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- SIGNIFICANT CLAIMS
JESUS
– THE GREAT ‘I AM’
Countless people have made great claims for
themselves over the centuries – military men,
politicians, cult leaders, athletes and stars of
stage and screen. No doubt they all had their
brief moment of glory but were eventually reduced
to dust and ashes.
Naturally we are cynical about people who make
great claims for themselves. We accuse them of
bragging or pulling a fast one – but time
will always tell.
No-one made greater claims for himself than Jesus
Christ. These have been constantly challenged
over the past two thousand years, yet millions
have found the claims to be true, where it
matters – in their personal life and daily
experience.
In this series we examine these claims. But take
care. Our attitude toward Jesus Christ will never
be the same again! If his claims are found to be
false then we must reject him as the greatest
deceiver of all time! If his claims are found to
be true then we must respond to those claims, and
live our lives in the light of them by
acknowledging Jesus as our Saviour and the Lord
of our life! Sitting on the fence will not be an
option for us …
Are we
ready for that?
(Each of the 8 claims are found in
John’s Gospel. Have you got a Bible or a
copy of the New Testament? Please ask for a free
copy if not).
1: Jesus said ‘I Am He –
Messiah’ (John 4:1-26)
It was midday. The sun was hot. The journey was
long. Arriving in Samaria, the disciples went
into the town to buy food. Alone, Jesus, sat
wearily by the well, desperately thirsty. There
was water in the well – but it was 100 feet
down, and Jesus had nothing to draw it up with.
But then, a woman arrived at the well, carrying a
water jar. For most, the situation would have
been intolerable. Jews and Samaritans didn’t
speak to each other – and men didn’t
speak to women in public anyway (not even their
wives) let alone a complete stranger!
It this was not enough, Jews and Samaritans were
divided over major religious issues. The Jews
worshipped in Jerusalem, the Samaritans on Mount
Gerizim. They had different versions of the Bible
– the Samaritans only accepting the first 5
books of the Old Testament, rejecting the rest.
Both nations had their own priesthood and
arrangements for animal sacrifice.
As Jesus and the woman talked together, another
significant difference emerged. The woman had a
reputation that left her isolated. She had been
divorced by 5 husbands! Her present live-in lover
dishonoured her by refusing to legalise their
relationship. The other women in the city
evidently despised her and drove her to coming
for water at midday. Clearly, her reputation was
in ruins, her life loveless, her prospects non-existent.
In complete contrast, Jesus was the sinless Son
of God.
Yet Jesus refused to let any of these barriers,
whether racial, social, religious or moral, get
in the way of the blessing he had come specially
to give her – water, ‘gushing fountains
of everlasting life’, which would satisfy
the woman’s deepest needs for all eternity.
Until this point, the woman had done her best to
resist Jesus’ free gift. Close now to
admitting her need, she plays for time and says
‘When Messiah comes he will tell us all we
need to know’. Jesus’ response was to
tell her, ‘I who speak to you am He’
– the promised Messiah!
The words ‘I AM’ have
great significance. Some 1350 years before, God
appeared to Moses in the Sinai desert, and spoke
to him out of a burning bush. When Moses asked
what was God’s name, he was told, ‘I
AM WHO I AM’, (Exodus 3:14). From
that time God was known by this name in his
special relationship with his people. Now Jesus
was claiming that name for himself, meaning that
he was fully divine, eternal and unchanging.
Jesus was God just as the Father and Holy Spirit
were God!
As the promised Messiah, Jesus was revealing
himself to be God’s Deliverer, sent into the
world to bring his people back (they had wandered
away), to save them from their sins (they had
broken God’s commandments) and to rescue
them from their enemies (they were serving idols).
Now the woman understood, and leaving her water
jar went back into the city urging others to come
and meet the Messiah/Christ. After all, he had
looked into the depths of her heart, uncovered
her secret life, and freely given her living
water which had made her clean, and satisfied her
thirsty soul for all eternity.
Others came and believed in Jesus, the
‘Saviour of the World’, for themselves,
and not just because of what the woman had said.
Jesus the Messiah is still meeting the needs of
thirsty people. In his book, ‘My Life’,
comedian Bobby Ball writes, ‘I would sooner
have a drop of the Lord’s grace than a whole
bank full of money’.
Jesus can do more for us than we can think or
imagine! The woman only came to the well for a
jug of water, perhaps just enough to wash her
hair or to bathe her man’s feet. But she
went home overflowing with the living water that
satisfied her deepest need, and promised eternal
life.
Michael
Toogood
