Exodus 3:13-15 ; John 8:48-59 John 18:1-6
In John’s Gospel, Jesus often uses the phrase “I AM,” which is the personal name of God from the Old Testament. John teaches us much about the nature of Jesus as God through His inclusion of seven “I AM” statements of Jesus. In Exodus 3, Moses shares with us the powerful conversation that he had with God in the desert at the “burning bush”. In this conversation, God reveals His very own personal name, the name that captures the essence of the nature of God. We render that name Yahweh, but to the Hebrew people in the Old Testament, it was such a sacred name that they would not speak it aloud. In Hebrews 3:13, Moses asks God, “What shall I say to [the people] if they ask me to tell them the name of the God of our Fathers?” God responds with one word. The literal translation of this word in the original Hebrew is “I am that I am.” It is a form of the verb “to be.” This week we will be learning a great deal about this phrase “I Am” as we study John’s intentional use of it throughout his Gospel. It is noteworthy to see the connection made between its use in Exodus 3 and the two passages in John.
In the first of these two passages (John 8:48-59), Jesus uses the phrase very purposely to confront the Jewish religious leaders and to reveal His own identity in the face of their attacks and false, short-sighted accusations. In the second passage (John 18:1-6), His use of the phrase is a bit more subtle, and perhaps less obvious to the modern-day reader, but the reaction of the soldiers to Jesus is remarkable. Notice the intensity of the reaction that these two groups of people have to Jesus’ use of the phrase “I Am” in reference to Himself.
Please answer the following questions:
- What are some of the things we learn about the nature and character of God from the conversation between God and Moses in Exodus 3?
- Why did the religious leaders of Jesus’ day have such a strong reaction to His responses to their interrogation of Him in John 8?
- What explanation(s) can you offer to the strange turn of events in John 18:1-6, where Jesus is both powerful and authoritative and willingly submissive?
- What do we learn about the nature and character of Jesus in His interaction with the soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane?
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