John’s Gospel intentionally selects miracles of Jesus that open our understanding that Jesus is the self-revelation of God. In his miracles and his I AM statements, Jesus draws us to a revolutionary mindset: being totally reliant on Him! Jesus healed a blind person in John 9 and said to His audience, “I AM the light of the world.” Jesus resurrected Lazarus and told the crowd, “I AM the resurrection and the life” (John 11). Near to Lake Galilee, Jesus feeds several thousand people with only a few loaves of bread and the next day declares “I AM the bread of life.” Many in those crowds dismissed the evidence and truth Jesus proclaimed.

In our day, how easily we miss the new thing God is doing before us, as it doesn’t fit our pre-conceived thinking or expectations. Humility opens the door to fresh revelations of Jesus that lead to our lives being transformed. So let’s jump in to the “I AM” statements of Jesus and explore this together.

In our everyday life, food and light are essentials. Our culture so easily seduces us into being self-reliant and we seek God only during times of crisis. Jesus fed the crowd, but blind to reality, the next day some people were asking for a sign from Jesus to prove He was from God! They reminded Jesus that God gave their ancestors manna (bread) from heaven while they wandered in the desert so they wouldn’t die (Exodus 16:35). Jesus responds – Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:32-33 NIV). Jesus is saying that bread sustains us physically, but He sustains us at the core of our being – spiritual life in abundance.

Cynical religious men used a woman caught in adultery to verbally trap Jesus. His response stunned them: Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her (John 8:7). The accusers left one by one, convicted of their own sin. Jesus told the woman he wouldn’t condemn her and to Go now and leave your life of sin (John 8:11).

Jesus springboards off that incident where the religious prove they are spiritually blind. He declares I am the light of the world. He invites all his disciples to know we don’t have to live in spiritual darkness, emotional hopelessness and bondage to sin. Jesus illuminates the path to a life transformed in us: a truth first raised in Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

In the lead up to this declaration, Jesus had given sight to a blind man (John 9). The religious leaders, called to be the spiritual shepherds of Israel, ignore the evidence and refuse to accept that Jesus is from God (John 9:1-34). Religion is never a true doorway to a relationship with God. Jesus declares “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved” (John 10:9). God in Jesus teaches us that He is the only way of coming home to God to experience an abundant life, complete with fullness and freedom – and through our God-empowered words, signs, and deeds, we share this extraordinary reality with other people.

1. When was a time you looked to something that you truly thought would satisfy you, but you were left still wanting more?

2. What are some of the things/attitudes in your life that make it difficult to fully depend on Jesus to meet all of your needs? Do you think that there are any genuine needs you have that Jesus is unable to meet?

3. In your relationship with God, what has Jesus shown you that has most impacted the direction of your life? Where or what would you be doing now if you didn’t have the clear direction that Jesus gives those who follow Him?

4. Jesus invites us to share in His mission. As Jesus is the Door, how can we join with Him and open that door to those around us today?