This past week has been pretty good. Work is about the same, but as I said last week, I am working for a goal, so I am hanging in there. It just amazes me in dealing with clients how much more course and rude this world has become since the days when I was a young man. I actually had to stop talking to a client over the phone because of the horrible blasphemies that were coming out of that man's mouth. I will probably get in trouble at work for it, but I could not stand to here God's name and character abused anymore.
I have just started writing a new book which I hope to have finished by the end of the year. This is a religious book, and I will share more about it on the blog in the week's to come. I am also getting ready to send out poetry for publication. Please pray that the Lord will assist me in my writing ministry.
In prayer this week, please pray for peace in this world. The situation in Syria gets worse and worse. There is a significant refugee problem. Let us pray for peace, and let us pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ facing persecution is areas of Syria.
This week we will begin a new series of messages on the the subject of the divinity of Jesus Christ as presented in John's gospel. If you study the Gospels for any length of time at all, it quickly becomes apparent that John is much different than the other three Gospels.
Matthew, Mark and Luke are know as the Synoptic Gospels. They share many things in common and share with their readers many of the same stories about the life and ministry of Jesus. On the other hand, John presented the life and ministry of Jesus in a different way. John records many teachings of Jesus, and there are miracles recorded by John that are not mentioned by the other writers.
John's major emphasis is to present Jesus as God come in the flesh. The other Gospels also teach the divinity of Jesus, but they also demonstrate the humanity of Jesus. For instance, Matthew and Luke provide us with birth narratives for Jesus. This emphasizes Jesus' humanity. John begins his book by saying that Jesus was in the beginning with God. John says it this way, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
In John 20:30-31, John tells us why he wrote his work. He states, "Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." The miracles and the teachings of Jesus presented by John are given to show us the divinity of Jesus. And this topic will be our focus in the coming weeks.
One of the ways in which John presents the deity of Jesus is through Jesus' "I Am" statements. Several of these are recorded by John, and we will look at each of these in the weeks to come.
Today, I want to focus on Jesus' "I Am" statement as recorded in the passage from John 8:48-58. As was the case throughout His public ministry, Jesus was always in confrontation with the religious authorities. On this particular occasion, Jesus had just informed the religious leaders that they could not believe in Him because they were of their father the devil. This enraged the religious leaders who then accused Jesus of being possessed by demons. Jesus then told them that anyone who believes in Him would never taste death. This just set the religious leaders off more.
The leaders said that Abraham had died. They wanted to know if Jesus thought that He was greater than Abraham. Jesus' reply included the phrase found in verse 58, "before Abraham was born, I Am."
When the religious leaders heard this they realized exactly what Jesus was saying. Jesus was equating Himself with God. They immediately took up stones to kill Jesus. But, Jesus hid from them and escaped from the Temple.
What was the significance of Jesus saying "I Am". When Moses encountered the Lord in the burning bush, Moses asked God what he should say if the people asked Moses who had sent him. The Lord God told Moses to tell them that "I Am" sent you.
Every Hebrew knew this story and the significance of these two words. When Jesus said that He was "I Am", he was stating clearly that He was God come in the flesh.
I have heard some liberal religious leaders state that Jesus never claimed to be God. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Jesus said that He was God right here in this passage. The people that He was addressing knew what He meant, that is why they wanted to stone Jesus for blasphemy.
In John's Gospel, Jesus will make seven more statements that contain the phrase "I Am". We will look at each of these in the weeks to come.
However, let us focus for a moment on the significance of Jesus' statement in our passage today. Stop and ponder just a moment what it means. Jesus was saying that the God of the universe, the God of all creation was standing in their midst. The God of the universe became incarnate in human form in the man Jesus Christ. God came and took on human flesh so that we might know who God really is.
Jesus came to show us what God is really like. He came to teach us the divine way of life and to fully reveal to us His teachings and the way that we ought to live.
Jesus came to be the sacrifice to take away our sins. He was the Lamb of God come to take away the sins of the world.
It is a great mystery that God would become incarnate as a man. I can't even begin to comprehend all that God in the person of Jesus Christ has done for me. It leaves me in awe and wonder. It causes me to love God and want to serve Him and know Him in a deeper way.
Jesus, the "I Am" wants to have a relationship with you. That is why He came to this earth and went through all that He had to endure. Jesus calls us to come to Him and follow Him. I hope that you will decide to follow Jesus today.
Next week, we will examine an "I Am" statement of Jesus found in John. I will post the verses on Monday. There may be a review on Wednesday, but I am not sure of this. Friday I will post the sermon. May God bless you all. Amen.
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