DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- THE "I AM"

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – THE "I AM"

"And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, 'Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?'  But He kept silent and answered nothing.  Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, 'Are You the Christ, the Son Of the Blessed?'  Jesus said, 'I am.' "  (Mark 14:60-62a)

Jesus was on trial before the high priest and the rest of the Sanhedrin.  There were many people called as witnesses remained silent through these accusations.

Finally, the high priest asked Jesus, "Are You the Christ?"  Jesus did not back away from this question.  Jesus broke His silence to respond to this question, and declared boldly, "I am."  This answer would be understood by the Jews in a way that it would not be to us today.  They knew that God had identified Himself as the "I AM" when He appeared to Moses.  When Jesus said, "I AM," He was proclaiming that He was indeed God.  That is what outraged the Jewish leaders.

This was the crux of the matter.  Was Jesus the Christ, the promised Messiah?  Was He indeed divine?  

It still remains the pivotal question today.  Who was Jesus?  Was he just a prophet?  Was He a blasphemer?  Or was He indeed God in the flesh?  The rest of the questions pale in comparison to Who He was and is.

Critics of Christ and of Christianity will come up with all kinds of ideas that are only distractions from the true question:  "Is He God?"  The answer that He would give today is the same:  "I am." People can reject His claim just as the Jews did, but that does not change Who He is. He is still the "I Am."   He is indeed God, and He is worthy of our worship, our devotion, and our obedience.  

Love, Dad