I Am

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Daily Reading: John 8:51 – 59

Focus Passage:
“Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."
"You are not yet fifty years old," they said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"
"Very truly I tell you," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. (Jn. 8:56 – 59)


“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

Jesus used the words, “I Am,” to refer to himself. The words are especially prominent in John’s Gospel. Jesus is the fulfillment of the “I AM” of the Hebrew Scriptures. At the burning bush in Exodus 3, Moses stood before God and inquired about the identity of the One sending him. The God-voice from the bush said, “I AM that I AM” (Ex. 3:14).

God was revealed as pure Being, complete Essence. I AM. God’s self-revelation to Moses in Exodus was not a role or a function. God did not self-describe as One who does; rather, God is.

We may want more information. We may want something more descriptive, something more characteristic of divinity. We yearn for more adjectives, or for labels and categories in which to place God. God, however, resists those labels. God won’t be categorized so easily. God is.

Jesus drew his identity from this God-source. He adopted this same sense of who he was. He resisted categories and labels. He was the I AM, Being and Essence of God.

This is hard for us to grasp. Modern life is caught up in doing and producing. We are enamored with those who accomplish much, and we wear our busyness as a merit badge.

At its core, the spiritual journey invites us to rediscover who we are, the “I am” at our core. It is a long journey and often very difficult, because who we are is hidden within us, covered by all the things we do and roles we carry out. Our “I am” center, though, holds the God-created purpose into which we are invited to live.

As Jesus lived completely and fully his own “I AM,” so we are invited to live fully our “I am.” And we are never more like Jesus than when we live out of our own “I am.”


For Reflection:
Spend time today praying, meditating, and reflecting on your own “I am.” Don’t think too much about it. Simply rest as the “I am” of God.

What God revealed to Moses, “I am” . . . what Jesus knew about himself, “I am” . . . is also part of your God-created DNA: “I am.”


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