by Ptr. Art Calaguas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shalom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before we continue with the next \u201cI AM\u201d in John 8:24, I would like to point out that there is a missing statement after I wrote \u201c\u2026Greek word order is meant to emphasize certain words, here it seems the Apostle John has deliberately set up the last word of the verse, \u03c0\u03b1\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1 (\u201cFather\u201d) as an equal counterweight to the first two (2) words spoken by the Lord Jesus, \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 (\u201cI AM\u201d).\u201d I had seen it but failed to put in this statement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaybe the Lord and\/or the Apostle John was teasing his listeners and\/or readers to consciously equate \u201cI AM\u201d with \u03c0\u03b1\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1 (\u201cFather\u201d) and grasp the theological implications emanating from this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What follows the above is what is found in the submitted manuscript.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now we can we continue with the highly-charged situation in the Temple\u2019s treasury area (\u03b3\u03b1\u03b6\u03bf\u03c6\u03c5\u03bb\u03ac\u03ba\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd) after the \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 (\u201cI AM\u201d) declaration of our Lord Jesus regarding himself as a credible and authoritative witness to what he was claiming because the Father was with him and had sent him. The \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 were truly opposing him but they could not do anything at that time. This background context is narrated in John 8:19-20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the next verses, the mood changes quite a bit as the Lord now starts to warn the \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 and the people listening of the consequences of not really listening to what he was saying to them. The Lord tells them all in John 8:21-23 that he would be going away; they would die in their sins; and where he was going, they could not come. The \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 were even asking each other if the Lord intended to commit suicide! Then the Lord said that they were from below (\u1f10\u03ba \u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u03ba\u03ac\u03c4\u03c9<\/mark> \u1f10\u03c3\u03c4\u03ad), and of this world (\u1f10\u03ba \u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03ba\u03cc\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03c5<\/mark> \u1f10\u03c3\u03c4\u03ad); while he was from above (\u1f10\u03b3\u1f7c \u1f10\u03ba \u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u1f04\u03bd\u03c9<\/mark> \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03af) and not of this world (\u1f10\u03b3\u1f7c \u03bf\u1f50\u03ba<\/mark> \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u1f76 \u1f10\u03ba \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03ba\u03cc\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03c5<\/mark> \u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5). Notice the \u03bf\u1f50\u03ba (\u201couk\u201d meaning no\/not) separating the \u1f10\u03b3\u1f7c (\u201cI\u201d) and the \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u1f76 (\u201cI am\u201d). The presence of the \u1f10\u03b3\u1f7c (\u201cI\u201d) signals quite an emphatic negation. So, to his audience the Lord Jesus was claiming that he was not of this world!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then in John 8:24 the Lord says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u03b5\u1f36\u03c0\u03bf\u03bd \u03bf\u1f56\u03bd \u1f51\u03bc\u1fd6\u03bd \u1f45\u03c4\u03b9 \u1f00\u03c0\u03bf\u03b8\u03b1\u03bd\u03b5\u1fd6\u03c3\u03b8\u03b5 \u1f10\u03bd \u03c4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03c2 \u1f01\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03af\u03b1\u03b9\u03c2 \u1f51\u03bc\u1ff6\u03bd \u1f10\u1f70\u03bd \u03b3\u1f70\u03c1 \u03bc\u1f74 \u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03cd\u03c3\u03b7\u03c4\u03b5 \u1f45\u03c4\u03b9 \u1f10\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9<\/mark> \u1f00\u03c0\u03bf\u03b8\u03b1\u03bd\u03b5\u1fd6\u03c3\u03b8\u03b5 \u1f10\u03bd \u03c4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03c2 \u1f01\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03af\u03b1\u03b9\u03c2 \u1f51\u03bc\u1ff6\u03bd<\/p>\n\n\n\n Formally\/literally translated, this would be rendered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore I said to you that \u201cyou will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that <\/em>I AM (HE)<\/mark>, you will die in your sins.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The phrase \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 as an emphatic expression would have the English equivalent of saying: \u201cI am truly He!\u201d The \u201cyou\u201d and \u201cyour\u201d are all 2nd<\/sup> person plural pronouns in line with the verbs used, so the Lord Jesus was addressing the \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 (Jewish authorities opposed to him) and all the people there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, the Lord alludes to Old Testament (OT) Scriptures to bring home his point. Deuteronomy 32:39 (The Song of Moses) may have been in the Lord\u2019s mind:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSee now that <\/em>[\u05d0\u05b2\u05e0\u05b4\u05a4\u05d9 \u05d0\u05b2\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9\u0599 \u05d4\u0594\u05d5\u05bc\u05d0] I, I AM HE, And there is no god besides Me; \u2026 \u201d<\/em> Here, it is the LORD God emphatically identifying himself to the Israelites through Moses, as the only God. This \u201cI AM HE\u201d emphatic identification can also be seen in Isaiah 43:10 (and parallel in Isaiah 41:4):<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are my witnesses,\u201d says Yahweh…and understand <\/em>[\u05db\u05b4\u05d9\u05be\u05d0\u05b2\u05e0\u05b4\u05a3\u05d9 \u05d4\u0594\u05d5\u05bc\u05d0]<\/p>\n\n\n\n that I AM HE.\u201d<\/em> Again, the immediate context is about the LORD God\u2019s self-identification as the only God. Recall the Lord Jesus\u2019 words about witnesses in John 8:18. In Isaiah, the LORD calls all the people his witnesses about his identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the Lord says in John 8:24, the consequence of disbelief is death. And yet the Lord\u2019s words did not seem to strike fear in the hearts of the \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 and all those opposed to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But here I am reminded of another aspect in the OT Scriptures which may have caused some in the audience to pause and consider. When the Lord Jesus said earlier in John 8:18 that he was the one witnessing to himself with the Father and now gives his stark warning to them now in John 8:24, the people immediately ask: \u201cwho are you?\u201d (John 8:25). I am reminded about the nature of a watcher on the walls who is responsible for warning the people of impending danger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Recall that in Ezekiel 3:19 and 33:9 in its immediate context, the LORD God appointed the prophet to be a watchman of Israel and says that if he warns the wicked and they do not turn from their wickedness, they will surely die because of their sins but the watchman lives. Now, the one who is speaking before the \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 and the people was no mere prophet, nor a mere watchman. It is HE, the \u201cI AM\u201d himself who is speaking! But as the succeeding verses 26-27 tell us, the \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 could not get it. What then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will continue next week with the \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 in John 8:28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God bless us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Ptr. Art Calaguas Shalom. Before we continue with the next \u201cI AM\u201d in John 8:24, I would like to point out that there is a missing statement after I wrote \u201c\u2026Greek word order is meant to emphasize certain words, here it seems the Apostle John has deliberately set up the last word of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[6,7,16,18,17,9,8,5],"class_list":["post-153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ptr-art-calaguas","tag-church-of-the-risen-lord","tag-crl","tag-i-am","tag-jesus","tag-john","tag-spiritual-refreshment-of-the-day","tag-upcemi","tag-upcrl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153\/revisions\/154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}