Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.
– John 8:58–59
So this is the most clear declaration from Jesus, that he is the I Am, Yahweh, God himself. As we read through the Book of John, we see all these different I Am statements, but here he just flat out says, not I am the bread or I am the good shepherd, or I am the door, he just says, “I am.” Period. Before Abraham was, this is a clear allusion back to God’s revelation of himself in the Old Testament, specifically to Moses when God revealed himself in a burning bush, and Moses asked, “Who shall I say has sent me when I go to Egypt?” And God says, “Tell them I Am sent you.”
John 8:58–59 teaches us about Jesus’ divine identity.
When you think about this name for God, Yahweh, the Lord, the I Am, those two words summarize so much. And I want to lead us to simply praise Jesus as the I Am because yes, prayer involves so many different things, including asking for many different things and repenting of sin. And prayer involves just simply praising God. If when we pray, we immediately jump into asking for things without stopping to gaze at the one to whom we are speaking and just meditate on his wonder and worth, then we are missing the point of prayer. So let’s just praise Jesus as the I Am as we pray today.
Oh God, we praise you for your revelation of yourself to Moses as the Great I Am. And we praise you for your revelation to the world in Jesus as the Great I Am, the word made flesh. So we praise you, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, for your holiness, for your purity. We praise you for your mercy. We think about how Exodus 3and then Exodus 6 are just filled with promises to deliver your people from slavery. Jesus, we praise you as the one who delivers us from slavery to sin. We praise you for your self-existence, that you are not dependent on anyone else for your existence, for your self-sufficiency. You are the I Am regardless of who anyone else is.
John 8:58–59 teaches us Jesus’ is God in the flesh.
We praise you for your eternal nature. We praise you as the one who always has been and always will be, the Alpha and the Omega. From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. We praise you for your immutability. We praise you that you do not change, that you are love. You’re perfect love today, and you will be perfect love tomorrow. And you’ll be perfect love 10 trillion years from now, just as you were 10 trillion years ago. We praise you that your perfections never change, that your glory never dims, your beauty never fades. Lord, we praise you that you are faithful to all your promises, all your perfections, all your purposes, that you are constant.
We praise you that you are sovereign, you are in control of all things. We praise you that you are holy, holy, holy. There is no one else like you. You alone are the I Am and we worship you. And we pray that your name would be hallowed in all the earth.
Prayer for the Coong People
Our Father in Heaven because because your name, the name of the I Am, the name of Jesus, the I am to be known and exalted and enjoyed in all the earth among all the peoples. God, we pray this specifically today for the Coong people of Vietnam. We pray that they would know you, Jesus, as the I Am. We praise you and pray all of this in your name, according to your Word in John 8:58. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
