Not Me-Myself-and-I Am

5 min read

58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

John 8:58-59

Jesus’s response is the answer to the rhetorical question that the Pharisee’s asked: “Who do You think You are?”

Of course, they were not really asking a question. They were giving a justification for why they wanted to kill Him. “This guy thinks he’s better than us—calling himself the messiah! He deserves to die!!!”

But more than the promised Messiah, Jesus makes the claim that He is the “I Am!” In other words, He is making the claim that He is God. When Moses encountered God at the burning bush, he asked God for His name so that Moses could tell the Israelites the name of his Sender. So God told 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).

What an incredible disconnect between who the Pharisees thought Jesus was—“a Samaritan and demon-possessed” (verse 48)—versus who Jesus knows Himself to be—the Great I AM. How is it that the Pharisees could have been so far off the mark?

But even Christians today make the same error that the Pharisees did. We look upon the stories of the Bible as one of two things: (1) a disconnected collection of fables offering valuable personal life lessons, or (2) a history with spiritual elements added on to explain and justify our own present reality.

In other words, we see the Bible in general as being all about ourselves (the me-myself-and-i). We can never really understand Scripture until we recognize that all the Scriptures are about God’s great plan and purpose, not our own.

And while “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16), we must not forget that the purpose of all Scripture is to serve God for His purposes and according to His ways (2 Timothy 3:17).

And so we won’t really be able to understand the word of God until we see how His story transcends our own lives. Even so, the Bible is so relevant for us because we are included in His story—His great plan of redemption for the world in Christ Jesus. In His story, we experience the blessings and the glory of the Great I AM!

Father, Who am I that You would be mindful of me—that You have saved me and invited me to be a part of Your great story—Your great plan of reconciliation for the world in Christ Jesus. Help me to stay focused on Your story as I pursue my part in it. In Jesus’s name. Amen.