WITW - I AM.

1 Introduction

“During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.” (Exodus 2:23-25)

“God said to Moses, ‘I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14)

Our story - the story of all who belong to God - begins in pain, grief, doubt, and need. At this point in Israel’s history, the people of God were enslaved to a wicked king. They were in both physical and spiritual distress and they did the only thing they could do: they pleaded with God for rescue. It is in this darkness God appears, shining a bright light from a burning bush to a scared shepherd in the wilderness. He commissions this shepherd to be His hands and feet in rescuing His people, because His heart took notice of their suffering and longed to put an end to it. Moses’ response to God was this: “But who are you?”

And so we receive the name of God from the mouth of God Himself. That name - I Am, or Yahweh - is His most personal and intimate name. It is similar to the sort of name that is reserved only for one’s dearest and nearest. This name God gives to Moses is the closest articulation of His personhood, His character, and His life. It is difficult to communicate the

exact essence of the name in modern language, but the closest we can come to interpreting it is: “Tell the people, ‘I am Present’ has sent me to you….”

What God was expressing to Moses and His people gets to His very heart. For the Israelites languishing in slavery, God recognized they did not need to simply know that He existed; they needed to know He was in their midst. “I am who I am” was more than a statement of self-existence; it was a reminder of His immanence and love. In their hour of need, He did not remind them of His power, His might, or His ability to save. Instead, He reminded them that He was near to them. He was near to them when they were at their most broken and bruised. It is in this time of doubt and grief God opens His heart and reveals His deeply personal nature.

And so we come to the Gospel of John - the rebirth of our story and the start of our lives with Christ. When John begins his account, he does not do so by reminding us of God’s power or might… but of God’s presence. He says in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” This idea is meant to stir within our hearts a similar gospel story in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.” “Immanuel” literally means, “God with us.” The promise of the Messiah was that God Himself would be present with His people to save them. And in Christ’s case, to dwell with them; to make His home with them and live alongside them as one of them.

What John understands is that God’s people had been in a similar situation before when they were enslaved to a wicked king of Egypt. Except in John’s case, they were now in bondage to a more powerful slave master: the Law. It was not Rome that threatened the people of God; it was their crippling burden of sin that was keeping them in slavery. And so Jesus saw His people, and just as God’s heart longed for them to be rescued from Egypt, so Jesus was concerned. And He comes to them at their lowest point and is present with them in their deepest darkness. He longs to be by their side when they are least worthy or wanting of it.

As we begin our study in the personification of I am through Jesus, the only thing we really need is that name itself. This name gives us the

knowledge that He is present with us in the grief, doubt, anger, and hurt. He is the present one, the near one, the immanent one. This knowledge and experience of His presence should be enough for us.

But what do we do when it isn’t enough? What do we do when we are not comforted, satisfied, or encouraged by the idea of God being near in the difficulty? Oftentimes when we face things we didn’t ask for, don’t want, or can’t accept, God telling us He is “the present one” doesn’t make it easier or better. What do we do then?

We continue telling Him of our anger, hurt, and confusion. And we know it’s alright because He isn’t surprised by it, offended by it, or angry with it. The key is that we embrace His nearness and presence through prayer. It is alright if our hearts are not rightly postured, our minds are not at ease, or we don’t feel love for Him. He came to His people time and again when they were at their lowest and angriest because He loves the nearness with them in that lowliness best of all.

And so it is with that heart posture we begin this study into the heart of God as revealed not through a burning bush, but through the beautiful person of Jesus Christ. We come to it with a heart that is painfully honest, ruthlessly vulnerable, and longing to see clearly. It is only then that the powerful love of His presence will shine brightly in us. Each week there will be questions for reflection, prayer prompts to help guide you as you pray, and a recommended song you can listen to throughout the week. These questions are incredibly personal and intended to be so. If during your group study time you would like to refrain from sharing your answers, please do so. They are designed to be both a private conversation between you and the Lord and an opportunity for discussion in a group. With that in mind, there is abundant joy and freedom that comes from being open and vulnerable about our burdens and struggles with others - God indwells each of us and so often speaks through the comfort and love of a friend. Scripture reminds us that in confession to one another come freedom and growth (James 5:13-16).

Questions for Reflection

1. Is there something in your life now that is difficult for you to accept?

2. Is there something in your life now that is making you angry at God?

3. When you are angry, hurt, or confused at God, how do you usually respond?

4. Do you feel God’s presence more in times of joy or in times of doubt?

5. Take a few moments and examine your heart. Is His presence - His nearness - enough for you?

Prayer Prompts

• Express to Christ any frustration, anger, or hurt you might feel right now

• Express to Christ your desire to long for His presence and to feel His nearness

• If you don’t have a desire for His presence, ask Him for it.

Song of the Week

“Show Me Your Face”

Steffany Gretzinger

Notes

“I am the Bread of Life”

Invitation: Come

“The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, ‘Rabbi, when did you get here?’

Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’

Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’

Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’

So they asked him, ‘What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’

Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’

‘Sir,’ they said, ‘always give us this bread.’

Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.’”

John 6:22-40

In order to better understand the context of Jesus’ first “I am” statement, we must recall what happened prior: the miracle of feeding the five thousand. On that day, a large crowd had gathered to hear Jesus; John writes it was five thousand men, but when we include the presence of women and children the number was closer to ten thousand. It had been a long while since the crowd had gathered together and Jesus was concerned they were hungry. One of His disciples tells Him of a young boy who has five barley loaves and two fish. This is significant to the story because John intends to remind the Jewish readers of a similar miracle performed hundreds of years previously - that of the prophet Elisha feeding one hundred people with twenty barley loaves (2 Kings 4:42-44). We know what happens: Jesus thanks the Father for the food, divides it, and passes it to the disciples to give to the crowd. They eat their fill and still there are basketfuls of food left over.

Because of this, the crowd seeks to make Jesus their king by force. They saw in Him the spirit not just of Elisha, but of Moses, who fed the people in the wilderness for forty years. Not only that, but Passover is approaching, and they have been preparing their hearts and homes for it.

This means their minds were focused on the key elements of the Passover: blood, flesh, lambs, and unleavened bread. It is no coincidence Jesus chooses this particular “I am” statement at this particular time.

Jesus begins with a common phrase He used throughout His ministry: “Very truly I tell you….” In fact, He uses this phrase four times in the following thirty verses. It can be translated in this way: “Amen, amen.” In Hebrew culture the word “amen” was used to signify that what was about to be said was of the utmost importance. It is similar to our saying today, “Listen, because this is important!” We know that what Jesus is about to say is a key element to His teaching as a whole when coming across this phrase. In this case, Jesus highlights the heart posture behind the crowds’ question. To the Jewish people, the idea of working hard to please God was one of familiarity and comfort. The Law was such that in order to win God’s favor and keep Him happy they must be faithful and zealous in their good works. This is why their response to Jesus is odd: “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus’ response centers on one thing only: believe. And this is where the crowd begins to grow restless. In Jewish culture, they must first see and then believe. This is why they demand a sign from Him in order to consider believing what He says. With Christ, however, we must first believe and then we will see.

Here we see the significance of the Passover and Moses. The people, who were comparing Jesus to Moses earlier in the feeding of the five thousand, were demanding He prove Himself worthy to be believed by doing something more impressive even than Moses. The prophet fed the people bread from heaven (or manna) for over forty years. This is why Jesus seeks to correct their line of thinking before answering their question directly. The root issue in their minds was not that they were demanding a sign; it was that they were giving Moses the glory for the sign of the manna. It was the Father, not Moses, who gave them bread from heaven. Likewise it was the Father who was now giving them the bread of life in the person of Jesus. As the manna came down from heaven, so Jesus has come down from heaven; yet while the manna perished after one day, Jesus lives forever and

has the power to give those who partake in Him life that never ends.

Their response is no surprise to us. John describes the conditions of their hearts in John 1:10: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.” When they ask for Jesus to give them the bread always, they fail to understand that the bread is a Person, not a thing.

The phrase, “bread of life,” is better translated as “the bread that provides life.” The word for “life” here signifies both physical and spiritual life. All physical life comes from God and is sustained by God. Jesus extends this gift of life to everyone, since He is the Word through whom all life was created. But now Jesus is extending the spiritual life to all who would believe. This word goes even further than the physical and spiritual life, however. It also signifies the genuine, happy, and blessed life. Former church fathers have described it as “life, real and genuine.”

How is it a genuine, happy, and blessed life? Because Jesus says with great authority and emphasis that those who come to Him and believe in Him will absolutely, assuredly never hunger or thirst. Note that “hunger and thirst” here is more than just being hungry and thirsty; it is suffering hunger and thirst, or being so hungry and thirsty that you are in pain. When we come to Jesus, we will no longer feel that pain and ache deep within us that comes from a life apart from Him. We will never be lacking spiritually what is most essential to our souls.

As Jesus ends the first part of His discussion with them, He hearkens back to Moses. Unlike under Moses’ leadership, those who follow Jesus will never be lost. Moses lost many during his time in the wilderness, but Christ will not lose any who follow Him. Not only that, but He will not drive away (literally, reject) anyone who believes in Him. And notice He doesn’t have an “unless” or an “except” here: He will not reject you, leave you behind, or toss you away, no matter what you do.

This first “I am” is a difficult one to accept. It is full of sweet, heavenly promises and truths: that we will never be hungry or thirsty spiritually again; that we will never be rejected by Jesus or cast aside; that all that is required

of us is to believe and we will begin to see. Yet the reality is that in our daily lives we find the opposite is true. No matter how long we have walked with Jesus, we still find ourselves looking to be satisfied by the wrong thing, even asking things from Jesus with the wrong motivation or from a place of misunderstanding. The response in the face of this is the same one Jesus gave: to come to Him. Not come to Him with a longing for the thing He gives or the miracle He performs but for the Person He is.

If we don’t feel that now, take heart. No one begins their walk with Him feeling this way; we all have misplaced desires and longings. But the more we come to Him, regardless of the motivation, the more we find our desires being met and satisfied in Him.

Questions for Reflection

1. Who is Jesus talking to in this passage?

2. What is the context of this “I am” statement?

3. What does this reveal about the character of Jesus?

4. Which is the hardest promise of Jesus for you to believe: that He will never reject you, that He will always provide your needs spiritually, or that all you need to do is believe in Him?

5. Which do you pray for most often; for more of Jesus or for more of His blessings?

6. Do you ever feel that you cannot come to Him unless you first have the right “heart posture?” Why do you think that is?

Prayer Prompts

• Express to Christ what about this “I am” statement fills you with love for Him

• Confess to Christ where in your heart you do not believe His promise

• Ask Him to help you believe so that you might see Him (and life) more fully

Song of the Week

“Nothing Else”

Cody Carnes

Notes

“I am the Bread of Life”

Invitation: Eat

“At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven?’

‘Stop grumbling among yourselves,’ Jesus answered. ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets: “They will all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’

Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your

ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.’ He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.”

John 6:41-59

As Jesus moves into the second part of His “I am” statement, He continues to respond to the people’s hearts, not their words. In the first part of His discourse, their posture was one of misplaced glory; they failed to acknowledge that God was the power behind the miracle. In the second part of His discourse, He highlights that their issue was a lack of faith. The Jews were coming to Jesus with a mind that was not rooted in faith. They were thinking rationally, realistically, and physically about Him. This is why Jesus responds to their grumbling by reminding them of the method of faith: the Father “draws” us in. This word, “draw,” refers to someone leading another person in close by an inward power. The emphasis and significance of Jesus’ usage of the word is this: God will relentlessly, persistently, and passionately lead us close to His heart through the power of faith. Faith is a gift from God, through Jesus, to know Him more fully and intimately. But what God begins in faith, Jesus completes in sacrifice. It is God who leads us in close and it is Jesus who raises us up higher into a new way of life. This new way of living under God is an intimate life wherein God is our teacher through Jesus. What He describes is the “life, real and genuine” of Week Two. It is a life of significance that lasts.

It is important to keep this in mind while reading the next seven verses. For us today, it’s an unnerving thing to read of drinking someone’s blood and eating their flesh! For the Jewish crowd at that time, it was heresy. Throughout the Law, God makes it abundantly clear the people are not to eat the blood of anything: “I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, ‘None of you may

eat blood….’” (Leviticus 17:10-12) This was so disturbing to the crowd at the time that a number of people following Jesus left Him, saying, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60) We have the benefit of knowing what’s to come, so as we read this passage we can understand Jesus is talking symbolically of His death through crucifixion, and later, about the sacrament of His Supper (or Communion).

The reason Jesus spoke in such a descriptive, graphic way is because He wanted to express this truth: just as God made atonement through the blood of an animal sacrifice in the temple, so Christ will make atonement through His blood as the sacrifice on our behalf. But this sacrifice is different from those required in the Law because it is final and fixed forever. This is significant for two reasons. First, Jesus is doing more than drawing us close; He is drawing us in. He is inviting us to share in Himself, in the very Godhead. This is why He says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.” Because of His blood, we continue to be with God in Christ. It is a final, permanent resting place. Second, Jesus’ blood is better than the animal sacrifices of the Law because it is alive. It flows from the “living Father” and has the power of continuously giving life even after His death. Unlike the manna that could only sustain the Israelites for a day, Jesus’ flesh and blood sustain forever, even after He has died.

The most beautiful message embedded within this “I am” statement is one of grace. Jesus knows it is a hard saying! Although He is faced with people arguing with Him, grumbling against Him, and even deserting Him, He does not respond with anything except His invitations: come and eat. This invitation is extended not once, not twice, but four times to those who are opposed to Him. And even when those who loved Him end up leaving, He does not chastise them, criticize them, or shame them. He lets them leave, knowing the Father will draw along those who want to come. That is why the invitation - eat - is given to us. It is a hard saying, and so it can only be the Father who draws us to accept it and partake.

Here we see the heart of Jesus, both in what He says and what He does not say. He says “come and eat and enjoy life everlasting,” and when they turn against Him, He does not speak to them in the way they deserve.

And so it is with us. As we come and eat, we do so knowing His heart: He is in passionate pursuit, no matter the cost: the heart of the Father extended through the Son. When we have difficulty understanding Jesus, we can take heart knowing He does not begrudge us, nor is He angry with us. He is always postured toward us in grace, constantly extending the invitation with wounded hands: come and eat.

Questions for Reflection

1. Who is Jesus talking to in this passage?

2. What is the context of this “I am” statement?

3. What does this reveal about the character of Jesus?

4. What are ways you feel the Father “drawing you” closer to Himself?

5. What things does Jesus say that you have a hard time understanding or accepting?

6. Do you feel guilty or ashamed when you fail to understand? Why do you think that is?

7. When is it hard for you to accept that Jesus is never angry with your doubt, irritated by your disbelief, or frustrated with your misunderstanding?

Prayer Prompts

• Express gratitude to Christ for the grace He has extended to you

• Express to Christ where you fail to understand Him or what He has said

• Ask Him to help you understand - to give you eyes to see Him, a mind to know Him, and a heart that longs for Him

Song of the Week

“Taste and See”

John Mark Pantana

Notes

“I am the Light of the World”

Invitation: Trust

“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.’

The Pharisees challenged him, ‘Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.’

Jesus answered, ‘Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am the one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.’

Then they asked him, ‘Where is your father?’

‘You do not know me or my Father,’ Jesus replied. ‘If you knew me, you would know my Father also.’ He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.”

John 8:12-20

In the first eleven verses of this chapter, as Jesus is teaching in the temple, the Scribes and Pharisees bring to Him a woman caught in adultery. They ask Jesus what He thinks should be done to her; they are ready to stone her, as the Law commands. Jesus, however, does not condemn her. Instead, He tells them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). The men slowly leave, and when Jesus is alone with the woman, He frees her without condemnation. He only tells her, “Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11). He then moves into the inner chamber of the temple where the offerings are placed. What John has omitted from the text here is that Jesus is in the temple during the start of the Feast of Tabernacles. A major feature of this feast was the lighting of the lamps in the women’s court. The light illuminated the temple chamber where the people gathered to worship and praise God, reminding the Jewish people that God was with them, just as He was with them in the pillar of fire in the wilderness. It is from within this scene Jesus makes His second “I am” statement: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Yet again, Jesus makes a specific choice to describe Himself as “the light” at a time that would be easiest to understand for the people. Unlike the other “I am” statements of Jesus, this is only one sentence and is not added to or explained in any way. Instead, Jesus spends the majority of His time addressing the issue of His testimony.

This word has a rather large definition: it mainly refers to someone’s witness about themselves - a sort of evidence that what they say and who they are is true. It can also be used in reference to the testimony of an historian, the testimony of one’s character, or the testimony before a legal court. In Rabbinic tradition, a testimony of two people was required in order for it to be legitimate. Jesus’ response to them is practical and succinct: His testimony is true because it comes from two witnesses - God the Son and God the Father. It is God who bears witness about Him, and because He is God, He can bear witness about Himself. The issue is not in His testimony, but in the judgment of the Pharisees themselves. It comes not from God or God’s Word, but from human standards. To judge in this way is to judge something or someone in a manner distinct from and opposite to the heart of God. It is a self-centered way of looking at things. Another way to phrase

it is, “according to the flesh.”

Consider the woman caught in adultery. Jesus, with deep compassion and insight, pointed out the challenge of judging for ourselves as opposed to seeking the wisdom of God. All of those men had sinned in a grievous way at many points in their lives and yet had never been caught. Had their sinful actions been brought to the light, they would have been guilty. Even the Pharisees saw the logic in this, which is why they didn’t seek to argue further. Unlike their judgment of this woman, Jesus, who is a sinless man and therefore qualified to throw a stone at her, approaches her with no condemnation - only forgiveness and a command to leave her life of sin. Why does Jesus, the perfect One, not condemn a woman who is clearly and undeniably guilty? Because He sets an example of walking in the light, not in darkness.

The way of the world is to judge according to human standards and see them only as the guilty one. When we have our lives illuminated by the light of Christ, we begin to see things more clearly. We are given the grace to see our own sin in light of the love of Christ, and we come to know that we are not condemned either. This motivates us to extend the same grace to others. If Jesus did not condemn me, a sinner, how can I condemn my neighbor? It is for this reason Jesus is the light of the world. He is not the light of those who believe, or of the pleasing ones, or the guiltless ones. He is the light of us all and He freely gives His light to any who desire it.

The invitation here - to trust - bears a heavy weight. It is threefold: first, we must trust that His testimony is true and sufficient. Either Christ is who He says He is, or He isn’t. Second, we must trust that Jesus does not condemn us. Regardless of what we have done, what we are doing, or what we will do in the future, there is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). This is a difficult truth to grasp and one we will wrestle with our entire lives. We are not condemned. And third, we must trust that when we walk with Jesus, we will not walk in darkness again. The darkness does not have power over us any longer. Just as a light illuminates a room and the darkness must be driven away, so Jesus’ love for us has such

power that we are not held in darkness any longer…or ever again. Jesus frees us, just as He freed the adulterous woman, to “leave our lives of sin” - or, to walk in the light, so that even when we stumble, we are not doing so in the darkness. We can keep walking forward.

Questions for Reflection

1. Who is Jesus talking to in this passage?

2. What is the context of this “I am” statement?

3. What does this reveal about the character of Jesus?

4. Describe times in your life when you felt Jesus was not who He says He is.

5. What makes it hard to accept that you are not condemned by Jesus?

6. What people in your life are you judging according to human standards? In what way do you judge yourself according to human standards?

7. Why do you think grace is such a simple concept to understand, but such a difficult one to offer yourself and others?

Prayer Prompts

• Sit and rest for a few moments in the knowledge that Jesus does not condemn you

• Express your gratitude to Him for forgiving you. Ask Him for the ability to trust it even when you do not feel it

• Express to Christ your longing to trust that His testimony is true and His words are true. Ask Him to show you ways in which He wants to walk alongside you in the light

Song of the Week

“Trust in God”

Elevation Worship, Chris Brown

Notes

“I am the Door of the Sheep”

Invitation: Enjoy

“‘Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.’ Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

Therefore Jesus said again, ‘Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’”

John 10:1-10

The day before this “I am” statement, Jesus angered the Pharisees by healing a man born blind. The Pharisees, hearing that Christ performed a miracle on the Sabbath, called the man to them and began to question him. Their questioning turned into harassment, discouragement, and threats. Their

attitude toward the man as his spiritual leaders was one of neglect and abuse, and this angered Jesus enough to explain the heart of His leadership for His people. This is why He finds the Pharisees and issues this “I am” statement to them personally and not to the crowds. He did so using a familiar metaphor in that time when talking of leaders - that of a shepherd and his sheep.

He begins not by talking of the shepherd, but by talking of the door of the sheep pen. In those days, sheep from multiple flocks were all kept in a walled enclosure. Each morning, many different shepherds would enter the sheepfold to gather their flock, but they always did so by the gate. This was because there was a gatekeeper at the entrance who would guard the sheep during the night. He knew the shepherds intimately and so knew when to open the gate for them in the morning. Unless you were a shepherd, you would not gain admittance from the gatekeeper. This is why only a thief and a robber would enter over the wall and not through a gate. Why is this significant? And why is this the first thing Jesus addresses? It is significant because God cares deeply who is in leadership over us. While we find ourselves so often in leadership we do not like, agree with, or who even hurt us, this can be difficult to accept. But Jesus reminds us that while we might have leaders that miss the mark, He is the leader even over them…and He is the one who has true lordship in our lives.

How do we know this? Because He is the one who calls us by our names and leads us out. In those days, a shepherd would assign each sheep a name that was intimately theirs and would use that name to call them out of the sheep pen and into the pasture. It was this name he would call when he wanted them to come to him. None but the shepherd knew the names for his sheep, for he alone had a deep knowledge of and relationship with them. The gatekeeper could care for them in the night - but not like their shepherd. The gatekeeper could protect them - but not like their shepherd. The leaders we have over us are in authority over us - but not like our Shepherd. The sheep follow the shepherd out of the safety of the sheep pen because He goes before them. He does not make them go alone, nor does he leave them to find the way themselves. He also speaks to them in such a way that he is familiar to them. This word here, “know,” is actually more correctly translated as “see.” In the same way we can say, “I see what you mean,” in response to

someone explaining something to us, so here Jesus is saying the sheep have a special perception of their shepherd; they can understand Him and what He is saying to them. This is why it is so intentionally written by John that the Pharisees “did not understand what he was telling them.” They were not His sheep. How do we know the sheep of Jesus? They know His voice.

And here we come to our fifth “I am” statement. Jesus does not say, “I am the shepherd” (that comes later). Instead He says, “I am the door.” This is because when Jesus calls Himself the door, He is actually calling Himself the shepherd. Instead of referring to Himself as the shepherd in the broad sense, he is highlighting a key task each shepherd knew intimately: that of being the door for their sheep.

In those days, when the shepherds would draw their sheep to the pasturelands, they would set up makeshift pens for them. Because they were not walled like the sheep pens of the gatekeepers, they had no formal entrance. This left the sheep vulnerable and exposed to any beasts that might prey on them. To protect the sheep, the shepherd would lay his body down as the door of the pen - keeping his sheep close, protected, and free. See what this tells us about Jesus as the door. He does not lay His body down to enclose His sheep in and hide them away. He lets them “come in and go out and find pasture.” His sheep experience true freedom that comes from knowing they are safe, protected, and loved. Life under Jesus as shepherd is the good, satisfying, enjoyable life. It is the life described by David in Psalm 23, where we are led to sweet pastures and given good things to eat.

The mundane day to day, the meals we share, and the jobs we do have the ability to bring more joy, taste sweeter, and be more fulfilling because of His light. A life with Christ as shepherd is that “life, real and genuine” from Week One. It is one where we go in and out and find pasture, knowing we pass under His warm and loving presence to do so. He wants us to be free. This is why He says He came that we might have life and “have it to the full.” This signifies a life that exceeds our expectations and that is more than enough for us.

What do we do, however, when life doesn’t feel this way? When it doesn’t seem sweet, or fulfilling, or joyful, and there doesn’t seem to be a

pasture to walk through? Jesus has already given us, as His sheep, the very thing we need when this is our reality: the ability to “see” His voice. When things seem too difficult to bear or Jesus seems distant as our Shepherd, we still have within us the perception of His voice. We hold the nearest and dearest thing in our hearts: that He can be known by us as we are fully known by Him. Our Shepherd is not a mystery to us. When we feel far away, when we are burdened by harmful earthly leaders, when we cannot find the pasturelands or the pen…we can pause and perceive Him. In those moments when we feel we have nothing, we have His voice. This is why we have a deeper ability to enjoy life - life with all its hills and valleys - because He is going before, calling our names, and laying down His body for His sheep.

Questions for Reflection

1. Who is Jesus talking to in this passage?

2. What is the context of this “I am” statement?

3. What does this reveal about the character of Jesus?

4. If you have ever found yourself under a difficult leader (either at home, at work, or in church), what has helped you endure?

5. How familiar are you with hearing Jesus’ voice as your Shepherd? In what ways do you hear Him best? (Through Scripture, in prayer, in worship, in dreams, visions….)

6. How difficult is it for you to imagine that Jesus wants you to feel the freedom to enjoy life, even the mundane parts of it?

7. What are the things you enjoy most about Jesus and the blessings He has given you right now?

Prayer Prompts

• Express to Jesus everything you enjoy most about Him right now

• Bring to Him any difficult leaders you might have in your life right now, and pray for them

• Express to Christ your desire to hear His voice and for it to become familiar to you

Song of the Week

“Highlands (Song of Ascent) - Acoustic”

Hillsong UNITED, Benjamin William Hastings

Notes

“I am the Good Shepherd”

Invitation: Examine

“‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life - only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.’”

John 10:11-18

Last week we learned that Jesus is the “door of the sheep;” He lays himself down to protect and comfort His own. Jesus tells the people that He is the good shepherd who “lays down his life for the sheep.” He uses this phrase five times in the next seven verses. What exactly is meant by this? Jesus contrasts Himself as a perfect leader with imperfect examples in our own lives. Jesus leads as one who is intimately acquainted with our ways. In fact, He knows us in the same way He and the Father know each other.

When He says He knows us, what He means is that He has a knowledge of us through personal experience - it is the sincerest and deepest sort of knowing. He understands our thoughts, why we do the things we do, why we choose the words we say. He understands our fears, our anxieties, and our doubts. He knows and understands even those parts of ourselves we have hidden away, and He still willingly lays down His life for us. Those who lead us here on earth do not have this sort of knowledge and intimacy with us; it is for this reason they are like the hired hand who saves themselves over the sheep. They act out of self-interest, while Jesus does not consider Himself at all.

He lays down His life not only because He knows us, but because He longs for us to know Him. Notice how the knowledge is two ways: He knows His sheep as the Father knows Him, and His sheep know Him as He knows the Father. The reason this Shepherd is so very good is because He does not hide himself from His sheep. The words of a prophet long before would have been heavy on the minds of the listeners. In Ezekiel 34, God the Father is speaking through the prophets concerning the wicked shepherds that were over them. He says in verse 4 - “You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.” What was the result of this poor leadership from Israel’s shepherds? “So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.” And what is God’s response? “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them… I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak….” (Ezekiel 34:11, 14-16)

The people knew their mighty God could not descend from His holy mountain; their sin was too great and the chasm too wide. So how would God so intimately, humbly, and personally accomplish this? He says in verse 23, “I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will

tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.” Since this was long after King David had reigned, the people knew God spoke of the promised Messiah who would deliver them. And not only them, but all of us. The Gentile, the slave, the lost…His sheep come from all over and each are unique and united in His love.

And so as we read Jesus’ “Good Shepherd” statement in John 10, we have new appreciation for the sort of Shepherd Jesus is. His coming is the fulfillment of the longing of God’s heart for ages. We cannot lose sight of this truth: that as Jesus willingly lays down His life, so God the Father willingly gives Him up. And it is only from the heart of God that the Shepherd of Ezekiel 34 would come to lead as the sacrificial Lamb.

What invitation is Jesus is extending here? It is this: to examine. In light of the profound knowledge of God’s deep love for us through Christ Jesus, we can only step back and examine our own hearts. Have we grasped the height and depth of His love for us? Can we grasp it? And, although it is hard to admit, are we following Him begrudgingly? Have we lost our passion as He passionately pursues and leads us? As we pray, read, sing, gather, and eat together, are we doing so gladly, knowing we are in the presence of the Lamb-Shepherd? As we examine ourselves this week, be encouraged. He understands and knows us, and He willingly gave Himself for us within that knowledge. He did not die for the good, passionate, holy parts of us, but for the weak, lost, strayed, and injured parts. Our lack of zeal, our lack of love, our ingratitude and selfishness are not flaws He must look past as He shepherds us; in fact, they are all enveloped in His love. We are not guilty, neither do we need to punish ourselves for our waywardness. We need only continue to examine and follow. He will lead us back if we wander and He does so with delight.

Questions for Reflection

1. Who is Jesus talking to in this passage?

2. What is the context of this “I am” statement?

3. What does this reveal about the character of Jesus?

4. How do you feel about knowing Jesus as He knows the Father? When have you felt that you know Jesus intimately?

5. What are ways you have found that help you grow in your knowledge of Jesus?

6. How passionate is your pursuit of Jesus?

7. How difficult is it for you to accept that Jesus loves even the hidden, ugly parts of you?

Prayer Prompts

• Take a few moments to wonder at the deep love God has for you in Christ

• Examine your heart throughout the week and ask the Spirit to open your eyes to anything holding you back from accepting His love for you

• Ask Him boldly to fill you with the same knowledge of Himself as He has for the Father

Song of the Week

“Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down”

Steffany Gretzinger

Notes

“I am the Resurrection and the Life”

Invitation: Believe

“Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair). So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick.’

When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.’ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’ ‘

But Rabbi,’ they said, ‘a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?’

Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.’

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.’

His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’

Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, ‘Let

us also go, that we may die with him.’

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’

Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’

Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’

Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’

‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’”

John 11:1-27

This “I am” statement, unlike those before it, is issued from a heart of grief to a grieving woman. It is said in response to pain and sorrow and pours from a sorrowful heart. And yet this statement holds within it the most hope and life. In the beginning of the chapter, Jesus receives word that His friend Lazarus is sick to the point of death. His sisters have sent word to Jesus for two reasons: first, they are confident that Jesus could perform a miracle and keep their brother from dying, and second, they are confident that Jesus’ deep love for His friend will not delay Him in coming to them. Jesus responds in a different way than they expect; He waits two days until He sets out to see Lazarus. John writes His reason for doing so was because of His love for the siblings. His love for them compelled Him to use their lives as a means for a miracle; it just wasn’t the miracle they were hoping for.

As He sets out, His disciples question Him: why did He wait to leave until Lazarus had died? Why was He going toward Jerusalem when He was sure to be put to death? Jesus again responds in a way that was unexpected. “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.” Three times now Jesus has said and done something that seems to be the opposite of the loving thing: He does not hurry to the death-bed of His friend, He lets His friend die, and He says He is glad it happened. At this point in the story we should be asking: Why?

And so we come to the home of the sorrowful. Martha and Mary were surrounded by people as was customary in those days. Not only that, but as Bethany was only two miles from Jerusalem, and everyone was in Jerusalem to prepare for the Passover, their home was bursting with helping friends. Here we see the two heart-postures of grief: the first we find in Martha. As soon as she hears Jesus has finally come, she runs to Him. Her sorrow compels her to seek comfort and see Him. The second heart-posture is that of Mary, the one who stays behind. When Jesus fails to do that which we know He can do, the anger and hurt are heavy on our minds and hearts. Grief can be so great because we feel that God failed to work the miracle. Jesus could have come, but He stayed away. And now their brother has been dead four days.

Martha’s words to Jesus express something we have all felt within us at some point in our walks with Christ. “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.” We can hear the tears, feel the longing, and imagine the grief that is pouring from her heart. The confidence she felt five days ago when her brother was close to dying still lived within her, but she needed to tell Jesus what hurt had been caused by His delay. But then we see what wonderful fruit was born from Jesus’ absence: Martha believes. “But even now,” she says - even now, with the knowledge that her brother has been in the tomb four days; even now, after He delayed in coming and let him die; even now, when her home is full of mourners and they are left alone - “I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” Martha did not have Jesus reversing death in mind here, but we can see the faith she had in Him. She knew and believed with all of her heart, even in the face of death and grief, that Jesus had the blessing of God upon Him and that He was

Jesus responds with one sentence: “Your brother will rise again.” He does not preach to her nor does He shroud Himself in mystery. Instead, He speaks to her plainly, because that is what we need when we do not understand. He meets her where she is in her grief and immediately seeks to comfort her. There is no friend like Jesus. But Martha responds to Him as her religious teacher. In those days, the Jews believed there would be a final resurrection on the last day where God would call all Israel to Himself. She misunderstands exactly what He means, demonstrating that the powerful miracle Jesus was about to perform was not on her mind at all. All she felt in this moment was love for her brother and love for Jesus.

Here we see Jesus speak one of the clearest and most profound presentations of the gospel in all of Scripture: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” Yet again, Jesus responds in a way that is counter to what is expected. How can someone both die and not die? And how can someone believe this - especially a woman whose brother has been dead four days?

To more fully understand it, we must walk back four days to the beginning of the story. Jesus has acted in a way contrary to the norm. Yet His motivation for all of it was love. And here is the moment when belief becomes essential to a relationship with Jesus. The love of Jesus does not resemble in any way the love of this world. The world says Jesus must save His friend from dying; Jesus’ love says He must wait until he dies. The world says Jesus should be guilty for delaying; Jesus’ love says He is glad at what the death will bring. The world says Jesus should justify Himself to Martha and Mary; Jesus’ love says He will grieve with them and yet take delight in what is coming. As we walk with Jesus, we will not understand. We will feel hurt, we will question, and we will have moments of crippling doubt. But at the forefront of our minds and deep within our hearts should be the unflinching belief that Jesus loves us to the point of death. We have the privilege of reading this story with another tomb before us - one that is empty after being filled for three days. We know that another dear friend will visit the

tomb and be weeping for the loss of her brother and Lord. But we know that even though He died, yet He lives. Martha does not have the cross, the empty tomb, or the fireside meals with the resurrected Jesus. All she has is the tomb of her brother. Yet Jesus tells her that with Him, no one will die. We can understand this because we know that with Jesus, what is opposite can be true. Dichotomies are the comfort of the Christian, and here, nothing is more of a dichotomy than life through death and life after death.

When we believe in Jesus, we will die one day in that our earthly bodies will fall asleep. But we will live with Him forever in spirit and truth. Our eternal lives begin the moment we are born because we will never truly die. And what is essential to our belief in Jesus is the belief that the redeemed life He has waiting for us is better, more satisfying, more enriching, and more enjoyable than anything we could experience during our time on earth. This is what Jesus is asking Martha to believe, and this is how she responds: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” At this point in the story, Jesus has not raised Lazarus from death. For Martha, the knowledge that Lazarus lives forever in Christ is enough for her. The miracle Jesus’ way is sweeter and better to her than the miracle she wanted before. See how belief in Jesus transforms us and equips us to face even the greatest sorrow? Her grief is not gone but her belief has anchored her. It is enough.

We don’t read it but we know what happens. Jesus raises Lazarus from death and it shocks the world. This single event leads to His crucifixion - something Jesus knew intimately - and yet He still performs it. And here we see why we can continue loving and trusting Christ even in the face of death. Christ does not ask of Lazarus what He Himself is not willing to give. He allows Lazarus to die, yes. Christ does this knowing He is days away from death Himself. He knows saving Lazarus will mean His own death and that His own tomb waits for Him. He does it anyway. Jesus is the conqueror on the cross, reflecting the heart of a wounded God. A dichotomy that draws us in.

We also know what happens before He raises Lazarus from the tomb: Jesus weeps. John does not tell us why Jesus weeps, he only writes that He

cries. The word used here for “weeps” only occurs one time in Scripture and it is in this passage. While we do not know all the reasons why He cries, we have an example set for us on what belief looks like for the Christian. Belief is sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. Belief stands at the face of the tomb, knowing the miracle is going to take place, and still grieves the need for the miracle in the first place. What Jesus has done here is freed us from the expectation that a godly person is a positive person, a person who is not bothered, shaken, or upset by anything. Jesus performs this miracle while He is “deeply moved” John tells us. The translation here is lacking - what is actually written is that Jesus is angry. In fact, it can be translated “strong indignation.” He is both angry and glad - the dichotomy again. He is sad and mad and yet rejoicing that belief has come through the death. Isn’t that what we feel so often as human beings? Isn’t that what we feel so often as Christians? Do you see what this means? You can believe and grieve, yes. But you can also believe and be angry. Do you see how this frees us in our relationship with Him? Do you see that He is not asking you to be perfect, just to believe?

Questions for Reflection

1. Who is Jesus talking to in this passage?

2. What is the context of this “I am” statement?

3. What does this reveal about the character of Jesus?

4. What are you grieving? How angry are you at the way something is unfolding?

5. Describe a time in your life when you felt that belief anchored you in the face of difficulty.

6. What is your expectation of what a godly person should be? How does your compare to the definition Jesus gives? What have you been taught?

7. Name other dichotomies within the Christian faith.

Prayer Prompts

• Come to Christ in honesty and tell Him of any sorrow or anger you might feel

• Confess to Christ any motivation you might have to conform to a different definition of godliness than what He gives

• Reflect on the sacrifice Jesus made. Let that be a point of praise for you this week

Song of the Week

“Drawn to You”

Audrey Assad

Notes

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”

Invitation: Accept

“‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.’

Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’

Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’

Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’

Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father?” Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.’”

John 14:1-14

This “I am” statement comes at a disheartening and discouraging point in Jesus’ ministry. He has told His disciples He was going away, He was going to die, Peter was going to deny Him, they were all going to abandon Him, and that Satan was at work among them. It is no surprise, therefore, when Jesus begins the conversation with, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He comforted them as He always does - by reminding them of the truth. The next few verses focus on His “Father’s house,” or heaven. Jesus reminds them of what He told Martha, that there is something wonderful waiting for them after death. Although He will have to leave them, He will return to dwell with them forever in the house of God. When Jesus comforted their troubled hearts, He chose to remind them of what is to come. When we don’t understand now, we can comfort ourselves with the truth that one day we will understand fully.

We keep this in mind as we read the responses from Thomas and Philip. Thomas asks Jesus, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Philip tells Him, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Yet again, they did not understand. But Jesus responds as He always does - by reminding them of the truth. Jesus knew the root of the issue within the hearts of His disciples: they failed to grasp that Jesus and the Father are one. Encountering Jesus is encountering God; seeing Jesus is seeing God; hearing Jesus is hearing the voice of God. If we cannot grasp that to know Jesus is to know God, we cannot grasp Jesus at all. This is why, in the final conversations with His disciples before His death, Jesus devotes most of His time talking about His Father in heaven.

When Jesus says He is “the way,” He is calling himself the “road” or “path” by which we can have fellowship with God. When He says He is “the truth,” He is saying He is the truth about God, reality, and the things of man. And when He says is “the life,” He is speaking of both the physical life and the spiritual life (the life of the soul that lives forever). In short, Jesus is telling His disciples He is everything. He is the stuff that makes life worth

living, bringing meaning to our existence and hope for our future. And, most incredibly of all, He grants us direct access to the living God. This is perhaps the most shocking “I am” statement. If this is true, Jesus tells us those who believe will also do the works He does; in fact, greater works will be done. Jesus does not mean we would do grander, more divine, or more sensational miracles, but that we would be carrying out His mission more expansively than He did during His ministry. How would this be possible? Because we would have His Spirit. The “greater things” are greater because we have something dearer and more precious than the physical presence of Jesus: we have the person of His Spirit indwelling us, empowering us, and compelling us to live like Him.

This is why He can say what He says about prayer. Apart from His Spirit, we will not know how to pray as we should. Paul says in Romans 8:26-27, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” It is impossible for us to know God’s will by our own understanding and logic; it requires the Spirit of Jesus within us to help guide us along, reminding us of God’s desires and plans. The longer we walk with Christ the more we realize that often, what God wants for us is better than what we think is good. And so the more we pray, the more the Spirit guides us in our prayers along the path of His love, opening our eyes to the desires of God for us. That changes how we pray and even has the power to change our desires.

When Jesus says, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name…. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it,” He is not saying, “speak these magic words at the end of the prayer and I promise it will happen for you.” He is instead saying, “Whenever you pray as I direct you by my Spirit, it will be done for you.” According to Hebrew customs at that time, a name is inseparable from the person. This is why God would rename people whenever He gave them a new purpose. And so when we pray “in Jesus’ name,” we are reminding ourselves to pray according to who He is - what He desires, loves, and accomplishes. Again, how do we know what

He desires and wants accomplished? As Paul says in Romans 8, we know through His Spirit who is at work within us. This is why Scripture is the incredible gift and privilege that it is, because it opens up the mind and heart of God so that we are instructed how to pray.

It is good to remind ourselves that we cannot let our hearts be troubled. The truth of this statement can feel overwhelming, daunting, and even impossible. This is why the invitation from Jesus is to accept. In order to begin praying “in Jesus’ name,” we must accept that He might want something different for us then we want for ourselves. And not only for us, but for our children, our spouses, our family members, our friends, our church, and our world. Do not be troubled, beloved. Christ knows what it is to drink a bitter, difficult cup and to ask for something that is not in God’s will. He did it in the Garden the night He was betrayed. And yet the posture of His heart was one of acceptance. Isn’t that what praying in His name truly is? As we begin to pray the way Jesus wants us to pray, knowing He is the way, the truth, and the life for us, we can begin as Jesus began that night in the Garden: We can ask even if it is not in God’s will, but we can do so already accepting His answer.

Questions for Reflection

1. Who is Jesus talking to in this passage?

2. What is the context of this “I am” statement?

3. What does this reveal about the character of Jesus?

4. How does the thought of heaven comfort you when you are troubled? What keeps you from feeling comforted?

5. How challenging is it for you to connect Christ with the God of the Old Testament?

6. How overwhelmed are you by the thought of learning to pray “Thy will be done?” When does it seem impossible to know the will of God?

7. What is difficult to accept in your life right now? Bring that to the Lord.

Prayer Prompts

• Take a few moments to search your heart and see if there is anything troubling you. Bring that to Jesus

• Express to Christ what you cannot accept right now, either in your life or the life of a loved one

• Ask Him for a heart of acceptance so you might learn to pray in His name

Song of the Week

“It Is Well”

Kristin DiMarco & Bethel Worship

“I am the True Vine”

Invitation: Remain

“‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.’”

John 15:1-11

Jesus reserves His last “I am” statement for His inner circle. It takes place in the middle of the final conversation He has with His disciples before being arrested. He spends the majority of His time using a metaphor that would have been familiar to His Jewish disciples. Throughout the Old

Testament, God compared Israel to a vine. This vine, however, failed to bear fruit; this is why God would prune it by allowing other nations to uproot it so that it would return to Him and produce fruit again. When the Old Testament ends, however, Israel has continued to fail. This is why Jesus calls Himself the true vine. He is telling His disciples He has done what Israel failed to do from the beginning. He has removed from Israel (and all who seek to follow after God) the burden of constantly bearing good fruit on their own in order to please God. Instead, we are now branches of the true Vine. He has done the difficult work. What is left for us now is to remain.

This is why Jesus spends the majority of His time focusing on remaining in Him. As long as a branch holds fast to the vine, it will bear fruit that is good and pleasing. Not every branch stays connected to the vine and so it dies. The gardener knows the branches that aren’t connected to the vine because it does not bear fruit. Every gardener knows that for the good of the whole, those not bearing fruit must be removed so they won’t infect the healthy branches. There are many who claim to walk with Christ but who wound, abuse, or neglect those within the church. We know they have not continued with Christ. Not only does a gardener remove the dead branches, but He also prunes the fruitful branches so they will continue to bear fruit. Another word that could be used here is “cleansing;” this is why Jesus clarifies the pruning process by saying, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” This means God’s pruning happens through Scripture. We are immediately cleansed as soon as we begin following Jesus, and Scripture continues to cleanse us (or prune us) as we walk with Him. Scripture reminds us of truth, convicts us of sin, compels us in love for Christ, and encourages us in the faith. A crucial aspect of remaining with Christ is remaining in Scripture - reading it, praying it, studying it with others, and centering our lives around it.

If we are not connected to Christ we cannot bear fruit. It is easy, after years of walking with Jesus, to feel our fruit is an indication of proficiency, merit, or ability. Christ reminds us that is far from the truth. He is the one who gives us the gifting! To Him belongs the credit for the works we do. A heart that is remaining with Christ is a heart that is dependent on Christ for everything. The consequence of not remaining with Christ is extremely dire.

Jesus says those branches that are not connected to the vine are cast away and burned. Notice He does not say, “the branches that do not bear fruit,” but, “the branches that do not remain” in Him. It is not dependent on the works we do or fail to do, but on the heart posture of faith in Christ.

Now Jesus moves from the metaphor of the vine and the branch and speaks more plainly. Not only do we remain with Christ; more specifically, we remain in His love. It is the same love He has for God. He says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” The most powerful love is that within the Trinity - the love between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. This love now includes those who remain with Jesus.

How do we stay connected to this love? By keeping His commandments. And this is where we tend to begin feeling overwhelmed and anxious, because we know ourselves and we know we fail in keeping His commandments every day. Does this mean we don’t abide in His love? Jesus knows our failings; He has experienced what it is to be tempted by sin every day. He also knows that pruning will be required and constant cleansing will need to take place. What He wants us to remember is that our focus is not in keeping His commandments, but remaining in His love. If it seems too simple, it’s because it is. All we are required to do each day is wake up and tell our hearts, “Remain in His love.” And as we make our breakfast, we love Him. As we go to work, we love Him. As we eat, drink, play, and sleep, we love Him. And the keeping of the commandments will follow. This is not to say that keeping His commandments is unimportant or insignificant. Far from it! But when our hearts are fixated on obedience apart from love, we become slaves to legalism, and nothing quenches the fire of love quite like legalism. If there is only one prayer we could pray for the rest of our lives, let it be that we remain in His love.

And here, at the end of His “I am” statements, Jesus tells us why He has said these things: so that His joy would be in us and our joy would be full. The word for “joy” is better translated in this way: grace recognized. Jesus says the joy we have from Him is joy because of grace. As Jesus lived on the earth He was full of joy. That joy was bubbling over because He knew better than anyone the sort of grace God had extended to the world. He has

given us this knowledge of grace by letting us experience it in our ordinary and mundane lives. And yet this grace gave Jesus the fullest joy, and that is what He desires for us. It is easy to grow accustomed to it, so it is good to remind ourselves of what a profound mystery it is that Jesus wants you to be filled with joy. If there is anything you need to compel you to love Him more deeply, it is this: that through Jesus, God is leaning toward you, favorably inclined to you, sharing Himself and His gifts with you forever. God wants to be with you - so badly, in fact, that He took on human form, became a servant, became obedient to a cursed death, and forever bears the wounds of it on His hands. In Jesus we see the heart of the Father laid bare. What response could we have but to love Him? That love is powerful enough to produce in us the desire and ability to obey Him and keep His commandments, fill us with abundant joy, and draw us deeper into the very heart of God.

Questions for Reflection

1. Who is Jesus talking to in this passage?

2. What is the context of this “I am” statement?

3. What does this reveal about the character of Jesus?

4. What is difficult about developing the habit of remaining in Scripture?

5. Why do you think it is easy for us to fall into a legalistic mindset, where our works become the focus of our lives with Christ?

6. How often do you find yourself thinking with a legalistic mindset? Why do you think that is?

7. How complacent are you toward the grace of God in your life? What are ways you can regain your wonder and joy over God’s grace?

Prayer Prompts

• Take a few moments and meditate on the wonder that is Christ’s grace toward you

• Express to Jesus any complacency you feel has crept into your walk with Him, and ask Him to “restore to you the joy of your salvation” (Psalm 51:12)

• Ask Jesus to continue to stir within your heart a longing to remain in His love. Ask Him to help you understand how to do that

Song of the Week

“Abide”

Dwell Songs, Aaron Williams

Notes

10 Conclusion

“From this time, many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve.

Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.’”

John 6:66-69

When Jesus finished the first of His seven “I am” statements, many who were with Him stopped following Him. Why? Because what He said was too difficult for them: “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

(6:60) They were essentially saying, “This man is stubborn and unyielding in what He says; His words are too severe.” Even all those years ago, people wanted their religious teachers to be on-trend, polite, and soft in their teachings. We cannot read the teachings of Jesus without thinking the same thing at times. What He says is counter-cultural and offensive to many. This is because it is true; every last word He says pierces through our hearts and shines light on the doubt, darkness, and pain. It challenges our selfishness, causes us to confront our wayward desires and longings, and brings to our attention our crippling inability to please God. But the thread woven through every sentence is one of grace. It is so offensive because it is so astounding. In no other part of our lives or corner of our world could we encounter such profound truth enveloped in such overwhelming love. Not everyone sees it, however, and this is why Jesus says repeatedly throughout

His “I am” statements that “no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them” (6:65).

There were a few who did not turn away from following Him. John tells us when the many left Him, Jesus turns to the twelve and asks, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” (6:67) Here we see Christ’s heart on display. There is no chastisement, criticism, or slander to those who walk away. Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 2:19 that “God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with the inscription: ‘The Lord know those are his…’” When Jesus asks His disciples if they wish to go away, He knows their hearts; He is giving them an opportunity to be encouraged in their faith. And here we have perhaps one of the most sincere and humble responses to Jesus in all of the gospels: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” Peter and the rest of the twelve did not fully understand Jesus or His teachings. In fact, they wouldn’t understand Him until after He had died and rose again. They were not intimately acquainted with Him yet and they so often misunderstood His intentions and the purpose of His ministry. But they had this: they knew that a life without Jesus was a life not worth living. It was in this moment they counted the cost of following Christ, and the reward of His presence far outweighed the fear of a counter-cultural life. It is this faith, no matter how small at the time, that tethered them to Christ in the three years of His ministry, and it is this faith that held them together in their love for Him even after they abandoned Him.

Jesus’ seven “I am” statements are at times harsh, difficult to understand, and overwhelming. But a heart drawn to Him by the Father is one that understands that apart from Him, there is nothing. Jesus is the anchor when our souls are adrift in a sea of doubt. He is the one we cling to when we are angry, hurt, or afraid. His words are the ones that remind us of the hope we have waiting for us. His joy is what abounds in us no matter the circumstances. Jesus invites us into a deeper and more familiar relationship with each “I am” statement. He begins with inviting us to come to Him with all of our doubts, anger, frustrations, and disbelief. He ends with inviting us to remain in Him and His love. Not only that, but to remain and continue with Him forever. Do you see that this is the call of Jesus? As C.S. Lewis so

simply puts it: “Come further up, come further in!” The longer we walk with Him, the more we know of Him. The more we know of Him, the more we love Him and cherish Him as He is, not as we want Him to be. Jesus longs for us and pursues us even from His position on the cross. What more can we give Him than our hearts?

Questions for Reflection

1. Who is Jesus talking to in this passage?

2. What is the context of this “I am” statement?

3. What does this reveal about the character of Jesus?

4. Which of the seven “I am” statements resonated with you the most? Why?

5. As you move forward, what are some practices you want to adopt that will help you remain in the love and life of Christ?

Prayer Prompts

• Express to Christ your gratitude for all He has done and is doing for you

• Express to Christ your longing to give Him all of your heart

• Ask Him to equip you and empower you to walk each day in the wonder and power of His love

Song of the Week

“All Because of Christ”

Austin Stone Worship