"I Am" - Cross-Examining the Witness

After returning to the Trinity pamphlet, I was surprised to notice that the section on Trinity Proof Texts actually addresses two of the topics on which I have posted already.  Namely, that of John 8:58, where Jesus claims the Divine title, and John 1:1, that verse which equates the λογος with the very essence of God, or θεος.  

So, in this post, I will attempt to follow up on my own arguments by addressing the Watchtower's arguments to the contrary.  

(By this point, it is probably apparent to my reader that the tract in question is published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.  My original intent was to conceal its origin, out of politeness, and just to deal with its ideas.  However, since they cite external sources of their own, such as the NWT Bible, it becomes more inconvenient for me to approach the whole thing anonymously.  I mean no disrespect to individual Witnesses, but in the interest of being able to cross-examine the theology contained and use external sources that also expound their theology, I will hereafter make my source plain.  I will, however, refrain from using the term "Jehovah's Witnesses" when talking about the sect.)  

"I AM"

Addressing Jesus' use of the Divine title in John 8:24 and 8:58, the Watchtower pamphlet five Bible translations that do not translate εγω ειμι as "I am." 

The New Testament by G. R. Noyes and the NWT translate it, "I have been".  

The Bible - An American Translation by Smith and Goodspeed paraphrase the verse, "I existed before Abraham was born." 

The German Das Neue Testament by Jorg Zink, which the authors re-translate themselves, supposedly says, "Before Abraham was born, I was already the one that I am."  

The Simple English Bible paraphrases the verse, "I was alive before Abraham was born!"  

Here we have two paraphrases, a double translation, the NWT (translated by four non-Greek-scholars from the same sect), used as supporting evidence for the idea that Jesus did not actually say "I AM."  

Okay.  What if I'm wrong?  What if εγω ειμι doesn't actually mean "I AM"?  What if it means "I was," or "I will be," or "I'm made of pea soup."  That, my friends, is entirely beside the point.  

I can easily stand on the street corner in New York, shout to the masses, "Hey everybody!  I AM!"  And get a few nosy looks, and maybe a "Congratulations," or some reference to Hamlet's soliloquy from a more cultured passerby.  But Jesus' audience reacted in a much different way.  They picked up stones and were prepared to execute Him on the spot, the execution prescribed for blasphemy.  "Anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD [YHWH] must be put to death.  The entire assembly must stone him," says Leviticus 24:16.   Although the death penalty by stoning was prescribed for many sins, including adultery, it is clear from the context that Jesus was not accused of any sin other than profaning the most holy Name of YHWH.  

How did Jesus profane the name of YHWH?  Did He really claim it for Himself?  

The name of God began in Exodus 3:14, which is where all this controversy started.  The Hebrew word ehyeh is not so easily translated in our day as the Greek "ειμι.  Some people do translate it as "I will be", others as "I am", and still others as "I exist."  Modern scholars do disagree widely, and it is not my intention to try to enter the debate on their level.  I will be the first to admit, I know nothing about Hebrew.  From my research, it does seem that the majority will tell you that "I will be" is the more literal translation.  

However, it's not the Hebrew that's important here.  The Bible that Jesus' audience read was the Greek Septuagint.  This version of the Bible, which came out after the Babylonian captivity, held the words that the Jews of His day had read and were familiar with.  In the Septuagint, Exodus 3:14 reads: "εγω ειμι ο εγω ειμι" - "I am the I am," or "I am that I am."  (Similarly, although Luke 2:14 actually reads, "on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests," millions of Christians are more familiar with the form, "Peace on earth, goodwill toward men," which results in the King James Version's double translation from the Latin Vulgate.)  

Jesus directly quoted, in the exact words and language the Jews of His day, the Divine title.  That was why they moved to stone Him.  

Accepting the fact that the literal reading of ehyeh was "I will be", which the Septuagint translated "I am," has even deeper implications for Jesus' identity.  My own family has celebrated a Messianic Passover for years--that is, a traditional Passover seder, but giving acknowledgement to the symbolism in the Passover elements that point to Christ's fulfillment of Israel's salvation from Egypt.  When God first appeared to Moses in Exodus 3, calling Himself by the name of YHWH (I AM), and stating that "I will be what I will be," the act that He promised was to save Israel.  However, His mighty acts done to save Israel from Egyptian bondage were only the beginning of a long history of salvation for His chosen people, who fell away from Him and fell into captivity again and again.  Each time Israel fell, God was there for them to save them.  But it still wasn't enough.  Hebrews 11:39-40 speaks of Moses, Joshua, the prophets and true believers, saying that "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what was promised.  God had planned something better for us, so that only together with us would they be made perfect."  

The "something better" promised was summed up in Christ Jesus' sacrifice.  Jesus, who has life in Himself, was the only one who could permanently save Israel--and us--from the bondage that results from sin.  Only through the regeneration He offers, can each of us be made "a new creature" (II Cor. 5:17), with a new heart (Eze. 36:26), a new mind (Rom. 12:1), new desires (Rom. 7:22), a new nature altogether... still living in the world with its tempations, but looking forward to being made complete when our mortal bodies are raised to eternal life.  That is something the Mosaic covenant of law and sacrifice could never accomplish.  It was only a prototype of what was to come.

The Λογος, John's Greek expression referring to Christ, has, I think, best been defined as "the Divine Expression."  God's nature was finally expressed in Christ, the I AM, in order to fulfill His salvation plan first begun that day when He revealed Himself to Moses through the burning bush.  Jesus Christ was the present "εγω ειμι" that the Jewish leaders ultimately rejected.  

I AM was Rejected... by His Own!  

John 1 says that "He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him.  But to as many as received Him, to them He gave power to be called the sons of God, even to those who believe in His name."  

Jesus came to His own--the language in John 1:11 specifically refers to His own "things, possessions, domain"--and the context clarifies that those possessions or domain were the people who did not receive Him.  Those people who did not receive Him in life were the people of Israel, specifically those who were in leadership, who were self-righteous and too comfortable with their financial and social position to be bothered with the Messiah.  

Israel belonged to YHWH, it was the domain of God; the Israelites were "God's possession-- to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:14).  In Exodus 19:5-6, God promised Israel that "Now, if you obey me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all the nations you will be My treasured possession."  In the book of Hosea, He relates to Israel as a husband to an unfaithful wife... He buys her back from prostitution, to be His own.  After all their years of rebellion, God again spoke of the house of Israel, saying, "'They will be Mine, says the LORD of hosts [YHWH], 'on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.'" (Mal. 3:17).  

Jesus came to His own.  He came to Israel, His own treasured possession.  And after all that time, His own did not receive Him.  How did they not receive Him?  They did not believe that He was the I AM, their Lord and God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  They put Him on trial and accused Him of blasphemy - the blasphemy of daring to make Himself equal to God.  Not content to stone Him, they handed Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, tortured, and executed in the most cruel fashion known to man.  Yet through His resurrection, he triumphed over death and all evil.  He turned around and offered salvation through His blood to the very people who rejected Him.  

"But to as many as received Him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on His name," John continues.  

To as many as received Him.  To everyone who asks, everyone who will receive Him sincerely.  Not to those who work for it, not to those who deserve it... to those who will receive, who believe on His name.  

And here is what He offers: "power to become the sons of God... who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."  Jesus offers regeneration, a new birth, to all those who will receive Him in faith.  He offers the power to be "born again" as He explains in John chapter 3--a new spiritual birth that offers us eternal life, salvation, and escape from judgment.  All we have to do is believe.