The Most Vivid Picture of God
by Ann Spangler
Imagine that you are Michaelangelo, the greatest of artists. Unfortunately something has gone terribly wrong with your favorite painting. You try adjusting the colors, creating new scenes, adding layers of paint. But no matter what you do to the canvas, nothing seems to fix it. Instead of trashing the painting you decide on a new approach. Fortunately, in addition to creating works of breathtaking beauty, you have the uncanny ability to enter your works and to walk among the people your artistry has made. You do just that with this painting, intending to restore it from the inside.

But the people within the painting, so carefully and lovingly sketched by your hand, seemed to have changed—and not for the better. They are bad-hearted and dim-witted, evidence of the problem you came to fix. They do not recognize you—the genius who shaped them and brought them to life. Instead of expressing their gratitude, they treat you with contempt. The more you reach out to them, the more they reject and despise you.

John’s Gospel, in its first chapter, tells us that the world Jesus made was so dim-witted that it did not recognize him when he entered it. The most momentous thing to have occurred since the world’s beginning—God becoming a human being—and hardly anyone took note of it! The earth didn’t move, the trees didn’t dance for joy, and only a few people bowed down before the Christ to adore him. Yet there were numerous signs throughout the lifetime of Jesus for anyone who was paying attention.

One of these happened on a windy night in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. The previous day, Jesus had fed five thousand people with a few loaves and a couple of fish. After that, he sent his disciples out in their boat while he headed up the mountainside to pray. Matthew’s Gospel tells us that something extraordinary happened between three and six o’clock the following morning. The disciples were in their boat, straining at the oars because of a strong headwind. Suddenly they saw a figure on the water and cried out in fear, thinking they were seeing a ghost. But it was only Jesus, who calmed them by saying, “Take courage! It is I.”

To the Jewish people the sea represented chaos. It was a place where demonic powers ruled. Only Yahweh could control the sea, and here was Jesus walking on top of it! Then, Jesus said, “Take courage! It is I” which can literally be translated, “Take courage! I AM.”

There was also the occasion of Jesus’ arrest in the garden of Gethsemane. Judas came with a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. Knowing exactly what was going to happen to him, Jesus took control of the situation by asking whom they were looking for. Has it ever struck you as odd that the gang of men who had come to arrest him, armed with torches and weapons, simply collapsed when Jesus identified himself, saying “It is I”? It may help to understand that the words Jesus spoke can literally be translated “I AM.” His enemies fell to the ground, unable to stand in the presence of God.

When Moses first encountered God in the wilderness, in the figure of a burning bush, he asked God to reveal his name. But the reply he received seemed only to add to the mystery of who God is. Instead of describing himself as the Living God or the Almighty God or the Everlasting God or the Creator God, the Lord instructed Moses, saying, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” In fact, the name “I am ” closely related to the four Hebrew consonants that make up the name Yahweh, the covenant name of God in the Old Testament. Though the exact meaning of this name is difficult to know with certainty, the Lord may have been revealing himself not only as the God who has always existed but also as the God who is always present with his people.

When Jesus was being attacked by the religious leaders who failed to recognize him as the Messiah, he shocked them not by claiming to be the Messiah but by identifying himself with Yahweh, saying: “Before Abraham was born, I am.” Recognizing that Jesus was claiming to be divine, the scandalized religious leaders tried to stone him. In fact, John’s Gospel contains several self-descriptions of Jesus introduced by the emphatic expression Ego Eimi (e-GO ay-MEE), “I AM.”

I AM the bread of life. (6:35)
I AM the light of the world. (8:12)
Before Abraham was born, I AM. (8:58)
I AM the gate for the sheep. (10:7)
I AM the good shepherd. (10:11)
I AM the resurrection and the life. (11:25)
I AM the way and the truth and the life. (14:6)
I AM the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. (15:1)

Jesus, whose name means “Yahweh is Salvation,” is the great I AM—the one who is always present with us whether or not we recognize him. Whatever difficulties you may face, whatever storms may threaten, pray for the grace to have eyes and ears wide open so that you may perceive the Lord saying, “Take courage! I AM.”

From Praying the Names of Jesus by Ann Spangler

Editor's Note: Praying the Names of Jesus makes a great compliment to an advent sermon series on the names of Jesus. Five days a week your congregation can read about the name you preach on each Sunday.