I AM

Text: John 6:22-35

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

          During these next three Sundays of the church year our lectionary gives us the opportunity to dive deeply into a single chapter of Scripture. John 6 is a pivotal point in Jesus’ teaching that revolved around the six words at the end of today’s Gospel reading. They’re so important that they’re repeated at the beginning of next week’s Gospel, and then fleshed out even further in the Gospel for two weeks from now. Those words:

“I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE”

          They’re so important for our understanding of who Jesus is and what He does for us that we’re going to break them down even further and take this statement of our Lord two words at a time over the next three weeks. I AM…THE BREAD…OF LIFE. And so, we begin today with I AM.

John’s Gospel is filled with the I AM statements of Jesus. In fact, there are seven of them, and each of them reveals to us something about who Jesus is. The first is from today’s Gospel, “I AM the bread of life.” In John 8, Jesus says, “I AM the light of the world.” “I AM the door” is included in John 10. The always comforting “I AM the good shepherd” is found in John 10 as well. And then in John 11, Jesus says, “I AM the resurrection and the life.” John records “I AM the way and the truth and the life” in chapter 14. And finally, Jesus says, “I AM the true vine.” There’s no doubt that the Jews understood these words coming from Jesus’ mouth as a clear proclamation that He was the eternal God incarnate. The use of I AM connects Jesus to the God of the Old Covenant made with Abraham and in place until the time of Jesus. When I AM in the flesh forged the new covenant in His own blood, shed on the cross.

In the book of Exodus, we read about God’s request of Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Moses tried excuses, so God promised to be with him. Moses persisted “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?’ what shall I tell them?” 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.’” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD [that is, Yahweh], 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 by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.”

Almighty God had revealed His name to His people. And His name is this: I AM. No matter who you are or where you’re from, you’re identified by your name. Every culture has names that are common to their people, and sometimes those names evolve over time. If you were to look at the most common baby names of 1920, you’d find lots of boys named Robert, John, William, James, and Charles, and many girls named Mary, Dorothy, Helen, Betty, and Margaret. By 2000, the most common names were Jacob, Michael, Matthew, Joshua, and Christopher for boys and Emily, Hannah, Madison, Ashley, and Sarah for girls. In 2023, Liam, Noah, Oliver, James, and Elijah topped the list for boys and Olivia, Emma, Charlotte, Amelia, and Sophia were at the top for girls. All beautiful names in all those years, but evidence that our preferences shift over time. I didn’t see Coraleigh on any of the lists, but maybe you guys will start a new trend.

But God’s name doesn’t ever change. He is the same as He always was and ever will be. And to His people He continues to identify Himself by the very same name. The name that identified Him to Abraham, to the Israelites, and to His people of all times and places. I AM is the proper name of God. When the people refer to the God of Israel, they call Him Yahweh, which means He is. And that’s the exact same verb as when God speaks for Himself and says “I AM.”

What’s the significance of God’s name? Many explanations have been offered. However, one of the most likely explanations is derived from that same encounter with Moses in Exodus, where God tells the reluctant Moses, “I will be with you.” The Hebrew word translated here as “I will be” is identical to “I AM.” This suggests that when God calls himself “I AM,” and when the Israelites call him “Yahweh—he is,” the emphasis is on the God who is with his people. He’s with them to save them and to bless them.

God himself associates “I AM” with His name as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex 3:15). So, when we ask who this “I AM” is, we remember that His being was revealed in how He was with the patriarchs, delivering them and promising blessing to the whole world through their Seed, Jesus Christ.

During the Old Testament period, the name Yahweh was spoken in reverence by prophets, priests, kings, and also faithful Israelites during everyday life. But in the period between the Old and New Testaments, when Judaism emerged, it became common to substitute another word, such as Adonai (“Lord”) or hashshem (“the Name”). The idea was to ensure there was no possibility of sinning by misusing God’s holy name. The thought was that if it wasn’t pronounced, it couldn’t be misused. Of course, that’s trying to live by the letter of the Law as opposed to its spirit. The problem is that if you never use God’s name, you also can’t call upon it in faith, and we’re commanded to do that regularly. And we remember Luther’s explanation to the Second Commandment which reminds us that we should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.

By New Testament times though, the name Yahweh was no longer spoken. When the Jews translated the Old Testament into Greek, for Yahweh they used kurios, or “Lord.” This became the title ascribed to Jesus in the New Testament. In the “I am” statements of Jesus, He’s making the bold claim that he is the LORD—Yahweh—the God of Israel, who was and still is with his people to save them and to bless them.

This was far different than all the names the religious leaders of Jesus’ day had been calling Him. They claimed that Jesus was possessed by demons. They mocked Him for being from Nazareth. They dismissed His authority as a teacher. They said, “Abraham died and so did the prophets. . . . Are you greater than our father Abraham?”

So, Jesus says something that would have shocked everyone who heard it. He called Himself by the name that wasn’t even spoken—the holy personal name of the almighty God. He said, “I AM the bread of life.” And then six more times He says “I AM…” He even asserts, “Before Abraham was, I am!” And many who heard Him couldn’t believe that He would claim to be the God of their fathers. So, many of them picked up stones and tried to kill Jesus for his apparent blasphemy. And eventually they found a way as He was led to the cross to suffer and die for the sins of the whole world.

What the Pharisees thought was blasphemy, we as Christians know to be the truth! We believe, teach, and confess that Jesus of Nazareth, Mary’s son, was also true God, begotten of the Father from eternity. And we stand in awe and thankfulness for the bold confession of Christ: “I AM!”

As I said before, God’s name never changes. He is who He is and always will be. His name means something. Something amazing and powerful. It should be recognized by all. The names we give our children mean something too. Some people name their kids whatever sounds good to them, or possibly after a family member or other significant person in their life. But all names have meaning. I don’t think about it often, but my name means humble. And I’m awfully proud to be blessed with a name that means humble. But we all who have been baptized take on another name as well. When we’re washed in those blessed waters, we take on the name of Christ. We become Christian. And that name carries great meaning. Coraleigh was given that name this morning. And now she has a connection to her Creator that she didn’t have an hour ago. She is a child of God. And she now bears His name. Just as each of you do. And it’s a name that has been and always will be. It’s the name of the One who lived and died so that you might have eternal life. Know His name. Use it to pray, praise, and give thanks. And bear His name well. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.