Scripture: Exodus3:13-16; Matthew 11:28-30; Mark 10:37-39
Most of us have heard the expression “The Great I AM”,
before, and we usually relate it to the seven “I AM” sayings of Jesus in John’s
gospel. But the truth is that there is a
basis throughout scripture for His using this saying to describe Himself. For today, though, the question is “What does
this name mean for us as Christians?”
For those who call Jesus Christ LORD, everything that Jesus taught
has a meaning for us – not necessarily in a worldly sense, but always in a
spiritual sense.
It's the way of God that we follow and celebrate,
not the physical aspects of His creation.
And that can be a problem for us – we live in the created world, but
Jesus is preparing us to live with Him in eternity. Obviously, there are also lessons that teach
us about this life, but even at that, the lessons are based in Godly truths and
ways - in the spirituality of God - not in the humanity that we have always
lived and understand.
Today, we consider the spiritual significance of God’s
“I AM”
existence, and the depth of what it means for our life in the LORD
our God.
Read Exodus 3:13-16
In this passage, we find Moses standing in the
presence of God at the Burning Bush. (Exodus 3:1-6) The LORD God Jehovah is telling
the man that he has been chosen to carry a divine message to Pharaoh, that he
is to release the people Israel from slavery so that they can journey to the
land that had been promised to them hundreds of years before. Moses had fled from Egypt after taking the
life of an Egyptian who had been beating a Hebrew. Now there was a price on his head, and he
knew that if he returned, his own life would be in jeopardy, and Moses was
frightened over both the realization that he was in the presence of God, and
because he was being told to go back and confront the very one who wanted to
kill him.
He gave as many excuses as he could come up with
(which most of us have also tried!), trying to convince God that he was the
wrong choice for this task. And one of
those reasons was “What if they ask me who has sent me.” This would be a logical request – after all,
if someone was telling us that we have to do something, wouldn’t we want to
know if that order had any authority behind it?
But how do we describe God’s authority, or even
worse, God’s Being? The attributes and
characteristics of God go so far beyond our discussions over these past few
weeks, that it would be impossible to put God’s description into human words
and concepts. So God simply tells Moses
that it is “I AM WHO I AM” who is sending him.
Not much of an answer to Moses’ question, but at the
same time, it is still the best possible answer! After all, God is, within our limited abilities,
impossible to describe, define or explain.
And since the LORD is infinite and eternal, creator of far more than
we will ever know, and above all, impossible to completely understand, what
better descriptive could there be than “I AM WHO I AM”?
The New Interpreter’s Bible explains the Name this
way. “This God is named as the power
to create, the one who causes to be. This
God is the one who will be present in faithful ways to make possible what is
not otherwise possible. This God is the
very power of newness that will make available new life for Israel outside the
deathliness of Egypt.” If the LORD
had given Moses this explanation as to who was sending him to Pharoah, who in the
world would have understood it? Personally,
I AM
WHO I AM was just as mysterious, but far easier to accept as an
indication of being infinite and eternal!
Never beginning, never ending, truly loving, and
infinitely capable! I AM!
Read Matthew 11:28-30
In this passage, Jesus, the Great I AM, offers
us the reason that we should trust in His ways and words. And the focus is in the significance of the
term “yoke”. For Israel, the yoke was a
symbol of obedience through servitude. Most
notably, the people were “yoked” to the law – to Torah. But Jesus was offering the nation a new and
radically different form of yoking. It
was a servitude that would replace Torah, and would be the only means to God’s
infinity and eternity. It would offer an
obedience that would be stranger, but more loving and compassionate than
Torah. It was a yoke that only I AM
could create and define. The new Yoke
was Jesus Himself.
The first difference between the two yokes was that
this yoking was offered, not imposed. Torah
was demanding and administrated by the Sanhedrin, the high court of Israel; I
AM’s yoke was a gift from God. Human government
is one thing; God’s way is totally different!
The second difference was that Jesus’ yoke would
teach and grow and bless within us, while Torah’s only becomes more and more oppressive. The lesson of Jesus would be based in the
love of I AM, not in the degrading nature of Torah.
The power behind Jesus’ yoke is the third difference
– that it comes from the “gentle and humble” heart of I AM,
not from the cynical and man-made heart of Torah.
The fourth difference is in the yoke of obedience
itself – it is made easy in the glory of the LORD I AM. Torah’s yoke is impossibly difficult, because
it was crafted by the extremist imagination of men. The yoke of Christ, through trust and
obedience to His way, comes from the all knowing, all loving, and all wise God.
As Joshua told the people at the Shechem Assembly, “choose
for yourselves this day whom you will serve”. (Joshua 24:15) And that is what all people – yesterday,
today, and tomorrow – must also do. Choose
between the burdensome law that humanity puts together, or the easy yoke that
the Great I AM has called us to follow.
Read Mark 10:37-39
James and his brother John come to Jesus at the
Passover with a request – that they might also receive the glory and honor that
Christ will soon receive. Interestingly,
Jesus doesn’t dismiss their request, even though we would all probably agree
that it was a bit presumptive on their part!
And what does Jesus tell them?
Basically, that glory will be theirs, but it
will cost them the same that it will cost I AM. By faith in Jesus, the eternal and infinite plan
of God will encompass all who respond to His call, who accept His Yoke, and who
follow Him through both glory and persecution.
All who would know God must come to the Way, the
Truth, and the Life of Jesus Christ. (John 14:6-7) There is no cheap grace, no simple glory, and
no perfect understanding for any of us.
Faith is all about trusting in what Jesus has taught us, given us, and has
done for each and every person on the face of the earth, throughout all time. The Great I AM has put everything in its
proper place, that we might know Him, and meet Him, and discover just what His infinity
and eternity are all about.
This name that is above all names (Philippians 2:5-11) is just that – above us, beyond us, infinitely
greater, eternally loving, giving of all that He has for our benefit, and unlike
anyone else we will ever know.
The Great I AM? Absolutely!
Great in Himself, and great for all who will come to Him. Won’t you come to know His greatness today?
