Is Jesus of the Fourth Gospel the I AM of the Old Testament?

In a footnote she notes:

“The second εγω ειμι in both Isa. 43:25 and 51:12 is omitted by 106, 109 736 of the Hexaplaric recension. Some textual witnesses also insertαυτος after the second εγω ειμι in Isa. 43:25…and in Isa. 51:12.” [8]

Reflecting on Samaritan and Rabbinical sources – some with which the author of the Fourth Gospel was undoubtedly familiar – Williams discusses the significance of Deut. 32:39 which also contains a double self-identification (אני אני הוא). She notes:

“The importance attached to Deut. 32:39 as the climactic expression of divine sovereignty in the eschatological future leads to its frequent citation in monotheistic declarations… Even the two words אני אני… are often preceded or followed by the phrase ‘there is no second’ (לא שני). Hence, God’s own declaration of his exclusive divinity …provide [sic] a sound scriptural basis within Samaritan theology for worshippers to proclaim ‘there is no God but one’ [9]

The double εγω ειμι of Isaiah, therefore, does not provide the necessary certainty to link John 8:58 to the divine Name.

In John 17:12 Jesus declares, “While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.” This name Jesus had during his earthly ministry, which he also uses to protect his disciples.

One of the fascinating aspects of the Fourth Gospel is the apparent boundless scope of theological resources the author generously gleans from to make his theological points. This can be seen in the various traditions of divine representation the author uses and applies to Jesus Christ. Gleaned from Hellenistic Judaism, Jesus is identified as the logos (Joh. 1:1, 14, cp. Wisdom 8:4-6, Philo Leg. All. II. 86; Ag. 51). From Rabbinic Judaism, the author used the Name of God (Joh. 5:43, 17:6, 11, 12 cp. Similtudes of Enoch 39.7, 9, 13; 41.2, 6; 43.4; 45f.; 46.6-8; 47.2; 48.7, 10 etc.) and His glory (Joh. 1:14 [also note here the wordplay in eskinosen cp. shekinah], 2:11, 7:18, 17:5, 22, 24 cp. Sanh. 6.5;Aboth 3.2; Targum Onkelos on Ex. 33.14f; 34.6, 9) as His means of being present among mankind. Jesus is depicted as the medium through whom God Almighty is seen (either as logos, Name or glory). In none of these occurrences of Jesus being depicted as the logos-made-flesh, the Name-revealer or the glory-of-God do we find either a specific event or announcement from which point on Jesus would be such. It is even implied by the author that no one event would sufficiently reveal the glory of God (cp. 14:9, 21:25). It is further suggested by the prolepsis used in John 17:5 that God had intended Jesus to inherit this glory since time immemorial. In the prologue Jesus appears as the one who bears the Father’s glory (1:18). So while Jesus is quoted as uttering the words in 17:12, his bearing the Name in no way necessitates a point at any time when Jesus had to explicitly state that, either in 8:58 or anywhere else.

The Gethsemane story in John has Jesus declare, “Ego eimi,” which McGrath says meant more than the casual “it is I” or “that’s me” (see John 9:9). The fact that those who have come to arrest him fall to the ground at the pronouncement necessitates another layer of interpretation besides the mundane meaning of the phrase. That he declared the divine Name is implied.

The above argument insists that recognising the Divine in Jesus’ statement would have been the only cause of such a response by his enemies. Self-identification, it is argued, would not have been sufficient to justify such utmost surrender by the crowd. This argument, however, decides for the author what he had intended to convey by the stories he recorded. If the author intended to show that Jesus had glory which even his enemies couldn’t resist and that even the darkness would yield to him as the Light, then surely the account in 18:5-7 achieved just that. Uttering the Divine Name is not by necessity the only condition for the crowd’s response to Jesus’ statement.[10] Since the expression ego eimi is naturally used to denote self-identification (‘I am he,’ ‘it is I,’ cp. John 9:9 and Testament of Job29:3, 4; 31:5, 6), greater weight should be given to the possibility, if not the reality, that this self-identification and what it meant either for the author or for the crowds was what evoked their respective responses.

The declaration in John 8:58 had the original hearers puzzled at first which lead them to attempt to stone him at the end. A mere “I am he” would not have evoked such a response from the crowd.

Williams takes a similar position:

“The fact that this Johannine scene of heightened opposition concludes with a description of ‘the Jews’ lifting stones to through at Jesus leads one to enquire about their perception of, and response to, his statement in 8:58…The cumulative effect of these three pronouncements [vv. 24, 28 and 58] is emphasized by Ashton, who states that the expected reaction – blasphemy –does occur when εγω ειμι is uttered for the third time.” [11]

But here Williams’ argument is circular in that the premise for claiming that εγω ειμι is a reference to the divine Name is the Jews’ reaction to the “blasphemy” in v. 58, while their lack of violence in vv. 24 and 28 is explained as as “misunderstanding.” The fallacy in this argument is also evident by noticing that it is again assumed that the Jews were justified to respond the way they did. Contrary to the overall theme in this Gospel, namely the wickedness andblindness of the Jews’ judgment, their response in v. 59 is accepted as valid. Their being depicted as those who are in darkness is no less evident here than their similar response to Lazarus’ resurrection in 12:10, with their motives for doing so equally unwarranted.

Jesus couldn’t explicitly state, “I am God,” because then the subsequent statement by Jesus, namely that he does nothing of himself, would not have made sense. Moreover, such a statement would ruin a double entendre of the sort of which the author was clearly fond?

Williams also refers to the ego eimi expression as a double entendre or Doppelbedeutung. [12] The difficulty in using a figure of speech as subtle as double entendre to prove the existence of an alternative meaning lies precisely in the fact that there should be certainty in the existence of that alternative. Compared to the double entendre found in John 2:21, for instance, the presence of an alternative meaning of ego eimi in 8:58 is not nearly as certain. Here again circularity is introduced. Double entendre would have been present here had we known for a fact that Jesus meant to have used the divine Name, not the other way around.

The Proposed Solution

The author of the fourth Gospel made generous use of figure of speech, including typology, prolepsis and metaphor. Motifs from the Genesis creation, from contemporary symbols, and various available traditions the author skilfully employed to convey a profound message about Jesus, the unique “Son of God” (John 20:31). In exploring the possible, if not the most likely significance the author wanted to convey in 8:58, alternative meanings to the Ego eimi statement should be explored using established literary devices the author employed elsewhere. The proposed solution is not a new one; it is one which has not been receiving the attention and sophistication it deserves. What follows is a brief proposal of this solution. From a narrative perspective, the author makes it clear throughout the text that the appearance of Jesus on earth resulted in the differential manifestation of light and darkness (1:7-10; 3:19-21; 8:12; 11:9, 10; 12:46); of life and death (3:15, 16; 4:14; 5:21, 24-26, 29; 6:33, 40; 8:12; 10:10, 11, etc.); of seeing and being blind (1:50; 9:37-41; 12:40, etc.). Those without faith, namely “the Jews,” revealed that they were in spiritual darkness, spiritually blind and dead. Using the Jews’ understanding of Jesus’ identity, works and sayings as a guide for truth is wrongheaded in determining what the author intended to convey. [13]Another pervasive theme throughout the Gospel is that ofeschatological reality through the use of prolepsis. Both the prophetic past and the anticipated future are brought together in the Christ-event and its escalated effects, as presented by John. Drawing from “pre-existence” traditions, [14] the author further strengthens the notion of intentionality since time past of God’s ultimate purpose realising in Christ. [15] Appreciating these dominant strands so prominently present in John’s Gospel, several scholars have come to conclusions significantly different from the traditional interpretation.

“To say that Jesus is ‘before’ him [Abraham] is not to lift him out of the ranks of humanity but to assert his unconditional precedence. To take such statements at the level of ‘flesh’ so as to infer, as ‘the Jews’ do that, at less than fifty, Jesus is claiming to have lived on this earth before Abraham (8:52 and 57), is to be as crass as Nicodemus who understands rebirth as an old man entering his mother’s womb a second time (3:4).” [16]

“Jesus has been emphasizing his Messianic claim. He does not say that before Abraham was born the logos existed; he says ‘I am.’ It is Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the man whom the Father had consecrated to the Messianic work who speaks. Just before this he had spoken of ‘my day,’ which Abraham saw (John 8:56), by which we must understand the historical appearance of Jesus as Messiah. Abraham had seen this, virtually seen it in God’s promise of a seed (Gen. 12:3; 15:4, 5) and had greeted from afar (Heb. 11:13). And now it is this one who consciously realizes the distant vision of Abraham who says, ‘Before Abraham was born, I am.’ Jesus, therefore, seems to affirm that hishistoric Messianic personality existed before Abraham was born. If that be the case, then its existence before Abraham must be thought of as ideal.” [17]

Keeping in mind the pattern of sourcing classical Jewish images and applying the typology to Jesus, as well as the overall genre of the Gospel, namely a highly theological approach to the significance of this historical figure, a much more obvious and ostensibly richer meaning is derived from Jesus’ statement in 8:58. The ego eimi in John 8:58 is a simple phrase of self-identification (as can also be seen elsewhere, cp. 9:9) pointing to the significance of God’s prophetic plan for humanity, as seen in Jesus. [18] It is not a name, as used in the text, nor is the natural use of it meant to convey historical or actual existence. It should be understood that Jesus had been the one intended by God; seeing Jesus meant discerning what the precise design plan was for humanity since time immemorial. Knowing perfectly well that Messiah had been notionally reserved with God in heaven, Jesus self-identifies as the one as whom this figure had been revealed. This one had been reserved since ancient times, hence his statement, “[Since even] before Abraham was born, I have been [the intended one.]” [19]

Endnotes

[1] Charles H. Talbert, Reading John, p. 163: “’I am’ there functions as the divine name of the one God besides whom there is no other…In John 8:58, for Jesus to say, ‘ego eimi/I am,’ is for him to manifest the divine name.  The pre-existent one is God (1:1-2) who, therefore, can reveal God.”

[2] James F. McGrath, The Only True God, p. 61.  Similarly, John A.T. Robinson,The Human Face of God, p. 177:  “This history [of the wisdom and light and love of God] comes to its climax in Jesus and is so totally incarnate in him that he can speak directly in the name of God and utter the divine ‘I am’.  Indeed it is God speaking and acting.  As the embodiment of this ‘I am’, Jesus does not speak ‘of himself’.  It is no wonder, therefore, that he sometimes sounds like a ventriloquist’s dummy.”

[3] Ibid., p. 61.

[4] http://www.patheos.com/blogs/exploringourmatrix/2014/06/i-am-the-name-of-god.html

[5] Interestingly, neither Talbert (Reading John, p. 163) nor F.F. Bruce (The Gospel & Epistles of John, p. 205) links John 8:58 to Ex. 3:14.

[6] I am He, The Interpretation of ‘anî hû’ in Jewish and early Christian literature. Wissenschafliche Undersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 113. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000.

[7] Ibid., pp. 59, 60.

[8] Ibid., p. 59 n. 22.

[9] Ibid., p. 79, 80.

[10] cp. Kethuvoth 63a:  “When he came to him [R. Akiba] asked, ‘Would you have made your vow if you had known that he was a great man?’ ‘[Had he known]’ the other replied. ‘even one chapter or even one Single halachah [I would not have made the vow]’. He then said to him, ‘I am the man’ [Lit., ‘I am he’].  The other fell upon his face and kissed his feet and also gave him half of his wealth.”

[11] Op. cit., p. 279.

[12] Ibid. p. 279.

[13] The Jews’ conspiring to kill the resurrected Lazarus in 12:10 is as baseless and morally reprehensible as their attempts to stone Jesus in 8:59.

[14] According to the Jewish understanding of that time, several things “pre-existed” with God before creation. These included Torah, Paradise, the name of Messiah, Gehenna, throne of glory, the temple and repentance (Pesachim 54a,Nedarim 39b, Peshikta Rabbah 152b; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Zechariah 4:7;Similitudes of Enoch 45:3, 4; 48:2-6; 62:6, 7). Their pre-existence was understood to be not literal, but ideal or notional. Heaven and earth, for instance, were understood to have been created by God after taking counsel with Torah (Avot 3:14).  In later writings other entities were added to these seven and among these were the saints or believers who also “pre-existed” (1 Enoch 106:19).

[15] E. C. Dewick, Primitive Christian Eschatology, the Hulsean Prize Essay for 1908, “When the Jew said something was ‘predestined,’ he thought of it as already ‘existing’ in a higher sphere of life.  The worlds’ history is thus predestined because it is already, in a sense, pre-existing and consequently fixed.  This typically Jewish conception of predestination may be distinguished from the Greek idea of pre-existence by the predominance of the thought of ‘pre-existence’ in the Divine purpose.”

[16] J. A. T. Robinson, The Priority of John, p. 384.  Also, “Of the ‘I am’ sayings in this Gospel those with the predicate ‘I am the bread of life,’ ‘the door,’ ‘the way,’ ‘the good shepherd,’ etc. certainly do not imply that the subject is God. Of the ‘absolute’ uses of ego eimi, the majority are simply establishing identification: ‘I am he.’ This is so of 4:26 (the Messiah you speak of); 6:20 (confirming Jesus’ identity on the lake at night, exactly as in Mark 6:50, Matt. 14:27); 9:9 (on the lips not of Jesus but of the blind man) and 18:5-8, the ‘I am your man’ at the arrest (cp. Acts 10:21), even though it evokes awe (though not the reaction to blasphemy) in the arresting party. There is the same usage in the resurrection scene of Luke 24:39, ‘it is I myself’…Three other occurrences, 8:24, 28, 13:19 are I believe correctly rendered by the NEB ‘I am what I am,’ namely the truth of what really I am. They do not carry with them the implication that he is Yahweh (indeed in the latter two especially there is a contrast with the Father who sent him), but in contrast ‘the Christ, the Son of God,’” pp. 385-387.

[17] G.H. Gilbert, The Revelation of Jesus, A Study of the Primary Sources of Christianity, pp. 214, 215.

[18] Cp.  E.D. Freed, “The phrase is specifically Messianic. In John 8:24 ego eimi is to be understood as a reference to Jesus’ Messiahship…‘If you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins’” (“Ego eimi in John 8:24 in the Light of its Context and Jewish Messianic Belief,” JTS 33, 1982, p. 163).

[19] For my rendering of the ego eimi as “I have been [the one],” see K.L. McKay,A New Syntax o the Verb in New Testament Greek, An Aspectual Approach, p. 42.

• References
  1. Jaco van Zyl - https://worshipingmind.wordpress.com/category/christology/