I AM HE

 "Again, JESUS said to them, 'I AM going away, and though you look for ME, you will die in your sin.  Where I AM going you cannot come.'  The Jews wondered, 'Why does HE say that we can't come where HE is going?  Will HE kill HIMSELF?

But JESUS said, 'You are from below and I AM from above; you are of this world and I AM not of this world.  That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.  And you shall die in your sins, unless you believe that I AM HE.'

They asked HIM, 'Who are YOU?'; and JESUS said, 'Just what I have told you from the beginning.  I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the One who sent ME is truthful and everything I learned from HIM, I proclaim to the world.'

They didn't understand that JESUS was speaking to them about the FATHER.  So JESUS said, 'When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM HE and that I do nothing of MYSELF, but I say just what the FATHER taught ME.  HE who sent ME is with ME and has not left ME alone; because I always do what pleases HIM.'

As JESUS spoke like this, many believed in HIM." - John 8:21-30 

(In this discourse JESUS gives witness to HIS own divinity.  HE makes us understand that in HIM there is a mysterious secret regarding HIS origin.  On this page we read the expression I AM seven times.  John wishes us to understand that this is the key word of the discourse.  I AM.  It was thus GOD designated HIMSELF, speaking to Moses.  We know that the Jews called GOD, YAHWEH, that is, HE who is.  JESUS declares: "I AM," thus claiming for HIMSELF the name that should not be given to any creature, no matter how prominent the person might be.  There are Christians [e.g. the Witnesses of Jehovah] who would make CHRIST less than HE is.  They argue that since GOD is only one, how can the fulness of divine life be shared among three persons.  While they call CHRIST the Son of GOD, they deny that HE is GOD born of GOD.  Yet JESUS IS as much as the FATHER, and must not be confused with the FATHER, hence HE says: The FATHER sent ME, and also: The testimony of two persons is worthy [in the Jewish law code].

You will die in your sin.  Sin is not just doing something bad.  Sin is, also, to enclose ourselves in our own petty problems and rely only on human wisdom, without opening ourselves to the horizons of GOD.  This eventually leads to death, for a life closed to GOD is no real life.  Scripture divides people into two groups: those from above, who seek GOD's ways, and those from below, who seek limited human goals.  Sin is to refuse to allow oneself to be born again from above, as JESUS told Nicodemus [3:3].  These Jews did not believe in JESUS, because HIS way of life and HIS message reflected a world--that did not attract them.  JESUS would have wasted HIS time with them; the wisdom of GOD would be better revealed in HIS death on the cross.)

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