My God, the Great I Am

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟏𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝟏𝟕:𝟑-𝟗

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟎𝟓:𝟒-𝟗 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐧 𝟖:𝟓𝟏-𝟓𝟗

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑰𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉.” (𝒗.51)

If someone were to stand before you and say: “𝑰𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉.” (𝒗.51) how would you react. Are you going to react with amazement and disbelief just as the Jews did when Jesus said these words?

Not only were the Jews astonished at the claim of Jesus, but they were angered when Jesus brought himself to the level of Abraham whom we of course know was regarded as the father of ancient Israel.

What was equally amazing in this Gospel passage was the progression in the claims made by Jesus that came in staccato fashion with each of his claim becoming stranger than the preceding.

In Bible study we know of several approaches in trying to understand the Scriptures and we know of at least two that are taught in the Basic Bible Seminar – the Contextual Approach and the Thematic Approach. There is, however, a third type and this is the Literal Approach which is to understand each word or phrase in the way it is said. This means that in the Literal Approach there is no room for interpretation and or evaluation.

This was how the Jews understood the teachings of Jesus which was why he needed to speak in parables most of the time to provide an illustration to what his teachings wanted to convey. And in this scenario, this was how the Jews understood his teaching, but Jesus wasn’t talking of physical death but spiritual death.

And it is this literal-mindedness of the Jews that hindered them from fully understanding what Jesus meant which simply put was that death has no claim on any man who will fully accept him and obey his Words.

What the Jews also could not or refused to understand was the fact that Jesus knew whereof he speak such that when he said he existed even before Abraham was born, he was proclaiming his divinity. Not only did Jesus’ claim to be divine but he also claimed the holy name of God when he said: “𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑨𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒎 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏, 𝑰 𝒂𝒎!” (𝒗.58)

This must have brought the Jews to the edge of their limited understanding because the next thing they did was they picked up stones to kill him, but Jesus slipped away from the temple grounds.

If we are to reread and reflect upon this Gospel today, we will note that there are two claims that Jesus made that has become the foundation of his life. One was that he claims to have personal knowledge of God saying: “𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒊𝒎.” and the other was that he claims obedience to God: “𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒎.” (𝒗.55)

The Jews were at a disadvantage and their stubbornness was understandable because it was difficult for them to go beyond the literal meaning of what Jesus was saying or has said in his teachings because what he was saying was incompatible with the religious training and study the Jews have received.

It is different with us now because we have at our disposal the many tools of communications that provides us with the information we need. There is also no shortage of preachers and teachers who amplify the Scriptures for us which is why there is no way we will ever miss what Jesus wants to convey to us unless, of course, if we will become as stubborn as the Jews.

What Jesus said in this Gospel need not take a bright mind to understand – that the only way to know the heart and mind of God is through him. Our finite minds can receive bits and pieces of knowledge of God but only in Jesus can we see what God is like.

Jesus claims obedience to God and that was what we saw when he went through his passion and death on the cross. What Our Lord was also trying to impress upon us was that “𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅, 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 – 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒎𝒆.”

The Jews accused Jesus of blasphemy for claiming to be God. The incongruity of it all was that the Jews were the ones who blasphemed God because they not only opposed God, but they were bent to kill Jesus in whom God was personified.

Perhaps this Holy Week would be an appropriate time for us to look into our lives and see if we too are also guilty of blaspheming God. And we might ask, when did we blaspheme God?

When? In the times we refused to heed the call to serve God in the church or ministry. When we held back on our tithes and love offerings or when we give but with strings attached. When we make claims that the church where we worship, community or ministry or apostolate will not survive without us. When we placed idols above God. When we failed to give God the credit for the talent we have acquired and the material possessions we may have amassed. In other words, it is blasphemy when we remove God from our life’s equation.

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅’𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕.” (𝑷𝒔𝒂 24:1) If we take this in the context of how the Psalmist said it, there is nothing on earth that do not belong to the Lord. To think otherwise is to blaspheme God.

But the Pharisees accused Jesus of blasphemy because of his use of the word “𝐈 𝐀𝐦” which the Jewish people use when they define the character of God. What the religious leaders didn’t know at the time was that Jesus took a big leap when he revealed his divinity when he said he existed even before Abraham was born.

And when God’s divinity is made known it demands a response. How then will we respond to God if ever he will reveal himself to us? Are we going to accept him or are we going to reject him as the Pharisees did? What many of us aren’t aware of is that we are in fact guilty of blaspheming God whenever we commit a sin because sin is a rejection of God not only of his lordship over us but also a rejection of his divine nature. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 10, 2025)