So Yeshua said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM [who I say I am], and that of myself I do nothing, but say only what the Father has taught me. Also, the One who sent me is still with me; he did not leave me to myself because I always do what pleases him. John 8:28-29
With the release of The Chosen, I have begun to look at Jesus through an entirely different lens. I did not see Him as personally as I see Him now. Not because I look at the actor and say, “Oh, he does such an amazing job portraying Jesus.” Although he does. It is because this vehicle of presenting the gospels carries an anointing that God Himself is using to change my view. In the very first episode, we meet Him when He calls to Mary Magdalene. His love and compassion when He frees her and delivers her doesn’t just sit within the boundaries of the TV screen, or whatever device you are watching on. He tells her to fear not, that He has called her by name, that she is His. It is as if those words from the scriptures in Isaiah are not just part of the Bible, not just part of script from a series about Jesus and those around Him, it as if He is speaking them directly to you. Guess what? He is.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Four vastly different books with a very central theme. The ministry of Jesus. Matthew begins his gospel by listing His genealogy. Mark begins with introducing us to John the Baptist and his ministry as the forerunner to Jesus. Luke begins with the parents of John the Baptist, and an angel telling them they will conceive a son. And John, well, John takes us back to the beginning. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God.” John 1:1 One thing is abundantly clear no matter which of the gospels you are reading. Yeshua IS God, WAS a man of flesh and blood, and IS the Messiah.
Exodus 3:13-15: [13] Moshe said to God “Look, when I appear before the people of Isra’el and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you’; and they ask me ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” [14] God said to Moshe, “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” (“I am/will be what I am/ will be), and added, “Here is what to say to the people of Israe’el: ‘Ehyeh (I Am or I Will Be) has sent me to you.’” [15] God said further to Moshe, “Say to the people of Isra’el: ‘Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [Adonai], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham (Abraham), the God of Yitz’chak (Isaac) and the God of Ya’akov (Jacob), has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation.
While the Israelites were in Egypt, they watched as I Am stretched out His hand, bringing plagues upon Egypt, while the area they occupied remained untouched. He was their deliverer. While in the wilderness, He was their provision as He provided manna and quail. Yet, despite seeing miracle upon miracle, they would grumble, complain, and whine about going back to Egypt because He would do things in ways that did not make sense to them, or not in the way they wanted it done. None of that however, changed the fact that He was the I Am. As time progressed, judges, kings and prophets lived and died, and across the span of time, He did not change, He was, is and forever will be the Great I Am.
There came a day, that Jesus was walking with His disciples near Caesarea Philippi and asked them a question. “Who are people saying the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” He then looked at them and asked, “But you, who do you say that I am?” and Peter replied, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” (Matthew 16:13-20, Mark 8:27-38, Luke 9:18-27)
Notice that Jesus flipped the question on its head. Moses said, “Who do I tell them sent me?” Jesus said, “Who do you say that I am?”. While these were men of trade, they knew the Torah. They knew the history of the Exodus. They knew the discussion that God had with Moses through the burning bush. They knew that it was I Am that I Am that brought their ancestors out of Egypt. Herein lies the difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge. The people were seeing miracles, just as they did all those years ago in Egypt. Yet, they only saw Jesus as John the Baptist or one of the Old Testament prophets resurrected. God spoke directly into the heart of Peter and showed him that this was the I Am in the flesh, the Son of the Most High God. But as quickly as Peter had an “out of Egypt” moment, he immediately had an “in the wilderness” moment when in the same conversation Jesus told them that He would be put to death but would be raised on the third day. “Heaven be merciful, Lord! By no means will this happen to you!” Jesus turned His back to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because your thinking is from a human perspective, not from God’s perspective!” (Matthew 16:22-23)
I want to pose Jesus’ question to you. Who do YOU say that HE is? Who is Jesus to you? Have you really ever thought about it? Is He a Sunday obligation to you? Is He who you call out to only in times of trouble? Is He a story in a book that prompts you to go to church on Easter and Christmas? OR Is He who He says He is in your life? Is He I Am even when you are in the wilderness? Is He I Am when you do not have a care in the world and things are great? Is He I Am when your finances are shot? Is He I Am when you have a child that has cut you out of their life? Is He I Am when you are battling sickness? Is He I Am when you hit the lottery? Is He I Am that I Am no matter what your circumstances are? If you are like me, if you are like Peter, He is at times and then in others not so much.
The moment Jesus becomes your all in all, the world closes in around you. It is then that you must plant your roots deep into the word and prayer. It is then that you do not let down your guard, but live a life of praise and worship, even when you do not feel like it. While communing with Jesus and being in the presence of the Holy Spirit gives me a huge emotional charge, I do not live my life from emotion to emotion in Him. That would be building my house on the sand. We push past our emotions, our will, our flesh, and we cry out to Him, just like He did in the garden of Gethsemane, “not my will Lord, but Yours!”
The whole point of this entire blog collection lies within those verses in Exodus, “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” (“I am/will be what I am/ will be). He is the beginning and the end, He is the author and the finisher of our faith, HE IS THE I AM.
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