I Am

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:1-5)

Among all the competing opinions about who Jesus is, the Gospel of John lets Jesus stand up and tell us in His own words: "I am."

A New Series in the Gospel of John

Today we begin a new series that will carry us through the end of the summer, called "I Am." We've been on a chronological journey through the New Testament since the end of 2008, using the book of Acts as our guide and working through the letters as they were written. We should finish that journey around the end of next year. But I've long wanted to return to one of the Gospels, because there is no New Testament without them.

If you have never read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, put them on your summer reading list. Even if you're not yet a follower of Jesus, it would be valuable to read what the Gospels actually say about Him, because there are many opinions about Jesus that have no basis in the Bible whatsoever. And if you have read them, you know that John differs considerably from the other three.

Why John Is Different

When you study the history—when these books were written, how, and why—it becomes clear why John stands apart. John was the last living apostle at the end of the first century, and his Gospel is the last New Testament book written. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are believed to have been written in the mid-50s through the mid-60s AD. Luke was certainly written before 66 AD, since Acts—its sequel—was written before Paul's death in that year.

John, however, probably did not die until after 98 AD, and his Gospel was likely written between 90 and 100 AD. By then Matthew, Mark, and Luke were already in circulation, codified and going around the church. John lived in Ephesus, home to one of the largest and most influential churches of that time, where these Gospels would have come to him.

John was an early eyewitness of the life and ministry of Jesus. He saw Jesus on the cross. He saw the risen Jesus. He ate meals with Jesus both before and after the crucifixion. Had he wanted to correct any factual errors in the other Gospels, he could have. But he doesn't—which implies there were no errors to correct. He did not write to give his own version of the same details; that was already well-established truth. Instead, he set out to highlight the true nature of Jesus.

Answering an Early Heresy

It also becomes clear that John was anticipating one of the earliest heresies creeping into the church: Gnosticism, which took root in the second century and started in Asia Minor, where Ephesus was the chief city. The Gnostics denied the incarnation and deity of Jesus. They even denied His physical death and resurrection.

That is exactly what John hammers home. In John 1:1-5 he declares the deity of the Word, and in verse 14 he writes that "the Word became flesh"—affirming both deity and incarnation in his prologue. At the end of the book, as an eyewitness, he affirms that Jesus physically died and physically rose. He was there when Jesus told Thomas to put his hand into the wounds. So John writes to deal with this growing false teaching and to exalt the true nature of Jesus.

John's Stated Purpose

John gives us his purpose plainly in chapter 20:

And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:30-31)

So our first point: John's purpose is to reveal the true nature of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, and Luke set out to record the life and ministry of Jesus—a biographical synopsis leading to the cross and resurrection. They're called the synoptic Gospels. John recognizes that work was already established and writes with this aim: that you would believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

This is not a new concept John invented in 95 AD. In Matthew 16, at Caesarea Philippi—a place dominated by pagan worship—Jesus asks His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" There were already all kinds of opinions. Then He asks, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter answers, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replies that flesh and blood did not reveal this, but the Father in heaven. That confession is the bedrock foundation of the church.

The same truth is spoken by God the Father at Jesus's baptism in Matthew 3—"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"—and again on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17, where John himself witnessed Jesus glorified with Moses and Elijah. The deity and messiahship of Jesus were established truths long before John wrote.

The Christ and the Son of God

What does it mean that Jesus is the Christ? The Greek Christos corresponds to the Hebrew Messiah. When John says Jesus is the Christ, he means Jesus is the anticipated one the prophets spoke of for centuries—the King who would rule in righteousness, the Prince of Peace, the long-awaited King of kings and Lord of lords, the righteous Judge who brings salvation to the ends of the earth. Jesus is the fulfillment of all of it.

But what does "Son of God" mean? This title trips some people up, because we think of a son as one descended from a father. So it helps to say what it does not mean. It does not mean Jesus is the procreation or descendant of the Father. Though He is called the "only begotten Son of God" four times in John—more than anywhere else in the New Testament—this is not in the sense that the Father created Him.

The Gnostics imagined Jesus as one of many emanations from God's power, growing lesser as they radiated outward. John says that is not who Jesus is. "Only begotten" literally means the single of its kind, the one and only—the one and only who holds this nature.

That brings us to point two: Jesus is fully God and at the same time fully man. Theologians call this the hypostatic union. Higher critics—many of them 18th- and 19th-century German theologians—claimed this idea didn't emerge until the third or fourth century. But the Gospels show it was established truth by the end of the first century. Hebrews says twice, "A body You have prepared for Me." The eternal Word who is Creator became flesh and dwelt among us, and we behold the glory of God in human flesh. Some writers call it God robed in humanity.

Revealed Through Words and Works

Point three: Jesus's nature is revealed through His words and by His actions. This is why John is constructed differently. When you harmonize the Gospels, John is more than 90% original material—private conversations like the one with Nicodemus in John 3, the woman at the well in John 4, the man healed at Bethesda in John 5, the man born blind in John 9, and the raising of Lazarus in John 11.

The Gospel of John is built around seven signs Jesus performed before His resurrection and seven sayings in which He tells us who He is. Among all the opinions about Jesus—2,000 years ago and today—it's as if a voice asks, "Will the real Jesus stand up?" And in John's Gospel, He does.

The seven signs: turning water into wine (John 2), healing an official's son in Capernaum (John 4), healing a lame man at Bethesda (John 5), feeding the 5,000 (John 6), walking on water (John 6), healing a man born blind (John 9), and raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11). John says these are written that you would believe. In this series, we won't study the signs—you can read those for yourself—we will study the seven "I am" statements.

Who Did Jesus Say He Is?

If you asked people on the street who Jesus is, you'd get many answers: a good teacher, a prophet, a healer, a worker of good works. Some, like Mikhail Gorbachev, have called Him the greatest socialist of all time. Some say He's a myth—a claim historians put right up there with the flat earth.

But consider others. Napoleon Bonaparte said, "I know men, and I tell you that Jesus was no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I founded empires; but upon what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love, and at this hour millions of men would die for Him." H.G. Wells said, "I am a historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history."

So the opinions abound. But the real question is: what did Jesus say about Himself? The first "I am" statement is in John chapter 6.

"I Am the Bread of Life"

John 6 opens with Jesus followed into the wilderness around the Sea of Galilee by a multitude seeking healing and teaching. At the end of the day, He asks the disciples how they will feed the people. They have no resources for it. So Jesus takes a small amount of food, blesses and breaks it, and feeds them all—with twelve baskets of leftovers, like a good Thanksgiving dinner.

When the disciples and the multitudes saw this miracle, they wanted to take Him by force and make Him king. So Jesus withdrew to the hills to pray and sent His disciples across the sea toward Capernaum. A great storm arose, and these seasoned fishermen were terrified to the point of death—until Jesus came walking on the water, rescued them, and brought them to shore.

The next morning the crowds, unable to find Him, came to Capernaum, and there the story continues:

Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." (John 6:26-27)

Jesus exposes their true motive: they followed Him for a free lunch. It's true today as it was then—if you feed them, they will come. But a great meal, even the greatest, is a temporary blessing. A couple nights ago my mom texted me to come over for smoked ribs. They were amazing, and I ate more than I should have. But the next morning I woke up hungry again. We strive so hard for the next fix, yet it always fades.

When they asked what work they must do, Jesus said, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." They demanded a sign, recalling that their fathers ate manna in the wilderness—the miraculous bread God provided for forty years in Exodus 16. Jesus answered:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." (John 6:32-33)

Against the Gnostic claim that Jesus is not God come down from heaven, John records Jesus's own words: the bread of God is not a thing but a Person who comes down and gives life to the world. When they said, "Lord, give us this bread always," Jesus declared:

"I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." (John 6:35)

God Come Down to Give Life

Point four: Jesus is the bread that gives life to the world. Those two words—"I am"—meant everything to His Jewish hearers. In Exodus 3, when Moses asks God who shall I say sent me, God answers from the burning bush:

"I AM WHO I AM... Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:14)

As Jesus repeats these "I am" statements throughout John, His hearers knew exactly who He was claiming to be: God come down. "Here I am, the bread of life."

First, Jesus came down from heaven to give life to a dead and dying world. When we see the incarnation, we must understand why. Look as far back in history as you like—this world is broken, and God never intended it to remain broken. So God became a man to deal with that brokenness, the bread come down from heaven to give life.

The Satisfaction of the Soul

Second—point five: Jesus satisfies our deepest needs and hungers. We live in a world of countless hungers that can never be fully met. Even if you satisfy a need today, it returns tomorrow. All those cravings are just symptoms of a deeper hunger that money, power, sex, or new experiences cannot fill. The great 20th-century philosopher Mick Jagger put it into words: "I can't get no satisfaction." It's stayed near the top of the charts ever since because we all agree.

But Jesus is the soul's satisfaction—and you can write that "Sol" or "soul," it's true either way. He says, "Come to Me and never hunger; believe in Me and never thirst." This metaphor challenged His hearers. If you read on from verse 36 to verse 66, many disciples couldn't get past the language; they thought He was calling them to cannibalism, and they walked away. But Jesus was describing what it means to come to Him and trust in Him.

Some of you have tried to find satisfaction in many things and discovered they don't satisfy. It's striking how many people our culture calls blessed and wealthy say their blessings don't bring satisfaction—whether they win thirty gold medals or reach a billion-dollar, three-comma net worth. Why are they so driven to the next endeavor? Because what they have did not satisfy. We think, "If I just had that, I'd be content." You would not, because the soul finds no rest until it rests in God in Christ. He is the bread of life. He who comes to Him shall never hunger; he who believes in Him shall never thirst. That, my friends, is why it's called gospel—good news.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank You that this gospel is good news. Jesus, we thank You that by the Spirit You inspired John to write—not to correct errors in the other Gospels, but to give the last word on who You are. Jesus, You came to deal with the deepest need and hunger we all have. As Blaise Pascal said, there is a God-shaped hole at the center of every human, and Jesus, You are the only one who fits it. We try to fill it with all kinds of things and find none of them satisfy.

It may be that you're here today because you've tried everything and remain unsatisfied, even left guilty and ashamed. Jesus wants you to know He came to satisfy that deepest hunger of the soul. As Isaiah said, "Every one of you who thirst, come, that your soul may be satisfied."

If you've been seeking satisfaction in the things of the world and haven't found it, but want to receive it from Christ, would you pray this with me: Dear Jesus, I recognize my need for You. Nothing has satisfied. I need Your grace, Your forgiveness. Come into my life, fill me with Your presence, forgive me of my sin, and help me to follow You by faith, Jesus. Amen.