by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
After completing our study of the various εγώ εἰμι (“I AM”) declarations of our Lord Jesus in the Gospel of John, it will be good to see the “I AM” statements in the other Gospels and other New Testament (NT) books. Of particular interest here is the only post-Resurrection occurrence of εγώ εἰμι in the Gospels.
There are actually only a few instances where our Lord is quoted to be doing εγώ εἰμι (“I AM”) declarations in the other Gospels aside from the Gospel of John. The Gospel of Matthew only has one; found in Matthew 14:27. The Gospel of Mark has two; found in Mark 6:50 and 14:62. Lastly, the Gospel of Luke only has one; found in Luke 24:39. This verse in Luke has the distinction of having the only εγώ εἰμι (“I AM”) declaration in the Gospels after the Lord was raised from the dead.
The other remaining “I AM” declarations are found in the Book of Acts (9:5 and 18:10); and also in the Book of Revelation (1:17, 2:23 and 22:16).
Luke 24:39 has the post-crucifixion context of the women discovering the empty tomb and 2 of the Lord’s disciples walking from Jerusalem toward Emmaus. The Lord joined these men while they walked but they did not recognize him. The Lord explained the Scriptures to them and the prophecies dealing with the suffering, death and raising of the Messiah. At the meal, the Lord took, blessed, broke and gave the bread and at that instant, the men recognized him but he disappeared. The men immediately went back to Jerusalem to report what had happened and were met with the news that the Lord Jesus had risen and appeared to Simon Peter. As they were talking, the Lord suddenly appeared before them. The disciples were frightened and thought they were seeing a ghost. At this point the Lord assures them that it is indeed him and even showed his wounded hands and feet. Luke 24:39 contains the Lord’s declaration below (with my formal translation):
ἴδετε τὰς χεῖράς μου καὶ τοὺς πόδας μου ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι αὐτός· ψηλαφήσατέ με καὶ ἴδετε, ὅτι πνεῦμα σάρκα καὶ ὀστέα οὐκ ἔχει καθὼς ἐμὲ θεωρεῖτε ἔχοντα.
See my hands and my feet that I AM HE; touch me and see, for a spirit has no flesh and bones as you observe me having.
We can see that the Gospel writer Luke may not be treating the εγώ εἰμι phrase here as theological; but as a practical statement of fact. The αὐτός (“autos” meaning “he”) is a 3rd person nominative pronoun expected by the εἰμι. The meaning of the ἐγώ εἰμι αὐτός phrase would then be an emphatic “I really (or truly) am he.” Also, in Greek grammar the αὐτός could be used reflexively to point out an “adjectival identical” or emphasize an “adjectival intensive.” Thus the phrase ἐγώ εἰμι αὐτός could carry the meaning “It is I, myself” as a good number of translations do.
The Gospel author Luke could have just written εἰμι αὐτός meaning “I am he” but the emphatic force would be absent. Here in the context of the passages, the author captures the undoubtedly emphatic intention of our Lord Jesus as he tells his startled disciples that he was not a disembodied spirit or ghost. He has risen. He was alive and showed them his wounded but apparently healed physical body which was part of his new resurrection reality. And not only that, the Lord even asked for and got a piece of fish that he ate in front of them all (vv. 40-43)!
The Gospel writer Luke could also have meant a double meaning for the εγώ εἰμι. He could have also alluded to the Exodus 3:14-15 verses in the Septuagint (LXX) as we have seen the Apostle John consistently do in his Gospel (with the use of metaphors as nominative predicates in some and absolutes in others). As stated earlier, this is the only recorded post-resurrection ἐγώ εἰμι used in all the Gospels. Luke may have purposely intended to highlight the resurrection appearance of our Lord Jesus with this “I AM” declaration. That indeed, a physical, resurrection had taken place in the person of the Lord and that his disciples saw and believed, took it as a factual evidence of the deity of Jesus Christ and later on changed the entire world when the Holy Spirit at Pentecost empowered them to share their eyewitness testimony.
I will be taking a break for the next week as we visit relatives in the Visayas. We will continue after this time.
God bless us all.