Tag Archives: What Jesus said about Himself

Another Look at I Am in John

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John wrote his Gospel so people would look to Jesus as the Messiah/Christ and the Son of I AM. He cited miracles as a proof of this, but in his writing, he said many things to back that up. He was an Israelite Jew who probably grew up speaking Hebrew and yet his thoughts and writings were in Greek.

God choose “I AM” as a name to introduce Himself to Moses and Abraham’s children living in Egypt. That phrase is used by John more than any other New Testament writer. I sorted and grouped that phrase in this post. Now, Jesus is not the only person to use it in the Gospel of John. Several people used it and I tried to include all of them, after all it is still a common phrase in our speech and language.

Teachers love to condense and simplify things to make and reinforce their lessons. Many only cite seven miracles being in John, that is not true, the Resurrection does not make most list. In the same custom they focused on a limited number of quotes from Jesus where He used “I am” to reveal something about Himself. I have heard seven or ten, my list has eleven. There is also a long list of where He refers to things He is doing. Believe me this varies by translations.

I put two word-search links for you to compare different translations. God bless translators who work to glorify God and His Word. Text analysis and other study materials help us make sense of translations and show us how they came to us from the original languages.  

All of these references are from the Book by John. The scrambled order came in when I started grouping similar thoughts and sayings and looked in more than one translation.

John the Baptist– I am Not Him – John 1:20,21, 27; 3:28. John the Baptist – I am one calling in the wilderness, 1:23.

Other People – I did use the NIV a lot so your Bible may have something different.

  • Samaritan woman 4:9
  • 5:7 man at the pool
  • blind man 9:9
  • Peter denying 18:17, 25

The Long List – This went through several forms, so it may be a little rough. All of these are about Jesus.

  • Jesus – 4:26, 8:24 I am He (Messiah)
  • 5:36 I am doing works
  • Jesus not going to the festival 7:8
  • 7:28, 29 not here on my own authority
  • 7:33, 34; 8:14, 21, 28; 13:33, 36 going to the One who sent Me
  • 8:16, 18, 14:28 I am going away and I am coming back to you, 16:5, 7, 10, 17, 28, 17:11, 13, 20:17 going to the Father
  • 18:38 He is not alone, 17:21 Father in Me and I am in you
  • 14:2, 8:23 I am from above, not of this world, 17:14,16
  • 8:46 I am telling the truth
  • 8:49 I am not possessed
  • 8:50 I am not seeking glory
  • 11:11 I am going to wake Lazarus, 11:15 I am glad I was not there
  • 12:26 where I am my servants will be, 14:3, 4, 17:24
  • 12:32 I am lifted up
  • 13:7 I am doing (washing feet)
  • 13:18 I am not referring to all
  • 13:19 I am telling you before it happens
  • 16:26 praying, 17:9
  • 16:32 I am not alone
  • Jesus agreeing 18:37 I am a king
  • 19:28 I am thirsty
  • 20:21 I am sending you
  • 14:10 I am in the Father and going there 12, 20

Where Jesus Identified Himself – I have no problem if you see it another way.

  • 6:35, 41, 48, 51 I am the Bread of Life
  • 8:12 I am the Light of the world, 9:5
  • 8:58 I am (before Abraham)
  • 10:9 I am the Gate
  • 10:11,14 I am the Good Shepherd
  • 10:36 I am God’s Son
  • 11:25 I am the Resurrection and the Life
  • 13:13 I am Teacher and Lord
  • 14:6 I am the Way and the Truth, and the Life
  • 15:1 I am the Vine
  • 18:5, 6, 8 I am Jesus of Nazareth

A thought I started working on, was to divide John into ministry sections. Then take these references and group them. It may still get done, but I had a problem deciding on the sections.

John is also important because he was the last writer of New Testament cannon. We all want Revelation to be the last book written and it may have been. What if John wrote the Gospel after Revelation just to reinforce the vision he wrote about. I am in the minority on that thought.

A Comparison of Thoughts on the Order of the New Testament

John’s Gospel may have been the last roadblock to heresies that were already taking root and about to show up. Arianism quickly gained ground in Christian churches. This doctrine wanted to change the Triune God. This doctrine spread so much that the Visigoths who sacked Rome were Arian Christians.