I AM
Part One
THE ‘I AMS’ OF JESUS
Series by Fr Gerasimos Koutsouras
St George Church, Rose Bay Sermons
Based on the book: The Great I Am’s of Jesus by Anthony Coniaris, Light and Life Pub. Co, 1969.
Sunday, 17th February 2013
THE ‘I AMS’ OF JESUS
Series by Fr Gerasimos Koutsouras
St George Church, Rose Bay Sermons
Based on the book: The Great I Am’s of Jesus by Anthony Coniaris, Light and Life Pub. Co, 1969.
Sunday, 17th February 2013
God is in the details... God is big and God is small. God is admired and revered in what is big, but he is also felt and appreciated in what is small.
Have a look at any Orthodox Christian icon of Jesus Christ. Around his head there is a two-dimensional circle which is always painted in gold. This metallic golden paint reflects the light and radiates it outwards. If you look even closer, you will see a few engraved lines in the shape of a cross. And if you look even closer... in the three visible bars of that cross, you will notice three Greek letters... Ο ΩΝ... which means “He who is.”
Have a look at any Orthodox Christian icon of Jesus Christ. Around his head there is a two-dimensional circle which is always painted in gold. This metallic golden paint reflects the light and radiates it outwards. If you look even closer, you will see a few engraved lines in the shape of a cross. And if you look even closer... in the three visible bars of that cross, you will notice three Greek letters... Ο ΩΝ... which means “He who is.”
Now, let’s draw the connection with the Old Testament. Try and remember the narrative of the Exodus. Moses has abandoned the life of riches and princedom in Egypt and has become a shepherd in the wilderness of Sinai. One day, he sees some light emanating from the mountain and curiously goes up to see what it is. Moses climbs the mountain where he is drawn to a flaming bush. He gets even closer... and notices that the bush is radiating with flame... and light... and warmth...1 but is not actually burning.
He hears a voice... he comes into dialogue with God. Moses asks him “Who are you?”, “What shall I tell my people?”, “What is your name?” And the answer was... “I am he who Is.”...in Greek “Ego eimi o On”, in Hebrew “Jah Weh”.
So simple and yet so profound!
He did not say I am God. That is difficult to define.
He did not say I am Spirit. That takes time and maturity to perceive.
He says I am he who Is. He who exists. The very source of existence. The very essence of life. God is the circle of being whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.2
The phrase I am is present throughout the Bible. Our Lord Jesus Christ amplifies the phrase and describes who God is and what he can mean to each and every one of us. “I am the light of the world”, “I am the good shepherd”, “I am the way, the truth and the life”, “I am the door”, “I am the bread of life”, “I am the vine” All these are famously known as the “I AMs” of Jesus. And today is the beginning of a series of sermons right up to Easter that will deal with each one of these famous phrases.
The first I AM we need to deal with is where Jesus Christ reveals that he is God. Where Jesus Christ identifies with God and tells us that he is indeed divine.3
Listen carefully to the following examples from the New Testament...
When the Samaritan woman encountered Jesus at the well, she said to him:
“I know that the Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show all things. Jesus said to her, “I am he who is speaking to you” (John 4:25-26)
When the high-priest was interrogating Jesus, he asked him:
“Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
Jesus answered “I am” (Εγώ ειμί)
And on another occasion where he was being challenged by the leadership...
“Jesus said to them ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’” (Εγώ ειμί) (John 8:58)
This is one of the most astounding statements Jesus ever made. Notice that he did not say before Abraham was, I was; he said, before Abraham was, I am! A direct identification with the I AM of the Old Testament. There could have been no other answer.
Brothers and sisters, God is everything. And there is a big difference with the phrase every thing is God. ...No. Every thing out there is not God, but God is everything to us... Christ is all and in all - τα πάντα και εν πάσι Χριστός (Colossians 3:11).
In one of his sermons, St John ‘the Golden-Mouth’ Chrysostomos presents Our Lord Jesus Christ as saying the following:
“I am Father and Sibling and Spouse;
I am House, Garment, the Root, the Foundation-stone.
I am whatever you want.
If you come to me you will never lack anything;
I am even ready to be your servant, for I come to serve and not to be served.
I am friend and member and head
and brother and sister and mother.
I am everything.
I have become beggar for you and wanderer for you;
I went up to the Cross for you and down into the tomb for you; for you in heaven I pray to the Father and for you I came down on the earth as His ambassador;
You are everything to me.
Brother and co-inheritor and friend and member.
What more do you wish?”
Τι πλέον θέλεις;
Amin.
[1] The flaming bush is one of the many manifestations of God as Trinity in the Bible. These manifestations are also known as theophanies.
[2] A paraphrase of Hermes Trismegistus.
[3] Other examples of revelation of divinity: John 17:5, Revelation 22:13.