There is a myth floating around that Jesus claimed the title I AM and therefore he must be God. Let's start at the beginning and view the origin of the I AM title.
Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.
In Exodus 3:14 God reveals His name for the first time to Moses; This is very important to remember. The name I AM is essentially an English translation of the tetragrammaton, which is the four letter name of God. From this point on, it is often translated in our English Bibles as LORD.
Some Christians today say that Jesus also claimed this divine title. Let's jump ahead to the book of John:
John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
There are a couple of points to make on this verse. First, you will quickly notice that the context doesn't make sense for this to be a name. Jesus isn't saying that before Abraham was, he was I AM. He is saying that before Abraham was, He existed or that Abraham saw his coming. The pre-existance of Christ is another discussion altogether so I won't get into that here. He is not using the tetragrammaton and not calling himself God.
The second point to consider is that it would be odd to call himself I AM in reference to Abraham because God did not reveal His name to Abraham. This is may seem like a small point but it should be considered due to the context.
Exodus 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them.
The last thing to consider is that Jesus uses the Greek word "eimi", meaning I exist, I am. This word is used very frequently throughout the Bible and is never considered to be the name of God. Do we believe that Paul is calling himself God:
1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Of course not, but he uses the same word as Jesus. Too many people try to read into the Bible what they wish to be there instead of reading the simplicity of what it actually says.
Jesus claimed to be many great things but God wasn't one of them. Nonetheless we must never forget that Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life. He is our Lord and Savior, the mediator between God and man. Jesus has many titles and should always be honored and revered. Jesus came to lead us to the Father, the True Living God. Believe in Jesus, love Jesus, and you will have life by the grace of the Father, our God.
I hope this is a blessing to you and encourages you to search out the truth of His word.
