Two of the most startling verses in all the Bible stand side-by-side. In John 8:58, Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I am!” Then in John 8:59, we’re told that Jesus “hid himself.”
In verse 58, Jesus identified himself as the I Am. This was the sacred name of God first revealed to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-15). But from those heights, verse 59 takes us to the depths. When enemies wanted to execute Jesus for blasphemy, the one who had just declared himself to be the divine I Am slips away like a street kid who was just seen stealing an apple from a fruit vendor. That’s as astonishing as his self-identity!
It prepares us for a later time in John’s Gospel when he will not hide from those who wish to take his life. I’m speaking about John 18. Soldiers show up where Jesus and his disciples are gathered at night and ask, “Which of you is Jesus?”
Jesus identifies himself the same way he did in John 8. He says, “I am,” and these battle-hardened soldiers fall backwards to the ground. They get up, no doubt confused and unsettled, and take him away to be tried and crucified.
What does this mean? It means they could not take his life, but he laid it down. The one they nailed to the cross was the great “I Am.” He was the Creator himself giving himself up to save his prized creation.
In 2 Peter 3:18, Simon Peter said, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Lord. Savior. Both.
Jesus is Lord because in his life God came to be with us. Jesus is Savior because in his death God came to die for us.
Let’s grow in the grace and knowledge of those two things this Sunday. Read John 8:51-59 and then join us online or on campus starting at 10am. Find out more at www.hillcrest.church.
--Tom
Sign up here to receive Tom Goodman’s weekly devotional in your email inbox. Tom serves as pastor at Hillcrest Church in Austin, Texas. His sermons are available on YouTube and the HillcrestToGo Podcast and you can find him on Facebook and Twitter.