He said that He is the "Kingdom Bringer." All the hopes of the human race are wrapped up in Him. He is the climax of this whole redemptive history. In fact, one time He was teaching, and He said to the people,
The crowd is amazed and staggered by this statement, and they respond to Jesus,
Then comes one of the most dramatic statements in history:
This is like a slap on the face. He doesn`t say,
Before Abraham was born I was,
or
I already existed,
or
I was around.
He says, Before Abraham was born I AM. Why does He speak that phrase? Well everyone is real clear about what He is saying:
After this, we`re told in the text that the crowd picked up stones. They were ready to kill him and, because of this claim, eventually they did. But a group of people, a small group at first, was convinced that this man in His life and His teachings and then in His death on the Cross, in His Resurrection and the empty tomb this man was redefining what is now possible for human life. They believed that He really is the Kingdom-Bringer that He came to "bring up there down here" that Jesus is It. He`s It everything you`ve been hoping for. They wrote in their letters to one another and in their records of His life, which became the New Testament Scriptures, promises and descriptions of what life can look like for people who follow Jesus.
By: John Ortberg
Category: I am One with God the Father - Jesus
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