The Great I AM

John 18:4-6
4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye?
5 They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I AM He. And Judas also which betrayed Him, stood with them. 6 As soon then as he had said unto them, I AM He, they went backward and fell to the ground.

You’ve probably heard this passage of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus many times as I have, but recently I got an awesome picture of the God’s power in Jesus when He was on earth. How did Jesus answer the men? He basically said two words: I AM.

We gain a better understanding of the GREAT I AM when we see how God told Moses how he was the answer skeptical Israel when they’d ask who sent you to deliver us. “I AM THAT I AM…thus you shall say unto the children of Israel, I AM has sent me unto you” (Exodus 3:14).

Israel already knew the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They knew Him by a special name that they reverenced and hardly spoke aloud:  Yahweh. Our English equivalent is Jehovah or Yahweh, LORD, which is the exact equivalent to the words I AM.

Fast-forward to when Jesus met the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well (John 4), He declared to her “He who speaks to you am He”—literally Jesus said I AM. She understood who He was and her life was transformed. So now when the chief priests, guards, Pharisees, and others asked where Jesus was, He calmly stepped forward and answered them I AM. The company of guards all fell backward on the ground. The GREAT I AM was in their midst, and His name declared His power. He declared to them who He was simply by telling them He was the Great I AM.

He is the GREAT I AM in your life. He is the same today, and declares to you that I AM your provider, I AM your restorer, I AM your peace, I AM your healer, I AM your salvation and righteousness. Don’t look any further or to anyone or anything else. Continue to keep your eyes on Jesus because He IS  your  I AM.