Spirituality Column #781

November 2, 2021

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

I Am, and I Mean It

By Bob Walters

In reading the Gospels, do you notice that Jesus generally doesn’t get mad at sinners?

At least not at the garden-variety, run-of-the-mill, caught-up-in-the-flesh (or pride, greed) type of sinners.  In the Bible Jesus encounters many of them, and He is typically gentle, kind, always righteous and unyielding, but not harsh, condemning, or dismissive.

Jesus tries to help sinners understand who He is.  His mercy abounds.

But notice, Jesus roars like a lion when those who should know who He is, don’t.

We’ve been looking at the “I AM” statements of Jesus in our Thursday morning “Mustard Seed” Bible study at church, and this notion of Jesus’s demonstrable anger at the Pharisees and disciples – but not at common sinners – popped into my head.

Consider “the sinful woman” caught in adultery at the start of John chapter 8. Her sins obvious, she neither confessed, apologized, asked forgiveness, repented, nor called Jesus Lord, but Jesus saved her from stoning.   Clearly His purpose, first, was to expose the treachery of the Pharisees who were using the woman’s sin to trap Jesus into condemning her.  Second, we see His mercy and righteousness on the woman.

Jesus declares, “Let He who has not sinned cast the first stone,” and the Pharisees dropped their stones and slinked away.  Jesus then asked the woman, “Who has condemned you?” and followed with, “Neither do I.  Go and sin no more.”

What we notice in all four Gospels is that Jesus is kind and often encouraging to common sinners.  Think of the good thief on the Cross next to Him.  Or the centurion, or Zachaeus, or the woman who grabbed the hem of his garment, or the woman at the well.  Jesus was compassionate, and told them of not sinning again, of paradise, faith, restitution, grace, and living water.  Go, and sin no more.  Trust His mercy.

But woe to those who should have known, appreciated, and worshipped Jesus for whom He truly was, and instead denied His identity as the Son of God.  Of course, the Pharisees first come to mind because whether by argument, parables, or occasional rage, Jesus knows they should know. Their self-serving denials ultimately destroy them.

Jesus also levels angry charges of faithlessness at his often-doubting disciples who, up to the very end and even after the end, express doubt He is the Son of God.

Jesus’s first four “I Am” statements – bread, light, the gate, and the good shepherd – are all prompted by the intransigence of the Jewish leaders.  The fifth, “resurrection and life” is stated to Lazarus’s grieving sister Martha, and the last two – “way, truth, and life,” and “the true vine” to His disciples the evening of the Last Supper.

Jesus knew that His mission was to deliver humanity from its sins and restore its relationship with God’s glory through our individual faith in Him as Lord, Savior, and Son of God.  By declaring “I Am” – as God uniquely and undeniably identified Himself to Moses – Jesus as Christ revealed the final saving truth of mankind.  I Am.  He meant it.

The Pharisees hated Jesus for this truth.  His disciples and friends harbored doubts bred in the overwhelming mystery of encountering the One True God as a man.

We take comfort that when Jesus says, “I Am,” He means it for all eternity.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) figures “I Am” will be on the Judgment final exam. Btw, he also teaches the Mustard Seed Bible study at E91 Thursdays at 10:30.  All are welcome; email Bob for more info.