I AM
I AM Risen
April 9, 2023 • Andrew Cullen • John 20:29
This I AM statement is not one Jesus communicates with his words, but one that he communicates with his presence. Thomas was having a difficult time believing that Jesus is alive. Thomas was grieved that Jesus had died. He was angry Jesus had been unjustly crucified. He was in denial that someone so good would be so horribly treated. He was asking, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” In the end, Thomas believes. But I think he believes something about himself as much as he believes something about Jesus. He was no longer the odd one out. Jesus appeared to him, and only him. This was the real Jesus Thomas knew. The Jesus Thomas was willing to, and ultimately did, die for. The Jesus Thomas wanted to be with wherever he went. The Jesus who changed Thomas’s perception of himself. There is something very personal about this encounter. And I think that’s the point. The real Jesus is as personal as he is powerful.
I AM the Good Shepherd
March 5, 2023 • Andrew Cullen • John 10:11
Every year, the Jews celebrated Passover, which commemorated when God, Israel’s Shepherd, led them out of slavery in Egypt and into a new land. The Jewish priests sacrificed lambs in the temple to atone for the sins of the people. Because Jesus was sacrificed as a lamb without blemish, we no longer need to sacrifice lambs to atone for our sins. Our Shepherd cares so deeply for us, he would consider himself a lamb to be offered as an atonement for the sins of the sheep. No one sacrificed their life for the sheep. No shepherd would do that. But a Good Shepherd would. Our Good Shepherd protects what is important to him, and he will defend his sheep at the expense of his own life.
I AM the Door
February 26, 2023 • Andrew Cullen • John 10:9–10
Sheep have every reason to be afraid. They are vulnerable and unable to defend themselves. The sheepfold is an enclosure in which they rested at night. But their confidence is not in the place they are nor in themselves nor in those around them. Their confidence is in their shepherd. We tend to think that if we avoid certain situations, certain people, and certain activities, we will be safe. There is not a place we can be that we are not immune from the Devil’s attempts to lead us astray. But there is not a place we can be that we are not under the watchful care of our Shepherd. It’s not the place that saves us; it’s the person that saves us.
I AM the Light of the World
February 19, 2023 • Andrew Cullen • John 8:12
In John 8, Jesus is in the treasury of the temple in Jerusalem during the Feast of the Tabernacle. Jesus had just brought the truth to light for a woman caught in the act of adultery and for the seemingly righteous religious leaders who had caught her. Drawing on this teachable moment, Jesus claims to be the light of the world. What immediately follows this discourse is an encounter Jesus has with a man who has been born blind. This man has never seen light. The irony of the story is that the blind man is the one who sees reality because he believes Jesus is the light of the world.
I AM the Bread of Life
February 12, 2023 • Andrew Cullen • John 6:35
People are hungry. They are searching for something outside themselves to fill the void inside themselves. In John 6, Jesus and his disciples encounter a crowd of people who are physically hungry. They are hungry because they have been following Jesus, walking up hills and crossing over lakes, in hopes that he would heal their sick family member or friend. Like many of us, their hunger led them to Jesus. What begins as a conversation about food for their stomachs turns into a teaching about food for their souls. Jesus compares himself to bread because, throughout the story of Scripture, bread is always provided in places of want.
I AM
February 5, 2023 • Andrew Cullen • John 8:58–59
“I AM” is the simplest of sentence structures. There is a noun and there is a verb. Jesus uses these words to reveal his identity. When Jesus gives his seven I AM statements in the gospel of John, he is revealing that he is God and he is working to save humanity. In Exodus 3, I AM is the name God gives to Moses as he begins working to save his people from slavery in Egypt. I AM is the name Jesus gives to his disciples as he works to save his people from slavery to sin.