7 I Am Metaphors in John

 

The words I am are powerful words.  They are how God’s people were to know that Moses was sent by God.  The words I am move boats across water or cause armed guards to fall backwards

They are words that use God’s name to precede ours.  Who are you?  I am Tom or I am Jane or I am whatever name your parents gave you.

These are words that identify God and help us to understand our identity and they are more than we can comprehend in a single serving.  Jesus gave us 7 I Am metaphors to help us understand him and his Father in heaven and what it is to have life in him.

Let’s briefly consider each of these I Am statements.

“I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35-51)  Jesus used this one several times in a single pericope.  Bread sustains physical life. Christ offers and sustains spiritual life. Think to the fourth chapter of John’s gospel.  Jesus said he had food that his disciples didn’t know about.

His food was to do the will of his Father. His food was to finish the work he was sent to do.  Jesus still ate meals but his real sustenance was in doing his Father’s will.

Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Jesus and his commands to us sustain us.  We are to receive him and his commands with the same enthusiasm we have for the fellowship meal.  Will we be nourished?

 “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12) To a world lost in darkness, Christ offers Himself as a guide. John has a recurring theme of light and darkness.  While Jesus was in the world, he was the light of the world.  We as his disciples are charged to be the light of the world.  You can be the salt of the earth while you are at it.

Will we walk in the light?

In chapter 11 of John’s gospel, when the disciples are concerned about going back to Judea and Jerusalem because the Jews there wanted to kill Jesus, he told them that if they walked in daylight they would not stumble.  If they walked in his light, they would be protected.

“I am the door of the sheep.” (John 10:7-9) Jesus protects His followers as shepherds protect their flocks from predators.  If every sheep and shepherd go through the gate, everyone is protected.  Visualize a small or narrow gate that offers only one way in or out.  Only the thief would climb the fence to steal or kill or destroy.  Jesus is the gate and the gate is the way, which will come up in chapter 14.

Will we by receiving him also receive his protection?

“I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11-14) Jesus loves and protects all who belong to him.  Everyone who had been entrusted with the shepherding of Israel before fell short.  Jesus is the model of shepherding.  His sheep know his voice.

Will we know his voice?

As we are talking shepherds, I’m going to make a little rant here.  I see a lot of scripture abused on the internet.  Scripture is twisted or rewritten to fit the desired narrative. That’s the age that we live in.  Sometimes, I am compelled to comment.  Here is one of those cases.  It’s from Luke 15.

Have you seen the one about how Jesus leaves the 99 to find the 1?  Did you have any problems with that?

Jesus tells the parable. He is not in the parable. What difference does it make?

Besides manipulating the scripture to fit the desired narrative of the one who posted it; it ignores the literary tool selected by Jesus. The parable helps us understand the things of God by setting it alongside the things people understood in the world.

The shepherd in the parable is your basic human shepherd. Even he would leave the 99 in the open country to search for the lost sheep. If the human shepherd would do this, how much more will your Heavenly Father search for those who are lost?

How great the celebration in heaven when the lost one is found and home again.

Trust that Jesus knew what he was doing when he told this parable.  He is the Good Shepherd after all.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) Martha thought that resurrection was a date on an eternal calendar.  She was probably right, but resurrection was standing in front of her.  Resurrection, life, and life eternal are in Christ. 

These bodies will wear out but we will live.  We will live.

Ask ourselves the same thing that Jesus inquired of Martha.  Do you believe this?

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) The disciples wanted to see the Father.  C’mon, they had followed Jesus for 3 years.  If anyone should be entitled to a glimpse of the Heavenly Father, it was them. 

Jesus explained that if they had seen him, they had seen the Father.  Jesus was in the Father and the Father in him.  You want to know the Father, then know me.  That’s the essence here.

Everything is through Jesus.  Everything that was made was made through him.  Everything that we need comes through him.  Everything that we hope for is in his name.  Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

Will we trust in the Lord with all of our heart?

“I am the true vine.” (John 15:1-5) You know those disconnect notices that we gave out a few years ago and I still use about once a week.  They pose the question to their readers, “Are you connected to the body of Christ?”

Jesus asks us if we remain connected to him.  Are we a teachable spirit?  Have we taken his yoke and do we learn from him?

Do we really want to know the Father?  Then we must be prepared for him to do some pruning.  He will prune away everything that does not produce good fruit.

We have made it through John’s gospel.  If you check out my postings online, you got a high speed flyover of the entire gospel this week.  These 7 I Am metaphors are also a good way to retain much of what you have learned.

I am the bread of life.  Will we be nourished?

I am the light of the world. Will we walk in the light?

I am the door of the sheep. We will receive his protection?

I am the good shepherd.  Will we know his voice?

I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this?

I am the way, the truth, and the life.  Will we trust in the Lord with all of our heart?

I am the true vine.  Will we stay connected and do we trust our Father to prune us so that we may produce good fruit?

Those are the 7 I Am metaphors. I find them a fitting way to conclude what has been a 5-month journey.

John told us that his gospel did not contain everything that Jesus did, that it was enough for us to believe and by believing have eternal life in Christ.

So let us believe and have life.

Let us live as his disciples and produce good fruit.

In a world of deception, let us know his voice.

Amen.

John 10 - Part 1

Read John 10

I really enjoyed John 9, but the discourse at the end of the chapter between Jesus and the Pharisees continued into the next chapter.

How do we know?  The chapter begins: Very truly I tell you Pharisees.”  There’s not much room for discussion about who these words are aimed at.  Don’t check out of this message for there is always application for us.

God’s Chosen People went into exile in Babylon after repeated warnings not to worship other gods.  The warnings went unheeded and people had a 70-year hiatus.   Actually, the people endured captivity once again but while they were away, the land enjoyed a Sabbath rest.  

After the captivity and return, worshiping other gods seems to have diminished among the prevailing offenses of God’s Chosen People.  We see religious orders emerging—Pharisees and Sadducees.  Of these two, the Pharisees gained their status by knowledge of God’s word.  There were already scribes during the captivity.

The Pharisees were the smart guys and Jesus had just told them that they were blind.  It could be worse.  He could have called them robbers or thieves. That was coming later.

Jesus uses the shepherd and the sheep as a metaphor.  There is a gate in and out of the sheep pen.  That’s the only legitimate point of entry and exit.   There is a gatekeeper.  He only responds to the shepherd.

The shepherd uses only the gate.  He calls his sheep and they follow him.  They will not follow a stranger. In fact, they social distance themselves from the stranger.  The sheep know the voice of the shepherd.

Now that we are in chapter 10, let’s see if it gives us a little insight into the previous chapter.   Let’s go back to the scene with the second appearance of the man born blind who now can see before the Pharisees.  They asked him the same questions they did the first.

The man replied:  Why are you so interested?  Do you want to be his disciple too?

What happened next?

Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.  Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.  If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

The Pharisees had assumed the role as shepherds of God’s Chosen People but the people did not know their voice.  The Pharisees spoke as strangers not as the voice of God.  They knew the rules, came up with some new ones, but they did not know God’s heart.  The people could tell that they were not their own shepherds.

We often think of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and he is and we will get there soon, but Jesus also identifies as the gate.  Whoever enters through him will be saved.

Our lives will be all about him, coming and going and finding green pasture because of him.

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

It seems like a unique metaphor, but consider its presentation not in the first person from the words of Matthew.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Jesus denounced the religious hierarchy and replaced it with a relationship with God.  He was the way, the only way.

He is the way, the only way.

Had the Pharisees truly received God’s written word, they would have recognized the Word that came in the flesh.

Many people were beginning to see how estranged from God the religious leaders had become.  The Pharisees did not know his voice.

We too must make sure that we do not become religious.  We must not become self-righteous. We have our traditions and practices that come with being God’s child.  He wants us to put everything we have to use for his glory, but what we create and grow accustomed to must not supplant our relationship with God.

We must seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness first.  How do we do this in this crazy world?

We must know his voice.

Amen.