When Michael Phelps was in the process of winning his 23 Olympic gold medals for swimming, I remember seeing a special program devoted to his unique physical traits, his body dimensions, the length of his torso, the build of his arms and legs, the size of his chest cavity. All these attributes, when fully developed, made him physically an almost perfect swimming machine. Of course, there was an immense amount of discipline and hard work invested, but his inherent physical makeup enabled that discipline and hard work to develop Michael into the greatest Olympic swimmer ever.
Michael is one example of a person who is uniquely “cut out” for the task they fulfill in life. Throughout history, we see numerous examples of this. Militarily, only a “Julius Caesar” could have orchestrated the rise of the Roman Empire. Politically, only a “Queen Elizabeth I” could have kept Britain united during a time of great social and religious reformation. And only a “Winston Churchill” could have held that nation together in the Second World War during an almost daily barrage of bombing from German forces. Each of these people stepped into the roles that only they were destined to fulfill.
Last month we looked at the heavenly perspective John gives us of Christ’s mission. Instead of seeing Jesus’ life and death as only an historical tragedy, John walks us to heaven and opens our eyes to the greater story that was going on behind the scenes of this temporal theater. In His death, Jesus was ultimately fulfilling a legal transaction with the Father to redeem a people to Himself from out of fallen humanity.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).
Only Jesus was uniquely qualified to accomplish this work of redemption, and John highlights this uniqueness in his gospel. He gives us not only the heavenly perspective of the mission of Christ, but of the person of Christ. He does this in several ways. First, as we have seen, John refers to Jesus as the “Word” or Voice of the Father. Jesus is the revelation of the incomprehensible God, revealing not only the person of God, but the life of God to us, that we may enter that life.
“In the beginning was the Word . . . and in the Word, was life” (John 1:1–4).
But John goes further to call Jesus the “light” which shines in the darkness of this world.
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4–5).
Distinct from the rest of mankind, Jesus is the divine light which has entered human darkness. Christ’s mission was to bring the light of God into the world. Yet, He can only do this if He shares in the essence of that divine light with the Father. He must be God. And, at the same time, He can only bring that divine light into human darkness if He shares in that humanity. This is why Paul says Jesus came “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Romans 8:3). As He is God, He must simultaneously be man. This description of John’s molds our understanding of how Jesus, as the God/man is the only one uniquely “cut out” to fulfill the mission the Father sent Him to accomplish.
But these are not the only ways we see John stressing the uniqueness of Jesus. The “I am” statements, which run through this gospel (statements like “I am the bread of life,” “I am the light of the world” and so on) are clear declarations by Jesus of His distinct identity. The phrase “I am” is the highest and holiest name given to God in the Old Testament. We are familiar with this name as Yahweh or Jehovah, a name which was so esteemed Jewish people refrained from uttering it aloud. This exalted name of God first appears in the third chapter of the book of Exodus. God calls to Moses from a bush which “was burning, yet it was not consumed” (Exodus 3:2). Out of this miraculous manifestation, God commissions Moses to be the deliverer of the children of Israel from their bondage to Egypt. And, in return Moses says, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
God responds to Moses by giving a name for Himself He had not previously used.
14 God said to Moses, I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
This name seems strange at first glance, but God uses it to reassure Moses and children of Israel of His covenant faithfulness to them. He is the never-changing One, the One who always “is as He is.” Self-existing and self-sustaining. Just as the bush which burned without being consumed, God is the perpetual light needing nothing to feed His fire.
This reassurance was needful. God’s people had been in bondage for 400 years. They would have reason to question the faithfulness of God. But God tells Moses to remind the people that He had not forgotten the covenant He made with the patriarchs of that family. He is the same God He has always been, and He never changes. He is “I Am.” So, with this name, God sends Moses to deliver His people from the bondage of their slavery.
As we come to John’s gospel in the New Testament, Jesus uses this exalted name over 20 times to speak, not of the Father, but of Himself. He tells the Pharisees, “before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). He tells the woman at the well as she speaks of the Messiah, “I am, who speaks to you” (John 4:26). He tells His frightened disciples who see Him walking on the water, “I am, do not be afraid” (John 6:20). In each of these instances John allows us to see that Jesus is more than just a man walking the dusty roads of Palestine. He is the “I Am,” the faithful covenant God of Israel.
But Jesus does more than just associate Himself with the Old Testament God of “I am.” In His lengthy teachings, or discourses, Jesus couples that name with seven metaphorical statements He uses to describe Himself.
“I am the bread of life” (John 6:35, 48, 51)
“I am the light of the world” (John 8:12, 9:5)
“I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7–9)
“I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11–14)
“I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25)
“I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6)
“I am the true vine” (John 15:1)
These statements connect the great spiritual needs of humanity with the work Jesus came to accomplish. They are statements which reflect God’s Old Testament provision and care for His people. By attributing them to Himself, Jesus declares that He is the fulfillment of the faithfulness of God. He meets the ultimate needs of God’s people. He gives us bread, not from manna in the wilderness, but from His own death. He gives us the life of His resurrection. He gives us the light of a new creation. He is our door, our way back into a communion with the Father. Like a shepherd, He cares for us in the journey of this life. Like a sturdy grapevine, He sustains us and nourishes our new life in Him. All these are ultimately pictures of Christ’s unique identity which enables Him to accomplish His redemptive work. Just as Winston Churchill’s ultimate calling in life was to sustain England in her darkest hour, Jesus is the one and only, who can sustain us in our darkness. God sent Moses to Egypt to deliver the Old Testament children from bondage. In a greater fulfillment of this act, the Father sent the Son into this world to be our deliverer.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:4–5).
