Of all the claims Jesus made for Himself, none are as significant as those found in chapter 8 of John. Probably no single chapter in the gospels contains as many affirmations of Christ’s deity as does this one.

The foundation of these claims is His “I am” assertions. Jesus Christ: The great “I AM”

Perhaps at no time in American history do we need to be reminded of these claims any more than now. Jesus Christ: The great “I AM”

The rise of two inherently evil philosophies (both antagonistic to biblical principles and ensuring the downfall of our nation) make it mandatory that we acquaint ourselves with Jesus’ claims and be militant in affirming our belief in them. Jesus Christ: The great “I AM”

Islam

Islam offers some choices Christ or Muhammad? The Bible or the Qur’an? Jehovah or Allah?

Acceptance of the religion of Islam with its “prophet” Muhammad and its “holy book” the Koran and its “god” Allah will destroy any society which sympathizes with it.

Ps 50:22 Now consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver. Ps 9:17 The wicked will return to Sheol, even all the nations who forget God.

Isa 2:5-6 Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east

Islam they killed him not, nor crucified him, but the resemblance of Jesus was put over another man (and they killed that man),…For surely, they killed him not (i.e., Jesus, son of Mary). Koran 4:

Islam they killed him not, nor crucified him, but the resemblance of Jesus was put over another man (and they killed that man),…For surely, they killed him not (i.e., Jesus, son of Mary). Koran 4: Christianity Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel…by which also you are saved… For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 1 Cor. 15:1-3

Political correctness Intimidates the cowardly into avoiding, among other things, religious language deemed “offensive” to certain segments of society. This is especially true of language deemed “exclusive”. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said… Acts 13:46 We use great boldness in our speech 2 Cor. 3:12 Pray on my behalf, that… I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak Eph. 6:20

Oprah: There’s this wonderful book called Ishmael by Daniel Quinn…it talks about, one of the points it brings out is one of the mistakes that human beings make is believing that there is only one way to live and that we don’t accept that there are diverse ways of being in the world, that there are millions of ways to be a human being and many paths to what you call “god”…there couldn’t possibly be just one way..

Audience: What about Jesus? Oprah: What about Jesus? Audience: There is one way and only one way and that is through Jesus… Oprah: There couldn’t possibly be…there couldn’t possibly be winfreys-views-on-christianity-what-does-she- think/

Of all the claims Jesus made for Himself, none are as significant as those found in chapter 8 of John. And, it is significant that the gospel of John is one of the great pieces of evidence that the transmission of the NT text is uncorrupted. Jesus Christ: The great “I AM”

Do I really need to know this?!

A small piece of papyrus, 3.5 by 2.3 inches in size, with seven lines of writing on each side. It was one of a large number of papyri acquired in Egypt in 1920 by Bernard P. Grenfell, and placed in The John Rylands Library in Manchester, England. John Rylands Fragment John 18:31- 33; 37-38

Paleographically, the way individual letters are formed has been compared…most closely with papyri of the end of the first or beginning of the second century, among them ones bearing dates corresponding to A.D. 94 and A.D It is probably, therefore, that the present papyrus also belongs at the end of the first or beginning of the second century, at all events hardly John Rylands Fragment John 18:31- 33; 37-38

later than A.D Since the text is of the Gospel according to John…the papyrus is evidence that that Gospel was circulating in Egypt already at this date. As a copy of such date of a portion of a NT text, the papyrus is our presently earliest known fragment of any part of the NT. Jack Finegan, Encountering New Testament Manuscripts pp John Rylands Fragment John 18:31- 33; 37-38

One of 5,700 Greek NT mss (Homer’s Iliad has only 643) A gap between it and original approximately 25 years (Gap for Iliad is 500 years) John Rylands Fragment John 18:31- 33; 37-38

In spite of the very real possibilities for corruption of the text in the course of its transmission, and the actual existence of many differences among the various manuscripts of the NT, the work of the copysists of the NT was, on the whole, done with great care and fidelity. Finegan, p. 55 John Rylands Fragment John 18:31- 33; 37-38

Thus as we examine the “I Am” statements of Jesus, we need to remember they come from a document whose accuracy cannot be questioned by those with any degree of objectivity. John Rylands Fragment John 18:31- 33; 37-38

-58- Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. I AM Jehovah Jo. 10:30 I and the Father are one The fact that the Jews wanted to stone him (8:59; 10:31) is an indication of the unusual nature of the claim This identifies Him with the “I AM” of the burning bush Ex. 3: Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?"

-58- Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. I AM Jehovah 14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ' I AM has sent me to you.'" 15 God, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, '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.' This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.

-58- Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. I AM Jehovah I AM…  Self-existent  Eternal  Unchangeable  Incomprehensible  All-sufficient

-12- I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life. I AM the sole source of spiritual truth 9:5 While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world. 12:36 While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light. 12:46 I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.

-14- My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going -45- I speak the truth I do not lie Rev. 21:5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." Rev 22:6 And he said to me, "These words are faithful and true."

-18- I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me. I have the Father’s testimony  Through the miracles of Jesus Acts 2:22 Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know —

-18- I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me. I have the Father’s testimony  Through Messianic prophecies Luke 24:27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

-18- I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me. I have the Father’s testimony  Through Christ’s resurrection Acts 17:34 He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.

-23- I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. I had a supernatural entrance into this world (i.e. virgin conception/birth) Matt 1:20-24 the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."

-6- Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” -24- Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins If anyone keeps my word he will never see death I am the exclusive way to avoid dying in sin But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; Romans 3:21-22

-26- I speak to the world I am universally relevant Matt 28: And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

-28- I speak these things as the Father taught Me I have a message with a Divine source John 6: No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 "It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.

-29- I always do the things that are pleasing to Him -46- Which one of you convicts me of sin? I am sinless John 18:23 Jesus answered him, "If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong ; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?"

I AM Jehovah I AM sole source of truth I do not lie I have Father’s testimony I AM virgin-born I AM the exclusive way I AM universally relevant I have a Divine message I am sinless Jesus Christ: The great “I AM” No one but either a fool or a liar would make such assertions as these if they were not true.

Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, John 8:59 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. John 5:18 I AM Jehovah I AM sole source of truth I do not lie I have Father’s testimony I AM virgin-born I AM the exclusive way I AM universally relevant I have a Divine message I am sinless