Jesus & His 7 “I am” Statements

Jesus made some very bold and amazing statements while He was on earth.  I would like to take a look at 7 major statements that Jesus made to tell us who He is.  These statements still stand today, and they will for eternity!  This post will be a longer and more in depth Bible study of these statements.

In the Gospel of John is where we will find these 7 life changing statements.  After Jesus performs the miracle of feeding 5,000 people with only “five small barley loaves and two small fish” (John 6:1-15) and after He walks on water (John 6:16-21), He begins to explain who He is in a unique way the next day.  The crowd of people who enjoyed the miracle of the bread and fish take their boats to find Jesus in Capernaum on the other side of the Sea of Galilee (the lake), and Jesus begins to preach to them.

“Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.  Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.””

John 6:26-29

Notice that Jesus said “the work” not “works.”  There is only thing God requires to be saved, and that is to believe in the One He sent, and that is Jesus.

“Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, 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 he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”

John 6:32-34

I love that!  They were just like us.  They must have looked at each other and said, “well that sounds good to me, give us that bread then!”  I love the answer Jesus gives them even more!

He is the Bread of Life!

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

John 6:35

What Jesus means is that He is living food and water for our souls!  When we believe in Him, our souls will never go hungry or thirsty again!

In John chapter 8:1-11 we find the beautiful account of Jesus forgiving the woman who was caught in adultery.  Jesus was teaching in the temple courts at the Mount of Olives when the ruling Pharisees brought the woman in to stone her to death according to the law.  They were also using her to test Jesus and make Him look bad and challenge His authority.

“But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.  When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

John 8:6-7

Everyone ends up walking away and not a single person throws a stone at her!  After this amazing scene of forgiveness and authority from Jesus, He speaks to the woman.

“Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?”

“No one sir, ” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared.  “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

John 8:10-11

Jesus can and will forgive any sin of every sinner on this earth.  That woman had just been caught “in the act of adultery” and was literally pulled out of bed and dragged into the temple courts to be judged and killed, but Jesus forgave her and saved her right in the midst of her sin.  He loved her and set her free to live a life of righteousness!  He then turns to the people and gives them another piece of who He is.

He is the Light of the world!

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””

John 8:12

Again, Jesus means that He is the light for your soul!  When you believe in Jesus, you will no longer walk in the spiritual darkness of this world.  You will have the light of life!

Jesus also says “I am the light of the world” in John 9:5 just before He heals a man who was born blind and restores his site!

“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.  “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent).  So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.”

John 9:5-7

In John 10:1-18 Jesus uses a parable of a shepherd and his sheep to explain who He is:

“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.  The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep.  The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”

John 10:1-3

He is The Gate!

“Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.  All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  He will come in and go out, and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

John 10:7-10

What Jesus is saying is that He is the only way to Heaven.  He is the gate by which you must enter.  There is no other way inside.  He is the full life we desire in our hearts!

He is The Good Shepherd!

“I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

John 10:11

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me–just as the Father knows me and I know the Father–and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

John 10:14-15

Jesus most definitely laid down His life for all of us when He willingly died on that cross to forgive the sins of all mankind!  John 3:16 is a famous verse for a reason folks.  Read it and believe it, it is the truth!

John 11:1-44 records the amazing miracle of a man named Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus!  He was the brother of Mary and Martha.  This Mary is the one who wiped the Lord’s feet with perfume and her hair.  Jesus knew this family well and he loved them.  Mary and her sister Martha send someone to tell Jesus their brother is sick because they know He can heal him.

“When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death.  No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”  Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.”

John 11:4-6

By the time Jesus gets back to Judea to help Lazarus, he has been dead lying in a tomb for four days.  Mary and Martha are upset that He didn’t come earlier to prevent their brother’s death, and Martha questions Him about his delay.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

John 11:21-24

He is The Resurrection and the Life!

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”

John 11:25-26

That is a huge statement and a huge promise!  Praise God!  Mary’s answer to Jesus is spot on too!

“Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

John 11:27

Good answer Martha!  Right after the conversation, Jesus gets up, goes to the tomb where Lazarus has been laid to rest, and He raises him back to life!

“When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”  The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.”

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

John 11:43-44

If you want the grave clothes of this dark spiritual world off of you, then turn to Jesus and He will set you free!  He will take them off of you and let you go in peace!  By the way, the Lazarus miracle still happens in our time.  Ask me about what happened when I stopped breathing in 2012!  I’m still here because of Jesus!  Hallelujah!

Before Jesus was crucified, He spent time with His disciples comforting them and praying for them.  He let them know that He would be leaving them soon and He did not want them to be troubled.  In this moment, we learn more about who Jesus is.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

John 14:1-5

Yes, that was Thomas the doubting one.  I love his childlike heart though, asking a straightforward question with his finite human understanding.  He is like us.  We all like having good directions, so we can arrive at our destination safely.  The answer Jesus gives Thomas is the Gospel, that is, the good news of Jesus Christ.

He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life!

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6

That, my friends, is the way you end up in Heaven safely!

He is The True Vine!

In John 15:1-5 Jesus uses an analogy of a vine and the branches to illustrate who He is:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:1-5

If you want to bear righteous fruit in your life that pleases God, then believe in Jesus and remain in Him.  He is the vine, we who believe are the branches, and we bear that fruit because of Him!  Amen!

Here are those 7 statements that Jesus made about Himself:

I am the bread of life.

I am the light of the world.

I am the gate.

I am the shepherd.

I am the resurrection and the life.

I am the way and the truth and the life.

I am the true vine.

For those of you who don’t know Jesus yet, please consider these statements in your heart and just imagine what Jesus can do for your life and your soul!  He proved that He is indeed all of those things, and those are not only statements, they are promises!

Grace and peace to you all!

“Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Jesus speaking in Matthew 7:13-14