The ‘I Am’ Sayings – an Introduction

The use of the phrase ‘I Am’ (ego eimi gk)is distinctive to the 4th Gospel. It is significant within Jewish theology, first and foremost because it is the name by which the God of the Exodus revealed Himself to Moses as He commissioned Moses to set the Exodus events in motion. (Ex 36) However there is further significance as well as we shall see, dears.

The phrase ‘I Am’ is used in several different ways in the Gospel. Russell has a useful summary of this in the ‘Discourses’ booklet, p 8. He identifies 3 principal uses:

  1. An absolute use with no predicate (defining factor) Of these, I think that 8:58 is significant, as it occurs in the context of Jesus revealing his divine, pre-existent origin. We’ll think about this as we consider the ‘I Am the Light of the World’ discourse, in which this exchange takes place.
  2. It is used with no predicate, but you can understand one. Eg 6:20, which reads in the Greek "I am. Don’t be afraid". Usually in translation it is (sensibly) rendered "It is I" – which is a perfectly acceptable translation. Note the ‘Do not be afraid’ which goes with it. This phrase is a characteristic one used in theophany passages in the Old Testament (passages in which God appears directly to humans). For this reason, some scholars, such as Marsh, suggest that John has not confined his significant use of ego eimi to predicated passages, which are No 3 on the list.

    I’m inclined to agree with Marsh on this passage, and there’s another one which occurs during Jesus’ arrest, where Jesus announces His identity with ego eimi, whereupon they all fall down. (18 v5) This seems to me characteristic of the way in which OT figures reacted to the Shekinah the cloud of glory which signalled the physical presence of God with His people. We see it in Isa Ch 5, and at the dedication of the Temple in 2 Chron 5 vs 13-14. Where the revelation of God’s physical presence in the Temple caused all present to fall or leave, because they could not stand up. Of course, the Incarnate Logos is the ultimate expression of the physical presence of God, and when He utters the revelatory divine name …. (Could this be what was happening in those meetings in Toronto and elsewhere, dears?)

    Opinion is deeply divided as to whether these two usages of ego eimi should always be taken as significant. I’ve indicated that I think there may be occasions on which it is significant, but you’ll have to make up your minds.
  3. There is no disputing the significance of the third usage, however. Ego eimi is used with a nominative predicate seven times in the Gospel:

Carson comments "The precise form is unique to the Fourth Gospel, but as Barrett notes, the Synoptics display other forms of ‘I’ utterances, while Synoptic parables ‘provide much of the subject matter of the Johannine ‘I-sayings’." That is, whilst the particular form is peculiarly Johannine, the subject matter of the revelations contained in them are, at least, implicit within the Synoptics.

The Old Testament Background

We’ve already seen that the revelation of the Divine Name to Moses in Ex3:14 is significant. In English, the rendering would be ‘I Am that which I Am’ (Yahweh Hb)– ie, the definition of God is Himself. There is nothing, essentially, like Him, but as He is the essence of being, there is no other meaningful name by which He can reveal Himself. As Sarah Tyler points out (John’s Gospel: Essay 7) "Mark 14:62 suggests that it was Jesus’ enigmatic answer ‘I am’ to the High Priest’s questions that brought about the charge (of blasphemy)" for which Jesus was eventually condemned by the Sanhedrin. It could well have sounded as though Jesus, in claiming Messiahship, was also claiming divinity. Barrett and other point out that the same formula is used elsewhere in the OT, eg Isa 55:12 ‘I, even I am the one who comforts you’, and that in the Septuagint version of the ‘Wisdom’ passages of Proverbs 8 , the phrase ego eimi is used to emphasis the characteristics of wisdom.

However, there seems to me to be one area that scholars have not explored, which might be worth considering. There are passages in which God’s nature in relation to His people is revealed in conjunction with the use of the divine name. Thus, not only the ‘nature of God’ is revealed, but also ‘his Purpose’ – insofar as it relates to the redemption of his creation. Some of these seem to me to be paralleled by ‘I Am’ sayings in the 4th Gospel, although I wouldn’t want to push this point too far. See what you think: The sayings I identified are:

  1. Yahweh will provide Gen 22:14
  2. Yahweh is my Shepherd Ps 23:1
  3. Yahweh our Banner Ex 17:5
  4. Yahweh our Righteousness Jer 23:6
  5. Yahweh Your Redeemer Isa 54:8
  6. Yahweh of Hosts (The spiritual world) 2 Sam 6 et al
  7. Yahweh that Heals You Ex 15:26

Now, if I’m right about this, then it seems just to confirm that the 4th Evangelist is setting Jesus firmly into an OT tradition of the proclamation of the Nature and Purpose of the Divine through titles. Bultmann wants to suggest that the ‘I Am’ sayings of the Gospel serve, in the main, simply to compare Jesus with various other figures, Moses, Israel, etc, showing that He is greater than they. However, for many reasons, other scholars question this interpretation, suggesting that the titles reveal what Jesus is in relation to the world He has come to save. If my theory about the OT titles has some substance, then I think that Bultmann’s point is refuted.

The Place of the 'I Am' sayings in the Gospel

You will have noticed that there are the magic seven 'I Am' sayings in the 4th Gospel. This is probably deliberate in view of the significance of 'seven' ("the perfect number and all that") indicating that Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father to the World, and that the work of salvation initiated by the Father is perfected in Him. Some scholars, naturally, want to link the sayings to seven signs. Now that would be convenient, wouldn't it. Unfortunately it isn't as simple as that. Stephen Smalley (p 90-1) makes an attempt, using the miraculous catch of fish as a sign (S Smalley, John, Evangelist and Interpreter - it's in the library) He links the Water into Wine with 'I Am the True Vine' (as I would if I were doing this exercise). However, the fact that you can go to other scholars and find different signs associated with different discourses should indicate to you that this is not as straightforward as it seems! As I consider the Sayings in turn I will try to arrange the information in such a way that you can use it in essays. I will consider:- The OT Background; What the sayings reveal about (a) the Nature and (b) the Purpose (mission) of Jesus; How the theme(s) of each discourse fit into the wider pattern of the Gospel; possible applications within the Johannine community; issues for today.

Return to Discourses Base Page