear to the other side.

Verse 22: On the next day, the multitude standing on the other side of the sea, who had observed that no other small ship was there besides the one into which the disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not gone into the small ship with His disciples, but that His disciples had departed alone; (But other small ships had come from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread…” (vs 22-23).

The word went out, ‘Hey, come over here and get a free meal; you ought to see what’s happening to these loaves of bread and fish’—so, they were coming.

“…after the Lord had given thanks); accordingly, when the multitude saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also went in the ships and came to Capernaum, looking for Jesus” (vs 22-24). You could almost see this: a whole mass of ships going across the Sea of Galilee, just like a surging mob, trying to find where Jesus was—looking, seeking for Jesus!

Verse 25: “And after finding Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, ‘Rabbi, when did You come here?’ Jesus answered them and said, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, you do not seek Me because you saw the miracles, but because you ate the bread and were satisfied. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures unto eternal life…” (vs 25-27). Then comes the whole beginning lesson of the meaning of the Passover.

2. Bread of Life

Verse 35: “Jesus said to them, ‘I AM… [‘ego eimi’—very emphatic, stating that He was] …the Bread of Life…” If they wanted to live, they had to do it Jesus’ way—having to eat His flesh—of which the counterfeit of that is the ‘sacrifice of the Mass’ for the so-called ‘holy’ Eucharist. Eucharist is just an untranslated Greek word which means thanks or thanksgiving.

“…the one who comes to Me shall never hunger; and the one who believes in Me shall never thirst at any time” (v 35). He is answering the question that He gave in Matt. 5, where He said, ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.’ And He gives the answer how that is done! Christ is the Bread, and He is the Life! So then, if you come to Christ you’re no more going to hunger and thirst. He said, “…I AM the Bread of Life…”

Verse 41: “Then the Jews were complaining against Him, because He said, ‘I AM [ego eimi] the Bread that came down from heaven.’” They were talking about the manna, which came from heaven. Why couldn’t He give them manna, like God gave them in the desert, and feed them? So, “…He said, ‘I AM the Bread that came down from heaven.’”

Then, He repeats it again, v 48: “I AM the Bread of Life.” Notice we have where Jesus said the meaning, ‘ego eimi’—which is ‘I AM’—and then He said, ‘I AM the Bread of Life’—very emphatically!

Verse 51: “I AM [‘ego eimi’] the living Bread, which came down from heaven…” Not only is He the Bread of Life, He is the living Bread! The Bread of the Life, as it is in the Greek: ‘Ego eimi ho artos ho zoe.’ It’ll give you just a little flavor, a little appreciation for some of the New Testament in a little different light. Many of the Jews left Him because they couldn’t bear the saying, ‘You have to eat My flesh and drink My blood’ and so forth.

Verse 63: “It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing….” That means just this fleshly existence. There were all these great boxers: Marvelous Marvin Hagler was a great boxer; had all these muscles and he’s really in good shape, a tremendous boxer. But you know, the book of Ecclesiastes was written to fulfill this statement: “…the flesh profits nothing….”! It all comes and goes; it profits nothing! You can see that in almost any aspect of life.

“…The words that I speak to you, they are Spirit and they are Life” (v 63). This is why, brethren, when you study God’s Word and you ask God’s Spirit to be with you, and when you get a satisfaction in your very mind and being—or as the Bible would say: ‘In your heart’—that is a spiritual reaction because of the Words of God. That’s why if there are any troubles, sing songs—the Psalms—study the Psalms, study the things that are there.

Many, many times, when we’ve gone through the different trials, just studying the Psalms and using those in part with our prayer and study together, it’s almost as if those words fit the exact minute-to-minute situation in your life. You get this tremendous feeling, which is the spiritual satisfaction that comes from God’s Spirit, from His Word. There’s nothing magical about the print. We can take another book, any book, there’s nothing magical about the print. But it’s what the Words are, and the spiritual meaning of them and how that entering into our mind combined with God’s Spirit gives this profiting of God’s Spirit.

“…The words that I speak to you, they are Spirit and they are Life. But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the beginning who were the ones that did not believe, and who would betray Him” (vs 63-64). That’s really something!

Jesus not only knew what was in man, but He also knew what was not in man. He had the ability to know instantly whether someone was for Him or against Him, loved Him or hated Him. That really put a tremendous pressure on Him, part of the pressure of being the Messiah to know and understand that. And He knew from the beginning.

Verse 65: “And He said, ‘For this reason, I have said to you, no one can come to Me… [coming to Christ physically, by presence, by command, by desire, by edict] …unless it has been given to him from My Father.’ From that time, many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him. Therefore, Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Are you also desiring to go away?’ Then Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed and have known that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” (vs 65-69).

Jesus didn’t say, ‘Well, bless you Peter, that’s wonderful, marvelous.’ Verse 70: “Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you twelve, and one of you is a devil?’”

(go to the next track)

That was a big putdown. He just said, ‘Don’t get all excited about that, folks.’ Verse 71: “Now, He spoke of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son; for he was about to betray Him, being one of the twelve.”

Then we come to the fall festival season of the Feast of Tabernacles. The main point I want to emphasize with this, especially this one here, is where Christ is talking about the difference between the spiritual things and physical things.

John 7:24: “Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” And that’s what He was telling the Jews: “…judge righteous judgment.” Make a proper judgment of the situation.

Then we come to where on the Last Great Day Jesus said, v 37: “Now, in the last day, the great day of the Feast, Jesus stood and called out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink…. [ties right in with John 6:35] …The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, which those who believed in Him would soon receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified” (vs 37-39).

John 8 is the real confrontation chapter. Here’s the woman who was caught in adultery, and didn’t Jesus give ‘righteous judgment’? Yes, He did! He said, ‘Who is not guilty of sin cast the first stone.’ He didn’t condemn the woman, He said, ‘Go and sin no more.’

3. The Light of the World

John 8:12—here’s another one of the ‘I AMs’: “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I AM… [‘ego eimi to phos’—meaning I AM the Light of the world; ‘ego eimi to phos to kosmos’] …the Light of the world; the one who follows Me shall never walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life.’” That is to bring us through all the darkness of this world. S, He’s the Light of the world.

4. One Who Bears Witness

Verse 18—where they told Him Your judgment is not true. “‘I AM One Who bears witness of Myself, and the Father, Who sent Me bears witness of Me.’”

5 .From Above

6 .Not of this Word

Verse 21—the Jews didn’t like this: “Then Jesus said to them again, ‘I am going away; and you shall seek Me, but you shall die in your sin. Where I am going, you are not able to come.’” In the Greek, that is ‘ego’ used separately, without ‘eimi.’

Verse 22: “Therefore, the Jews said, ‘Will He kill Himself? Is that why He says, ‘Where I am going, you are not able to come’?’ And He said to them, ‘You are from beneath; I AM [ego eimi] from above. You are of this world; I AM [ego ook eimi’] not of this world’” (vs 22-23). And that’s why He had to be the Savior.

7. I AM

Verse 24: “That is why I said to you that you shall die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I AM… [goes right back to Exo. 3 where the very name of God was I AM, and He was telling the Jews, ‘unless you believe I AM “…you shall die in your sins…” In other words, you have no salvation. Very emphatic and profound statement!

Verse 28: “Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you yourselves shall know that I AM [ego eimi] …and that I do nothing of Myself. But as the Father taught Me, these things I speak.”

Here comes the tremendous confrontation between the Jews, arguing about His birth, whether it was legitimate or not. And He said, ‘You seek to kill Me. You’re of your father the devil.’

Verse 55—this really blew their minds; if you want a statement which will blow the Jews’ mind. “‘Yet, you have not known Him; but I know Him. And if I say that I do not know Him, I shall be a liar, like you. But I know Him, and I keep His Word. Abraham your father was overjoyed to see My day; and he saw it, and rejoiced.’ Then the Jews said to Him, ‘You are not even fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM [ego eimi]’” (vs 55-58). All the way through here in chapter eight, He said three times I AM.

Notice what they did, v 59 “Then they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus concealed Himself and went out of the temple, passing through the midst of them, and in this manner departed.”

He scooted out there pretty quick! Why did they want to kill Him? What was it that the Jesus said that He was worthy of death? To this very day the Jews hold that against Jesus. They said ‘He blasphemed because He said God was His Father’ and that He was the Son of God. Those Jews, at that time, knew what the word ‘ego eimi’ meant; because He said “…before Abraham was, I AM.”

8. The Door of the Sheep

John 10:1: “Truly, truly I say to you, the one who does not enter the sheepfold through the door, but climbs up some other way, that one is a thief and a robber.” It’s amazing how many people don’t even know that verse is in the Bible, because they just want to do things their way. We’re going to see a little later on that Jesus said ‘He was the Way.’

But He’s saying here, anyone who comes up any other way “…is a thief and a robber. But the one who enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he brings the sheep out, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger for they will flee from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’” (vs 1-5).

Isn’t that true, you start hearing some strange things and what do you do? You just scoot out of the way! Get out of the way.

Verse 6: “Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they did not understand what He was saying to them. Therefore, Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, I AM [ego eimi] the door of the sheep…. [we are the sheep] …All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers…” (vs 6-8).

In relationship to what? This is very interesting, because when you remember the counterfeiting of the pagan religions that Satan did, where one of the symbols of Apollo was that he had a sheep on his shoulder and he was the shepherd. So, when He says:

Verse 8: “All that every came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I AM the door…. [He’s the door of the sheepfold] …If anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture” (vs 8-9). That’s why we have to continually come back to Christ in everything we do in our daily lives, in our relationships with one another.

Verse 10: “The thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy….” That’s why we’re the battered and beaten group. We’re the little sheep over here in the corner and we’re licking our wounds, and Christ is healing us. That’s basically what it amounts to.

“…I… [ego, without ‘eimi’] …have come so that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly” (v 10).

9. The Good Shepherd

Verse 11: “I AM [ego eimi] the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. But the one who is a hireling, and who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep, and flees. And the wolf seizes the sheep and scatters them. Now the hireling flees because he is a hireling and has no concern for the sheep. I AM [ego eimi] the good Shepherd, and I know those who are Mine, and am known of those who are Mine.’” (vs 11-14).\

10. The Resurrection

John 11—the account of the resurrection of Lazarus. Of course, you can go through the whole thing, but we’ll just focus in on when Martha said, ‘I know he’ll rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

John 11:25: “Jesus said to her, ‘I AM [ego eimi] the resurrection… [Greek: ‘anastasis’] …and the life...:” The I AM is understood to apply to the life—that reverts back to John 5: ‘all will hear My voice’; all will be resurrected because of Christ.

11. I AM the Way

12. I AM the Truth

13. I AM the Life

John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, ‘I AM [ego eimi] the Way [‘ha hodos’] and the Truth, and the Life…’” Very profound! In that one simple statement Jesus tells you how to have eternal life—must be through Him!

“…no one comes to the Father except through Me’” (v 6). Next time you hear some say, ‘Well, all these other religions are worshipping God, but, you know, they’re all going whatever way they’re going to go.’ The Buddhist do it one way and the Christians do it another way and the Mohammads do it another way.

Jesus said, “…no one comes to the Father but through Me.” A very dogmatic statement, especially when you think that after He said, “…I AM the Way, I AM the Truth, I AM the Life…” That’s what you would call a ‘heavy-weight’ statement.

This is why I’ve said the book of John is just a fantastic book. There are so many things in it, and there are so many tremendous things, and yet, it is one of the most misunderstood by those who profess Christianity. And the thing I like about the book of John is the re-proving. You start out with a basic Truth and then you move to the next one, and then you move to the next one, and you come right back where you began. Remember how I started out:

• The Word
• the Truth
• the sanctifying through Your Word
• Your Word is Truth
• Christ is the Word

There you go, each one of these right around. It’s really fantastic how it all fits together. Just like we found in the Epistle of 1^st John, it just really fits together in a beautiful package.

14. The True Vine

John 15:1: “I AM [ego eimi] the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. He takes away every branch in Me that does not bear fruit…” (vs 1-2). Notice how very quickly it shifts—everyone—not necessarily just every branch, but everyone. It personifies that person. Instead of a branch it is everyone!

“…but He cleanses each one that bears fruit, in order that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean through the word that I have spoken to you” (vs 2-3). There again, you can tie that in with all of those: Christ is the Word; sanctify with the Word; we are clean through the word that He has spoken.

Verse 4: “Dwell in Me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, but only if it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you are dwelling in Me. I AM [ego eimi] the vine… [very dogmatic statement, as we go through] …and you are the branches. The one who is dwelling in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; because apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not dwell in Me, he is cast out as a branch, and is dried up; and men gather them and cast them into a fire, and they are burned. If you dwell in Me, and My words dwell in you… [there’s the key of the relationship with Christ, right there. The words of Christ abide in you!] …you shall ask whatever you desire, and it shall come to pass for you” (vs 4-7). So, there are some tremendous blessings and statements Christ has given!

15. Not of this World

John 17:14: “I have given them Your words, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I AM not [ego ook eimi] of the world.” or I did not originate from the world. Let’s analyze v 14 for a minute.

• “I [ego—without eimi] have given them Your words...”—‘eimi’ is not needed because you have the other verb which is to give them Your words.
• “…and the world has hated them because they are not of [ek] the world…”—in other words, they being Christians is not a part of the function of the world, but a function of God—a function of God the Father. How we have been begotten—‘ek’ of the Father.
• “…just as I AM not of the world”—notice the parallel there. He did not originate of the world. Who is of the world? Satan! Satan is of the world. In other words, in order for Christ to be the Messiah, He can have absolutely nothing to do with any agreement of anything that Satan has, because then he would be of the world. So, we are not of the world; Christ is not of the world!
• 16 .Alpha and Omega
• 17. Beginning and Ending

Revelation 1:8: “‘I AM the Alpha and the Omega… [‘ego eimi ta Alpha ti ta Omega’—which is really a tremendous statement] …the Beginning [Alpha] and the Ending [Omega],’ says the Lord…” That is a tremendous statement because Jesus is starting out the book of Revelation that ends the Bible! And He’s referring back to the beginning of the creation and how we saw that there are many threads all coming through the Bible to the book of Revelation—from the beginning to the ending.

18. The First and the Last

Verse 17: “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if dead; but He laid His right hand upon me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I AM [ego eimi] the First [ho protos] and the Last [ki eschatos].”

I remember the first time I took my Greek class with Dr. Dorothy. He always liked to do something that was very interesting. He’d come in and write a verse in Greek on the board and then he would tell us to try and figure it out. When we were first learning that was so hard.

19. Searches the Hearts

Rev. 2:23 has to do with our relationship with Christ. Whenever you feel down or whenever you think things aren’t going exactly the way you would like, remember that Christ looks to the heart

Revelation 2:23: “…I AM He Who searches the reins and hearts…” God knows our thoughts. When there is repentance—when there is sin—when there is a drawing close to God, you know when you do. It’s almost like Christ is taking the reins and pulling us a little closer to Him.

The ‘reins’ have to do with the direction we are going. Just like the reins on the bridle for a horse. It has to do with that. Not that we should liken ourselves to robots with bits in our mouths and reins on us, because Christ doesn’t want us that way. There’s one of the Proverbs: Don’t be like horses with bits in their mouths. We’re to have the free will and volition and love of God to carry us forward.

Repeat of #16—which is I AM Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. Revelation 21:6: “And He said to me, ‘It is done. I AM [ego eimi] Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the one who thirsts, I will give freely of the fountain of the water of life.”

Revelation 22:13: “I AM Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

20. The Root and Offspring of David

Verse 16: “I, Jesus, sent My angel to testify these things to you in the churches. I AM the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star.’”

Just for the sake of keeping our numbers straight on the different ‘ego eimi’ describing Christ. Remember this has to do with an emphatic way of saying Who Christ is:

1. I AM—as in the Old Testament where He said, “I AM that I AM.”
2. the Bread of Life
3. the Light of the world
4. the One Who bears witness
5. from above
6. not of this world
7. I AM
8. the Door of the sheep
9. the Good Shepherd
10. the Resurrection
11. the Way
12. the Truth
13. the Life
14. the True Vine
15. not of this world
16. Alpha and Omega
17. Beginning and Ending
18. the First and the Last
19. searches the hearts
20. the root and offspring of David

Keep in mind the pattern of the book of John, how it was laid out: Passover, fall Festival season, Passover, fall Festival season, then His last Passover.

I hope this has been helpful and informative for you. I hope, more importantly, that it will help you draw closer to Christ; that it will help you appreciate and understand more about Him as:

• the Son of God
• the One Whom we look to

to bring the Kingdom of God to this earth!

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter (except where noted)

Scriptural References:

1. Exodus 3:13-15
2. John 18:5-8
3. John 4:34-35
4. John 5:1, 22-29
5. John 6:4
6. John 7:2
7. John 1:20-23
8. John 4:25-26
9. John 6:13-15
10. John 2:23-25
11. John 6:15-27, 35, 41, 48, 51, 63-71
12. John 7:24, 37-39
13. John 8:12, 18, 21-24, 28, 55-59
14. John 10:1-14
15. John 11:25
16. John 14:6
17. John 15:1-7
18. John 17:14
19. Revelation 1:8, 17
20. Revelation 2:23
21. Revelation 21:6
22. Revelation 22:13, 16

Scriptures Referenced, not quoted:

• Leviticus 23
• John 9; 10:22; 12
• Matthew 5

Also referenced: Sermon: That Prophet

FRC:bo

Transcribed: 12-07-09     Corrected: 6/7/15