Conclusion

The Progression

1. “I am the living bread…sent down from heaven”

2. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

3. “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”

4. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

5. “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die”

6. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

7. “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”

Their Significance

These statements reveal:

1. Intimacy and love

2. Our Subordination to Him as His creation

3. The will of God to make Himself known

4. Man’s place in need for redemption and made for salvation

Their Nature

1. Pedagogical

2. Consistent Themes

3. Life Giver

4. Loves us to Death

5. He alone is from whom all authority comes

6. Without Him we can neither exist, navigate this life, nor get to heaven

7. Each statement moves from the tangible to the mystical/eternal

8. Each statement moves from simpler to deeper

Christology

• The summary of these statements paint a very clear picture of Christ

• It is clear by each of these statements that Jesus is Divine and at least implicitly that He is human/incarnate

• This become like us that we are like Him is the whole point

• His mission and the perpetuation of that mission through His disciples is clear in each

• These with beatitudes layout the nature of the Messiah

• These are not the only “I am” statements in Scripture