I AM Part 2

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Intro:

We are in a series going through the book of John and looking at all of the “I AM” statements that Jesus makes

But to better understand what we are reading and looking at I believe we must first start in Exodus 3.

There’s a story about God and Moses.

Moses’ story and Israelites in exile in Egypt

Exodus 3:13–15 NIV

13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘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, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.

When God calls Himself the “I Am” in Exodus 3, it’s a pivotal moment in redemptive history. God reveals Himself to His people and comes to redeem them out of exile and lead them into a new life.

God’s name discloses who He is and what He is like.

He is the I Am, the eternal, unchanging, self-existent one, infinite and glorious in every way, and above and beyond all created things. He is God.

He is Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, Creator, sustainer, King of all kings, and Lord of all lords.

He is the I AM. Set apart! None like Him.

When Jesus applies the title “I Am” to himself, he claims to be God (John 8:58).

Not a helper to God or a great teacher, but the divine, eternal, pre-existent, infinite, perfect Being. He is Israel’s God.

He is greater than Moses because he is the God of Moses.

He has life in himself and he can give life to us.

The Jews knew taking on this title was making such a claim, which is why they immediately pick up stones to kill him (8:59).

The seven “I Am” statements in John might best be understood as falling under and echoing this initial, ultimate claim of Jesus.

He is God, and he is the God of Israel. All the OT and God’s redemptive acts were pointing to the coming of Jesus as the God-in-flesh, the true and better Israel, and the fulfillment of all the OT types and shadows.

As we look at each of these 7 "I Am" statements, we will not only learn more about who Jesus is, but also who we are, and why we need Him.

My hope for this series is that by going through these 7 teachings, we will all be able to more clearly, more fully see Jesus.

So let me give a little context here and then let’s read, I’ll pray, and then we will dive in

Right before where we will pick up in John 6 today, Jesus and His disciples were along the sea of Galilee and a large crowd has gathered to hear from Jesus.

It gets late, people are hungry so from a few loaves and fish and breaks them apart and produces so much so that not only does He feed the 5,000 men and their families but also had 12 baskets of food left over

The crowd was amazed and they wanted to make him king

So, Jesus essentially just disappears

The disciples get in the boat to go across the Sea to Capernaum, get caught in a storm, and suddenly Jesus appears on the water, gets in the boat and immediately they make it to shore.

The crowd is searching for Jesus and finally find Him in Capernaum and here’s what happens

John 6:25–40 NIV

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” 30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

pray

If we back track even further, in chapter 5, Jesus has just performed a very public healing on the Sabbath (5:1-16). 

He claimed that He was indeed God in the flesh (5:17-18). 

Jesus claimed He had authority to judge as well as the power over life and death (5:19-30).

He went so far as to claim that believing on Him was the only hope for eternal life (5:39-40)

Simply put, Jesus caused a stir and got people's attention. They heard His words, they saw His signs, and began following Him.

This all led up to the feeding of the 5,000

After the feeding of the 5,000 the disciples get in a boat to head across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, leaving Jesus behind.

The disciples get caught in a storm, Jesus comes to help them, walking on the sea, and leads them safely to the other side.

Then the I Am discourse that follows takes place inside of the synagogue in Capernaum.

A few points of emphasis:

John 6:26 (NBC):Jesus point out their failure to realize the significance of the signs; where they saw only food, Jesus was displaying that our hunger can only be quenched in Him

I wonder how many times in our lives God has worked, moved, spoken, provided miracles, and we’ve just completely missed it.

You can hardly blame the crowd

John 6:27 (BEC): Jesus points out that there are two kinds of food: food for the body, which is necessary but not the most important; and food for the inner man, the spirit, which is essential.

What the people needed was not food but life, and life is a gift. Food only sustains life, but Jesus gives eternal life.

Now, today, most of us don’t fully grasp the position and lifestyle back then

There was no taco bell, they didn’t have grocery pick up

If you wanted to eat, you had to tend the ground, you had to care for the flocks or herds

For most of them, it wasn’t a matter of what they were gonna be eating like it is for us, it was a matter of if they were going to eat or not.

I love food! I workout almost every day just so that I can eat more.

But for this crowd, food represented life and death. For many, they didn’t know where their next meal would come from or if it was going to come at all

And so here, Jesus points out, that as important as food is to sustain your life physically, I am more important to sustain you, because what He has to offer has an effect on you eternally.

John 6:32 (NBC): As compared with the manna, which was limited to the Israelites and for a prescribed time, Jesus as the bread continually gives life to the world.

John 6:34 (BEC): The crowd wanted the bread so they would not have to toil to maintain life.

Jesus give me all the benefits so that I don’t have to work, I don’t have to struggle, I don’t have to toil.

People today still want Jesus Christ only for the benefits He is able to give.

I fall victim to this

John 6:35 (NBC): Then the I AM statement. The meaning of the phrase bread of life is bread which gives life.

John 6:35 (BEC): In His reply to their request, Jesus used two key words that often appear in this sermon: come and believe.

To come to Jesus means to believe on Him, and to believe on Him means to come to Him.

Believing is not merely an intellectual thing, giving mental assent to some doctrine.

It means to come to Christ and yield yourself to Him. At the close of His sermon, Jesus illustrated coming and believing by speaking about eating and drinking.

To come to Christ and believe on Him means to receive Him within, just as you receive food and drink.

It’s to believe in a way that has an affect from the inside out

John 6:37-40 (BEC): John 6:37–40 contains Jesus’ explanation of the process of personal salvation.

These are among the most profound words He ever spoke.

He explained that salvation involves both divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

The Father gives men and women to the Son (John 6:37, 39; 17:2, 6, 9, 11–12, 24), but these men and women must come to Him, that is, believe on Him.

He assured them that nobody who came to Him would ever be lost but would be raised at the last day. Even death cannot rob us of salvation

Jesus’ teaching was not hard to understand but hard to accept once you understood it.

Wrap up:

Jesus is more concerned with what we NEED than what we WANT.

I think there is room for both here. God is a Good Father and He will and wants to give to us.

But as a Good Father, His primary concern is for our needs, not our wants

And also, like a Good Father, He will do whatever is necessary to provide those needs for us, even if it hurts.

So I ask you this morning, do you want something from Jesus (healing, prosperity, comfort, influence, peace, Heaven, etc...) or do we simply want Jesus?

We feel physical hunger as a warning that we need physical nourishment, but, too often, by the time we realize we are starving spiritually, it’s too late.

The whole point of Jesus’ statement here is this:

Jesus Satisfies

And He is all that we need.

Jesus plus nothing equals everything. 

Everything without Jesus is still nothing.

And because of where we live and the access that we have to so many things and the prosperity that we live in it can be used by the enemy to keep us from fully realizing this important truth. 

 The more we have, the less we think we need Jesus, the less we need a Savior, the less we need something or someone to sustain us.

Because we become gods of our lives.

But Jesus’ statement is as clear today as it was over 2,000 years ago.

Jesus is saying in 2023 to you “I Am the bread of life.”

He and He alone is God.

And He and He alone satisfies

and that he and he alone is all that you need