Picture this scene with me again… Judas accompanied by Temple guards…on his way to betray Jesus in the garden.

I made a big deal about Jesus response last week when he simply responded; I Am

6 As Jesus said “I AM (he… is not in original text),” they all drew back and fell to the ground! (NLT)

Some of you went to your favorite version of the Bible and said… He didn't just say I am… see there is the word "He"… in my favorite English version of the Bible, Just so we are all clear….let me show you the Greek New Testament, and you can clearly see that the word "He" is not there.

Why does any of this matter??.... Because Jesus is clearly, here and many other places, equating himself with God in the Old Testament…. who told Moses..

Exodus 3:14-15  God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.” ….. 15….This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.

It explains why the soldiers fell on their behinds in John 18… It explains why Jesus was constantly accused of blasphemy and several times narrowly escaped being stoned to death… I showed you several instances last week…I alluded to this passage…. let me show it to you now ….to set you up for the main part of this message…

Even though Jesus and Abraham were born 2300 years apart, Jesus talks about Abraham as if they were best buddies….

John 8:57-58  The people said, “You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!”

We see that as a cute play on words… The Jews, who were listening that day, saw it as so much more… Those who were ready to accept Jesus as the Messiah, God incarnate come to earth to save mankind from sin; believed!… those who were not ready to accept him… wanted him dead for His blasphemy!!

That leads us to these seven strange "I Am" statements of Jesus…

John carefully records seven statements that Jesus makes over several months time. When you see them you will know that there is more under the surface of these statements than there is on top the surface.

Here are the seven statements:

As I began to take a hard look at these statements two weeks ago, something popped out that I had never seen before… I first asked myself… then you all last week… several key questions…

Q 1) Is there any significance to the fact that there are seven statements?

Q 2) What does the number "7" in the Bible usually signify?... Completeness!

Q 3) Why did Jesus make these specific seven statements in this specific order?

Since we know that every word in the Bible is inspired, "God breathed", we dare not skip over anything as insignificant… but especially something like this. All the "I Am" statements of Jesus were hugely important to his life and ministry… They left him on the verge of being assassinated every day.

He's not going to play games with the I AM phrase and I'm suggesting that he's not going to spew out a random bunch of thoughts that just happens to total "seven", the divine number of completeness… unless the sum total of those seven thought was supposed to complete something…

What would The Son of God, here on Earth be trying to teach us that would be a complete package of something.

How about: Why he was here on this earth and what his being here would do for each of us?

Is it possible that we could find in these seven I Am statement's of Christ the complete picture of the salvation he is offering to each one of us? …Maybe presented in a little different flavor than other places in the New Testament…

I think so…. Starting with:

John 6:35-51 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry….51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.

This picture will tear your heart out:

We can't bear to even look at that picture, but that's what God sees, spiritually, when he looks at this world…. Spiritually starving people…with the vulture, satan, waiting to claim his prey. That's how Jesus saw the people on this God starved planet when he arrived.. When he cries out: I am the Bread of Life…it wasn't something metaphorical… It was a cry from the aching heart of God. You're starving…I’m the food you are so needing to bring you to health. I am the living bread… If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.

There's the light of our world…let it go around the other side of the earth and things get quite black. There is really no such thing as darkness…it's simply the absence of light.

It's same thing…. spiritually… inside each of us… in this room. If there is darkness inside you it's because the light has not been allowed to illuminate every corner of your soul.

Jesus offer was to take those who were starving and walking in darkness and show them the door… not the door out…but the door in!

Our minds often go to Rev. 3 where Jesus says he stands at the door and knocks… This is saying a bit more than that… This isn't our hearts door that we choose to open or not. Jesus doesn't lead us to the door that is eternal salvation ...Jesus is the door that is eternal salvation!!.

John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. (NKJV)

If you want away from the starvation and darkness you must leave where you are and enter a new place. There are not many ways to get there… there is one way and only one way. You must enter eternal salvation through the door that is Jesus Christ!

Watch this picture unfold:

You walk up to the door; you don't have to know the path from there onward… I'm the shepherd… the Good Shepherd.. my job is to lead you to you eternal destination.

And he did, of course,

He gave his life for us, but he didn't stay dead…. That's where this next I AM comes in:

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (He asked Martha) (NIV)

This next I AM, to me is like the invitational: wrapping together all Jesus is offering; I'm the pathway to what you are looking for… You can search everywhere else but you will still have to come back to the door to eternal life… I'm the path to truth…I am all truth. Life eternal life is through me!

When I was a boy I used to graft a branch of one kind of tree to the larger branches of another…did you ever do that? After a while I would have a tree growing with a completely different limb growing healthily… nourished by the root of another tree.

It's what Jesus is offering to each of us… Once you enter into salvation from sin and eternal life you will be grafted into the source of life. All of God's nutrients and strength, and life will flow into and out through you

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II. An Invitation from Jesus to You… Let me recap what Jesus is trying to say to us in these seven "I am" statements and offer you a personal invitation from Jesus…

Jesus first invitation is offered to spiritually, starving people, Are you hungry deep in your soul? Have you spent a lifetime searching for something/ anything that would satisfy? Are you wracked with an inner gnawing that you're sure something out there should be able to fill…but nothing ever has?

I sometimes close the garage door, at night, then try to make my way through the garage to the door to the house. By the time I find the knob I have smashed my shins on every possible obstacle… Is that how you are living spiritually? Are you wandering around in the dark garage of sinful living trying to find the door knob and never quite finding it? Do you, right now see a sliver of light that, if you could just get to it would provide eternal light into your soul?

If you are searching and ready for answers… Jesus reveals to you the door into eternal life. Remember, Jesus doesn't lead you to the door of salvation…He is the door to salvation! If you want to receive eternal life from God there is no pathway there that does not pass through Jesus wonderful gift of salvation.

Here's how it works: You realize that you are starving and bumping around in the darkness. You spot the sliver of light and finally reach the door to eternal life. Jesus always enthusiastically throws open the door since that has been his plan for your life before you were ever conceived.

Once inside the door he won't leave you wondering around but, as the great shepherd he will protect and guide you around the crevasses and predators that would hinder your journey. Jesus says: John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep….

That's exactly what he did. We sinned…we deserve eternal punishment and eternal separation from God for our sins… That's not what Jesus provided. He took our sins on himself and died, in our place!

If Jesus had died for you and stayed dead he still could not have offered you anything eternal. He didn't stay dead! He defeated sin, and satan, and death, and hell, and he rode from the grave, the first of millions who would cheat death of it's victory. His resurrection opens the door for you resurrection…and each of us will live on once this life is over. Those who reject God will face the eternal punishment that Jesus paid the price to save them from. Those who embrace Jesus' free gift… will spend eternity in heaven with Jesus, our Savior!

6) I AM THE WAY, TRUTH & LIFE (14:6) (Here is the invitation)

I'm the pathway to what you are looking for… You can search everywhere else but you will still have to come back to the door to eternal life… I'm the path to truth…I am all truth. Life eternal life is through me!

Once you enter into salvation from sin and eternal life you will be grafted into the source of life. All of God's nutrients and strength, and life will flow into and out through you