If you missed the first one in this mini-series, click here.
Did you know truthfulness often cost Jesus greatly?
Let’s start with the 7 “I Am” statements of Jesus. There are many websites that talk talk about these, but most agree that the following are the 7 major ones. One good post I found was from gracethrufaith.com. The following is their list from a post they did on the 7 “I AMs,” with added comments from me. Enjoy!
1. The Bread Of Life
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)
The context was the Manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:13-18). By this statement we know it was meant to be a model of the Messiah. Whoever partakes of Him will never again know spiritual hunger. Like the manna of Exodus 16 every one who seeks Him will find Him (Matt. 7:7-8), but each of us has to find Him for ourselves. No one can receive Him for us, nor can we receive Him for anyone else. We all get an amount sufficient for our salvation. No one is lacking, none of Him is wasted.
Cost: What was the price for saying this? Many turned away because they hadn’t made it past the “feed me” phase of interest in Jesus. Once they knew He wouldn’t be their personal Chick-Fil-A, tens of thousands left. This first “I Am” statement was extremely expensive!
In short, the bleachers emptied as all the “fans” went home. Only 12 made it to the playing field and remained in the game.
2. The Light of the World
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Literally this means that those who join Jesus as one of His disciples will not be ignorant of spiritual matters but will have the power of understanding especially of the spiritual truth that brings eternal life. When we take the time to learn and apply these truths in faith we discover that the old adage is true. Whatever the spiritual question, Jesus is the answer.
“13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.”
Cost: The religious leaders jumped on this. And sought (with some success) to damage Jesus’ credibility with the people.
3. The Gate (or The Door)
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)
This is a reference to the Kingdom and recalls the words of the 23rd Psalm, “He makes me lie down in green pasture.” Salvation is found through Jesus, He is the gate to the Kingdom. Having entered through Him we will have the freedom to come and go as we please, dwelling in a state of peace in the midst of plenty. Surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life, and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Cost: Those who tended to have an all inclusive view of heaven were offended that Jesus was positioning Himself as not only the gatekeeper, but also, the gate itself. As such, He was saying that He was the only way in to heaven—the only way to become a part of God’s family. Again, “fans” would find this unacceptable. This cost Jesus thousands more fair whether fans.
4. The Good Shepherd
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)
No one expects sheep to be responsible for themselves. Owners hire shepherds for that purpose. A Shepherd’s job is to accept responsibility for the safety and well being of his flock. Most shepherds only take that to the point where it would threaten their personal safety, rightly deciding that their life is worth more than that of a sheep. A few would be willing to risk their lives to protect their sheep, but our Shepherd knowingly and willingly died to save us, because there was no other way.
The essence of the gospel is not what Jesus will do for you, but what He already did when He died on the cross for the sins of all mankind—paving the way to eternal life for all who place their trust in Him.
Cost: All those who feel they are ‘good enough’ to earn heaven on their own and not bad enough to deserve Hell would have seen this as offensive and prideful. This statement likely cost Jesus the ‘I can earn my way into heaven’ crowd.
5. The Resurrection and the Life
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)
To hear this was to clearly hear Jesus saying He was equal to God. Only God has the power of life and death. Jesus did back up His words with proof as He raised Lazarus from the dead, but take a look at the polarized reactions to this miracle…
John 11:45-50, “45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”
Cost: Hard to believe that people could see a miracle of this magnitude and come to the conclusion that Jesus must die, but that’s exactly what happened. What did this cost Him?
Answer: His life
6. The Way, the truth, the Life
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Cost: If there’s ever a bone of contention people want to pick with believers, it’s exclusivity. This statement likely cost Jesus the “easy believism” crowd.
7. The Vine
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
Cost: Again, all those who believe salvation is earned by good works rather than in Jesus would have checked out at this point.
What’s the bottom-line cost of just these 7 “I Am” statements? It’s impossible to know. Thousands? Millions? Again, who can say? We know only one thing for sure—the cost weighed heavily on Jesus. He wept for the lost sheep but never gave up on them. Instead, He rested in this, “This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” John 18:9
Jesus knew that everyone who was supposed to come to Him would. Watering down the message, compromising the truth or simply telling people what they wanted to hear would not bring true followers. And true followers are always what the lord is after. Jesus doesn’t want fans.
Well, some of you are undoubtedly thinking I did truth a disservice. And I agree the case for truth doesn’t look so strong right now. But it will…soon.
In part 3, I promise.
* Have you heard about Impact Church? Pastor Rob is starting a brand new church in the Southeast Charlotte area to reach out to the unchurched and dechurched for Christ. Impact will have the familiar relevance and hard hitting truth each week from God’s Word that many came to expect from Pastor Rob, but will also seek to take his passionate mission to make an impact for Christ by marking the body, community, world and future with His love to a whole new level.
If you would like to be a part of this new venture you can send an email to pastorrss@yahoo.com and address it to Pete and Lisa Maciver. They will then make sure that you are kept abreast of all the exciting news as hundreds come together to make an impact for God!