FINISHED
STATEMENT
John
1:14: “‘And the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory of the only Son from the
Father, full of grace and truth.”
Ellipses … allow statements to finish many different
ways. The Father began the statement, “I
AM Who I AM” in Exodus 3:14-15. I Am, “The
Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob—has sent me to you.” Moses was
told to say that to explain why he was chosen to lead the Israelites out of
Egypt.
Apostle John records Jesus’ finishing
the Father’s ellipses I am statement many ways.
At the Passover Feast in John 13,
Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. He
said, “You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly
so, for that is what I am. Now that I,
and your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should wash one another’s
feet.”
“I am the way, the
truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Me.” (John 14:6). John 14:20 says, “On
that day [Jesus’ ascension], you will realize that I am in the Father, and you
are in Me, and I am in you.”
John
15 teaches productivity in verses 1-2, then 4-6 contrasts that to
non-productive people: “I am the vine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no
fruit, while very branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that is will be even
more fruitful.”
“I am the vine; you
are the branches. If a man remains in Me
and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a
branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown
into the fire and burned.”
John 6:35 teaches sustenance. “I am the bread of
Life. He who comes to Me will never go
hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty. But many scoffed when He said, “For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do
the will of Him who sent me.” (Verse 38).
Verse 51 got weird, and many left
Jesus on the spot. (Believers understand
this to be Holy Communion truth): “I am the living
bread that came down from heaven. If
anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for
the life of the world.”
Take Home Nugget
So…Are you a Jacob, who operates
on human strength…or are you a John, who rests in Jesus’ finished I AM statements?
Holy Father, make me a John!
This devotion is adapted from The Great I AM from 2015 Advent
Devotions. Lutheran Indian Ministries. Wilson (Cowlitz). December 11, 2015. Wisconsin.
J.D. Griffith
Brand new for Christmas:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment