Jesus, You Are "I Am"

I'm reading through the book of Mark. Recently a section of chapter 14 made me stop in my tracks and sent me into awe. Consider with me the weight of these statements and imagine... 

Mark 14:60-64, "Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” But Jesus was silent and made no reply. Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I Am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!”

John 8:56-58, Jesus answered the people, " 'Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.' The people said, 'You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!' At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple."

John 18:4-9 states that, "Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked. “Jesus the Nazarene,”they replied. “I Am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) As Jesus said “I Am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?”And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.” “I told you that I Am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.” He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.”

So I imagined these particular scenes where Jesus stated, "I Am." In the Mark 14:62 & John 18:5 a subtext is written that the optional translation would be, "The 'I Am' is here" or "I am the Lord"; Greek reads, "I am"; also in 18:6, 8. See Exodus 3:14. John 8:58 subtext states,"or before Abraham was even born, I have always been alive; Greek reads before Abraham was, I am." See Exodus 3:14.

The Exodus 3:14 reference is when God says to Moses, "I Am That I Am." 

Now, I've studied out the debate on the Greek and Hebrew used since some don't believe Jesus was referring to himself as I Am. I'll let you study it out and decide for yourself. 

For me, the responses of others after Jesus speaks those words moves my heart and tells me a lot! People wanted to stone him and kill him while others drew back and fell to the ground when he spoke them. That's powerful! 

I'm reminded of John 1 -

Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word

1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
² He existed in the beginning with God.
³ God created everything through him,
    and nothing was created except through him.
⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created,
    and his life brought light to everyone.
⁵ The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness can never extinguish it.

⁶ God sent a man, John the Baptist, ⁷ to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. ⁸ John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. ⁹ The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

¹⁰ He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹ He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. ¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³ They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

¹⁴ So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

¹⁵ John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”

¹⁶ From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us."

On that note, I have a song to share! :) It gives me chills every time I hear it in the car and I always have to crank up the volume. Enjoy! 

You're the one who conquers giants; You're the one who calls out kings; You shut the mouths of lions; You tell the dead to breathe; You're the one who walks through fire;You take the orphan's hand; You are the one Messiah; You are I Am.