Jesus, Who Do You Say You Are?
Trinity Sunday
(June 3, 2007)
Rev. Steven D. Spencer
Exodus 3:1-15 & John 8:48-59
Grace, peace and mercy from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen!
There are four very defining moments in a Lutheran’s life: birth, confirmation, marriage and death. It’s interesting that the middle, confirmation and marriage require the most effort of the individual. It takes work to be confirmed and the same can be said for a good marriage. But birth and baptism, death and the funerals well they are more passive in nature. They just kind of happen to you! After all how many children sit in their mother’s womb saying, gee I think I’ll be born today? How many people pull out their calendars and plan on dying on some given date? Although, the act of being born may be passive for most children, it definitely isn’t so for the mother. There’s a reason it is called labor. The work starts long before the baby is even born.
One of the first tasks for a parent is to choose a name for the child. We don’t tend to attach a lot of importance to this task today. This is very different from the ancient world. We might choose a name because it sounds good or reminds us of someone. But years ago a name defined a person. It said something about that person. Like the name Moses! The name Moses means to be drawn out, like a person draws out water from a stream. Moses was so named by the Egyptian princess because she drew him out of the water (Exodus 2:10). That example highlights something else for us about names. The person, who names another person, does so as an act of authority over them. Parents name their children, children name their pets. It’s an act of authority, we don’t name ourselves. It is one of the first ways our parent exercised authority over us, they gave us a name.
What about God? Does God have a name? Well yes He does have a name! And we are going to hear about it today. God reveals His name to Moses. His name, the best we can come up with in English is Yahweh. Translated in English, “I AM!” That’s God’s name, I AM! Whenever you see in the Bible the word LORD in capital letters that’s, the “I AM”, that’s the name of God.
But who gave God His name? Who decided that God should be called Yahweh, “I AM?” We are going to discover that God named Himself. Nobody exercises that kind of authority over God. He decides His own name. Only God knows Himself well enough to give Himself a name that describes His character. Only He can give Himself a name to tell us what He wants us to know about Himself.
That brings us to our Old Testament Text today. Moses has recently fled from Egypt where His people, the Israelites, were in slavery. The last part of chapter 2 says that God heard the cries of His people and remembered His covenant with them. Moses is minding his business, tending his father-in-law’s flocks, when He sees a burning bush. This bush calls out to him, and Moses listens. It’s God speaking to him. God tells him that He will lead His people out of slavery and into the Promised Land. Moses is naturally bewildered about this whole burning bush thing and wonders if the people will believe such a story. He asks God a question. Exodus chapter 3:13-15
Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel 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 say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, '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, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
So Moses asks, “Who should I say told me to do these things?” God says, “Tell them that ‘I AM’ sent you.” He refers to Himself by using a form of the Hebrew word “to be,” which is the word for LORD in the Old Testament. God simply is. This title emphasizes His self-existence, His self-sufficiency, His eternality, His immutability. He has always existed. He just is. And it will always be that way. He has told us His name and this shall be His name forever, I AM!
About three-hundred years before Jesus was born in the manager, a group of scholars in Egypt translated the Jewish Scriptures from Hebrew into Greek. Basically, the spread of the Greco-Roman world made it a necessity. People read and spoke Greek, so they needed to have their Bibles in Greek. This Greek Old Testament was called the Septuagint. It was so named because of the seventy scholars that translated it. Along with that translation was the update of Yahweh to the Greek, ego eimi or the English “I am!”
Our passage in Exodus was translated to ego eimi, “I AM!” In Isaiah chapters 40 – 55 there are five times that God tells us in direct discourse that “I AM.” Let me share just one example. Isaiah 48:12-13 "Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I AM He; I AM the first, and I AM the last. My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.”
A few moments ago we confessed together the words of the Athanasian Creed. That creed was written about 400 A.D. or 1600 years ago to deal with the heresies that had shown up in Christian Church. People didn’t understand who God is, and they still don’t. Some groups promote gods made up in human likeness. Some groups promote becoming a god yourself. I have something to say that is very important, so please listen! If you believe in any god other than the God of Scripture, both the Old and New Testament, you are not saved. Let me add this to it. If you believe in any other Jesus than the Jesus of the Old and New Testament, you are not saved! Only by believing in the “I AM” can you be saved.
You might be wondering why we are getting a language lesson this morning. What’s all this talk about Hebrew being translated to Greek? What is the relevance of “ego eimi?” Why should I listen further? Well, I’m going to explain. That brings us into the gospel of John. The Gospel of John, which is written in Greek, as is all the New Testament, the phrase ego eimi is used some 24 times. Each of the other 3 Gospels use the phrase less than five times. In those uses of “I am” or ego eimi, there are two types. And all these “I AMs” point directly to Jesus.
First, there are the types that indicate Jesus role as Messiah. “I am the bread of life” in John 6. He calls himself the “light of the world” in John 8. He is the “gate” and also the “good shepherd” in John 10. He is the “resurrection and the life” in John 11. He is the “way, the truth, and the life” in John 14. And he is the “vine” in John 15.
And secondly, there are those that point to Jesus identity. These are called absolute “I AM” statements.
I want to conclude by examining John 8:58, but before we can do that we need to examine the context. In chapter 8 verse 12 Jesus says: "I AM the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Notice the I AM statements. Verse 18: “I AM the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” Jesus utters the ego eimi statements. Verse 24 “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I AM He you will die in your sins.” There we see ego eimi again. The Pharisees ask Jesus who He is, and He basically “Haven’t you been listening? I’ve told you!” Christ then gives another “I am” saying in verse 28. He states, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM He, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.” And Verse 30 says that some of those listening believed in Him.
But the Pharisees didn’t want to believe what Jesus was saying about Himself. They liked things the way they had always been. They had created their own god, a subservient god that allowed them to do as they pleased. But now Jesus wanted them to know beyond a doubt who He is. Our text for today Verse 56-58: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." Who is Jesus? Jesus tells them He is Yahweh, He is ego eimi, the I AM.
They understood what Jesus said: “He said He is Yahweh, Jehovah God, the I AM. They became so enraged that they picked up stones to stone Him. Who is Jesus? He is God! He is God who allowed Himself to be born into the flesh to save you. He is 100% God and 100% man. Who can name God? Only God! Who gave Jesus, His name? It was the Angel of the Lord that told Mary to name the child, Jesus. Only God can name God. And His name is Jesus, which means Yahweh Saves. Jesus is the great I AM and is our Lord and Savior. By His birth, His life, His suffer, and His death He has paid the price for our sin. Therefore He has the right to forgive all your sins. So you too, can beyond a doubt that your sins are forgiven, in the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in the name of Yahweh, AMEN!