John: I am

‘No one has ever seen the Father, but only the Son and He has made him known,’ this conclusion to the prologue of John is the key to the whole book. The Son is to reveal the Father. John has selected a range of experiences from the life of Jesus that introduces the Father. This is the purpose of John’s gospel. The Father is introduced in the I AM sayings. The I AM sayings are the fulfillment of the word made flesh. It is the fulfillment of the statement, ‘In the beginning was the word.’ ‘It is the fulfillment of the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’ It is the theme that runs through the scripture and is seen by John as the moment of the recognition of the Father.

There are seven I AM sayings interspersed throughout the Gospel. Interspersed through these I AM sayings are a selection of signs that point to the profound experience of the I AM sayings. The signs are as follows. The turning of the Water into Wine (John 2:1-12), Healing the Nobleman’s Son (John 4:46-54), Healing the Man at the Pool (John 5:1-11), Feeding of the 5000 (John 6: 1-15), Walking on Water (John 6:16-21), Healing the Man Born Blind (John 9:1-12) and the Resurrection of Lazarus (John 11). These sayings are not the final objective of Jesus work but are events designed to stir the heart and mind to begin the journey.

On the other hand, the I AM sayings are the result of the profound conversation that follows many of these signs. They are the destiny of the search, the ‘ah ah’ moments of profound realisation that one has come to the point of encountering the divine being. They are, I am the bread of life (John 6:35), I am the light of the world (John 8:12), I am the door (John 10:9), I am the Good Shepherd (John 10: 11, 14), I am the Resurrection and the life (John 11:25), I am the Way and the truth and the Life ( John 14:6), and I am the Vine (John 15:1,15). The seven statements are an array of insights that are necessary, for one cannot capture the essence of the divine being in the simplicity of one saying. The seven look at the divine glory from different perspectives. Collectively they draw us toward the essential truth that we may behold in the notion of I AM. Any one example on its own is profound but not as comprehensive as holding the seven together as one.

It is worth noting that in the first few chapters of the gospel, the work of Jesus commences showing his hearers the Father. The disciples are called, before the dramatic calling of Nicodemus. This personal encounter is of a typical Jew, as all the disciples were at this stage. But the profound insight of the awakening in Spirit for Nicodemus sets the scene for the awakening of all Israel. This is the broad encounter that comes at the intention of Jesus. The meeting with Nicodemus sets the scene. A leading Jew who had come to Jesus by night declared that one could not do these signs unless God was with him. One must be born again if one is to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Nothing short of being Born again, born of the Spirit is the goal of Jesus. His wish is for all Israel to be born again. Being born again is the awakening to spiritual truth. It comes in many forms, according to one's personality and experiences. The narrow-minded interpretation of this is wrong for there are many stories to be told.

The signs are the work of Jesus to collectively stir the hearts and minds of the Jews. His work begins with a series of episodes that illustrate the stirring of the hearts of an array of people from across a broad range of society. The encounter with Nicodemus is followed by the wedding of Cana, the turning of water into wine. This was the first sign that Jesus performed indicating that the new order had arrived. And he let his glory be seen and his disciples believed in him. He followed with the cleansing of the temple, the heart of the Jewish religion, where he challenged the authorities for letting the centre of worship degenerate into a marketplace. On the road to Galilee, he traveled through Samaria, the region regarded as an outcast to the Jews, where he met a woman and asked for a bucket to draw water for a drink. His retort was that she should be asking him for a drink if she knew who he was, 'the one who could give water welling up to eternal life'. After he revealed the story of her life, the differences in worship, the need to worship in spirit and truth, and the coming of the Christ, Jesus foreshadows the first of the I am sayings with the reply, ‘I AM HE.’

What follows was the cure of the nobleman’s Son, the second of the signs given by Jesus. It is followed by the healing of the crippled man who had waited patiently at the Sheep Pool for 38 years with Jesus asking him did he want to be healed. In response to his command to take up his mat and walk the man did so with great joy. This was the third of the signs Jesus performed.

Sometime after this, Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee and fed the 5000 who had followed him for the fourth of the signs This is followed by the less public event of walking on the water on the way to Capernaum, the fifth of the signs that Jesus performed.

The days that follow attract large crowds that gather round to hear what further he might do or say by way of explanation. What follows is the first of the major discourses that leads to the first of the I AM sayings. Several more such discourses will follow and be dispersed through the ensuing narrative, each one leading to another profound saying of I AM.

Days after the feeding of the 5000 the crowd is persistent in its search for Jesus, but he is skeptical of the reason the crowd has followed. He declares it is just because they have received their fill of bread. This is far from the purpose that Jesus multiplied the bread. His real reason is to illustrate that they must learn that feeding on the Spirit of Jesus is the way to never be spiritually hungry again. ‘Work for the food that endures to eternal life.’ ‘It is my Father who gives the bread from heaven, the true bread; for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ ‘I AM the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry’ he declares. ‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world.’

Debate rages over the authority of Jesus, whether he is from God or not and people take sides about whether he is from God. On the last day and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood there and cried out: ‘if any man is thirsty, let him come to me! Let the man come and drink who believes in me!’

A woman is caught in the act of adultery and is brought before him. To the declaration that Moses taught that one must be stoned if they are guilty of such, Jesus wrote on the ground ‘let he who is without sin cast the first stone.’ He declared to the woman. ‘Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.’

This introduced the next of the great I AM sayings, I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark; he will have the light of life.’

Debate continues over the origin of Jesus. The listeners follow the tradition of Abraham. The Jews said, ‘You are not fifty yet, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus replied: 'I tell you most solemnly, before Abraham ever was, I AM.'

Jesus heals the man born blind and becomes embroiled in an argument as to whether the healing is from God or the devil, The man born blind affirms that God does not listen to sinners but does listen to men who are devout and do his will. Ever since the world began it is unheard of for anyone to open the eyes of a man who was born blind, if this man were not from God, he could not do a thing. On finding the man, Jesus asks him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man.’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘tell me who he is so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said, ‘You are looking at him; he is speaking to you.’ The man said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and worship him. This was the sixth sign that Jesus performed.

Jesus tells the parable of the sheepfold and declares the next I AM saying. The shepherd goes ahead of the sheep and one by one the sheep hear his voice. They follow because they know his voice. He declares. ‘I AM the good shepherd; the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep.’ ‘I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.’

The people continue to puzzle over his identity. They seek to have him declare clearly who he is. He declares that they do not understand for they are no sheep of his. The sheep that belong to him listen to his voice; ‘I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me. The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone, and no one can steal from the Father. The Father and I are one.’

Lazarus the brother of Martha and Mary, dear friends of Jesus, falls sick and dies. Jesus is on the far side of the Jordan, and tarries for several days before returning to Bethany where the family lives. On arriving at the scene, he is greeted by the sisters in great distress. They declare their regret that Jesus had not been with them for Lazarus would not have died had he been there. Jesus replied. ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said, ‘I AM THE RESURRECTION. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she said, ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’

Jesus declares. ‘Have I not told you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’ They took away the stone, and then Jesus prayed, ‘Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer. I knew indeed that you always hear me.’… He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus! Come out!’ Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’ Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what he did believe in him. This was the seventh of the signs that Jesus performed.

The theme of Jesus' death continues with the meal at Martha, Mary, and Lazarus' home. Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with the precious ointment in preparation for his own death. The next day he rides into Jerusalem on the donkey, greeted by the crowds waving palm branches. He speaks to the crowd of his impending death and foretells how he must be lifted up, an illusion of his crucifixion. Jesus publicly declares, ‘Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me, sees the one who sent me. I, the light, have come into the world so that whoever believes in me need not stay in the dark anymore.’ If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall condemn him, since I have come not to condemn the world but to save the world.

It was in preparation for the Passover that Jesus gathers the disciples for his farewell meal. He washed their feet as an illustration of the way they are to live. He declares, ‘If I your Lord and Master have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet.’ Troubled in spirit he distributes the bread, as Judas departs on his errand of betrayal. When he had gone Jesus said: Now has the Son of Man been glorified and in him, God has been glorified.

Jesus introduces his farewell speech with a new command that sums up all that he stands for. ‘I give you a new commandment: love one another; just as I have loved you, you must love one another.’ ‘By this love you have for one another everyone will know that you are my disciples.’ Peter objects profusely to the suggestion that he is not fit to follow Jesus for he would die for him. Jesus bids him that the time will come.

He continues that he will prepare the way and return to lead them to the place that he will share with them in the life to follow. Thomas seeks clarity of the way, which introduces the next I am saying. Jesus declares I AM THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE no one can come to the Father except through me. If you know me, you know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.’

Philip requests to see the Father to which Jesus responds, ‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father.’ ‘Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.’ ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments.’ ‘I shall ask the Father and he will give you another advocate to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth.’ ‘On that day you will understand that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them will be one who loves me, and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and show myself to him.’ ‘Peace, I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you.’ ‘This is my gift to you. If you loved me, you would have been glad to know I am going to the Father for the Father is greater than I.’ Jesus declares that ‘if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him. This collective metaphor is emphasised in the next of the I am sayings. I AM THE VINE you are the branches. This collective metaphor emphasises that no one comes to the Father by themselves but is part of the body of believers. In the following chapter Jesus prayers, ‘May they all be one. Father may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you. May they be so completely one that the world will realise that it was you who sent me and that I have loved them as much as you loved me.’

Jesus’ mission is concluding as he prayers; ‘Father, Righteous One, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me. I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them.’

Conclusion

We are reminded of the declaration in chapter 1 verse 18 of the prologue. No one has seen the Father but only the Son, he has made him known. This has come to fulfillment. Jesus has shown the disciples the Father by revealing the Father and He is one. By recognizing his glory, 'the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.' This is the word made flesh. Through the series of I AM saying Jesus has revealed the meaning of the WORD made flesh. This is the incarnational reality, the sight of grace and truth of the word made flesh in the secular world. But there is only one WORD even though perceived from many different vantage points, 'Before Abraham was, I AM'