I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

John 10:10

Jesus came to this earth so that we may have life, and have it abundantly. That is what he tells us at the end of today’s gospel reading (John 10:1-10). Jesus does not want us to “breathe just a little and call it life,” as the poet Mary Oliver once put it. Jesus wants more for us. He wants us to enjoy an abundant life – a love-filled, hope-filled, joy-filled life. 

Jesus did not simply come to this earth to bring us to heaven. He came to give us life now. But how does Jesus do this for us? There are lots of ways we might answer that. What I thought I would do today is answer it using some famous statements that Jesus makes throughout John’s gospel, statements that all begin with the same two words: “I am.” 

We have one of these statements in today’s gospel reading, but they are found throughout John’s gospel. When Jesus makes these “I am” statements, he is doing something very important and very intentional. He is identifying himself as God. 

His “I am” statements are all said in such a way that they would call to mind, among those who first heard it, the very name that God gives to Moses: “I am Yahweh.”  A Hebrew word which means “I am who I am.” 

Whenever Jesus says, “I am,” he is saying that he is, indeed, God for us and with us. If we want to know who God is, what God is like, we can look to Jesus. 

But we can go further than that. We can look at these “I am” statements and find specific descriptions of who Jesus is, of who God is. There are seven famous “I am” statements found in John’s gospel. Only one of them is found in today’s gospel reading. But I thought it would be helpful to briefly look at each of these seven statements this morning. 

We typically hear these different “I am” statements without connecting them to each other, without seeing the big picture. When we put them all together, we see vividly who Jesus is for us. And how it is that came to give us an abundant life. 

The Bread of Life

And so, for example, the first “I am” statement that Jesus makes is found in John 6 when Jesus says: “I am the bread of life.” 

Jesus has just fed the five thousand, one of his most famous miracles, and now he is going to teach the crowd why he did so, and what it all means. And so he tells the crowd that he is the bread of life. Whoever comes to him will never be hungry, and whoever believes in him will never be thirsty. 

What does this mean? Well, it helps to remember the story of the manna in the wilderness. Because the crowd surely would have been thinking of this as Jesus taught them. And so, Jesus says: 

“Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 

And then he tells them that he is this bread from heaven. Jesus, in other words, is the manna that falls each and every day to help us through this journey that we call life. When Jesus describes himself as the bread of life, he is intentionally reminding those first listeners of the manna in the wilderness. It is the food that God gave to the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land. 

Each morning, the manna was found like dew on the ground, and it was the food they needed to survive. It was their daily bread. Each day, there was enough manna for that day. Enough food for the journey. It didn’t last more than a day. They had to trust that it would be there every morning. They needed faith. God was teaching them that. And so is Jesus. 

Jesus is teaching them, and us, to trust him, to trust that he will provide what we need for this day. He is our daily bread. He promises to provide what we need to follow him today. And tomorrow. And every day that follows. But always one day at a time. Jesus is our daily bread, our manna for our journey through this life, until we, too, arrive at the Promised Land. 

The Light of the World

His next “I am” statement is found two chapters later, in John 8, when Jesus says: “I am the light of the world.” 

Jesus offers us more than just food for the journey. He also offers to lighten the way. When people first heard this, they would no doubt have remembered Psalm 119, which says that God’s word is a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our path. 

Jesus is God’s word. He is the word who was with God, the word who is God, as the beginning of John’s gospel teaches us. 

“All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.” 

This is the light that Jesus came to bring to our world. The light that shows us the path before us. This is “the true light, which enlightens everyone.” 

Jesus comes into our dark world and shines his bright light. We might squint at first, but when the eyes of our faith adjust, we begin to see the world as it truly is. Created by God, broken and fallen in countless ways. But still beautiful. Still loved. 

There is much to do, we see as we look around. But we see, too, how much has been done. By Jesus and by those who have followed him. We can see all this because of his light. Jesus gives us a full, abundant life, in other words, not just by giving us food for the journey, but also by providing light to see. 

The Good Shepherd and the Gate for the Sheep

The next two “I am” statements are both found in John 10, which is our gospel reading for today. This is the chapter in which Jesus is describing himself as a good shepherd. And also where he describes himself as the gate or door for the sheep. 

When listeners would have first heard these statements, they would have thought of the many examples in the Old Testament of God being our Shepherd. One of the most familiar to us is Psalm 23, our psalm for today. The Lord is our Shepherd. We shall not want. Because Jesus is our shepherd, we do not lack anything that we truly need. He is our good shepherd, who knows us by name, who calls us to follow him, who cares for us, and who lays down his life for us. 

There is no better shepherd in all the world than Jesus. But he also tells us that he is the door or the gate for the sheep. What does Jesus mean by this? The door or gate for the sheep is there to protect them. Jesus promises to protect us. The door that he is in mind is not intended to keep us out. But to keep us in, with him. In his presence we find protection. The door or the gate keeps predators out. And as long as we are with Jesus, we’re going to be okay. 

The Resurrection and the Life

The next “I am” statement is found in the next chapter John 11, when Jesus says “I am the resurrection and the life.” So in this statement Jesus is reminding us that the abundant life that he came to give us is not just this earthly life. It is this earthly life, but it is also the life that awaits us all. Eternal life with him. He laid down his life for us so that he could be our Resurrection and our life forever. 

When you think about it, it would be very difficult to truly enjoy an abundant life if we thought it all ended when we die. We would become obsessed with living longer, with outsmarting death, or with the legacy we leave behind. Or we would try to avoid even thinking about our death. But it would still be there, wouldn’t it? It would lead to what Thoreau calls a life of quiet desperation. No matter how rich and full our life might be, it would still be limited by this existential angst. 

Which is why this “I am” statement is so important. Because having an abundant life now is tied to believing and trusting that this life now is not all there is. Jesus came to offer us both, and they are connected to each other: An abundant life now, and the resurrection and the life to come. 

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

In John 14 Jesus is in the upper room with his disciples. Getting them ready for what is to come. And here we have another of his famous “I am” statements when he says to his disciples: 

“I am the way and the truth and the life.” 

Jesus came to give us an abundant life. But where is that life to be found? It is found in Jesus and through Jesus. It is found by following Jesus. 

Eugene Peterson once said of this “I am” statement that: “Only when we do the Jesus truth in the Jesus way do we get the Jesus life.” 

In other words, if we want the abundant life that Jesus came to give us, we must live by what he taught us, hold onto it as the truth that sets us free, and let this truth guide our way. And it guides our way by guiding us to Jesus, over and over again. Where we find the Jesus life. 

The Vine and the Branches

The last of the “I am” statements is found in the next chapter, John 15, when Jesus says:  

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” 

For those who first heard this, Jesus’ reference to the vine would have been very familiar. Often in the Old Testament, it is Israel who is described as the vine, planted by God, and expected to bear fruit. Here, Jesus tells us that we are not the vine, but merely the branches. All we have to do is stay connected to Jesus, in other words, and we will bear fruit. 

What kind of fruit? The kind that Paul describes in Galatians: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If we want to bear these things, we need only stay connected to Jesus. On the other hand, if we are not connected to Jesus, it will be nearly impossible to bear this fruit. 

Closing

An abundant life is what Jesus offers us. And we receive it when we stay connected to him, as branches to the vine. When we do this, we are given bread for the journey, and light for our path. A shepherd who guides us, through this life and into the life that awaits. This is the way, and the truth. And those who embrace it receive the life, the wonderful abundant life that Jesus wants for us more than anything else in this world. 

Thanks be to God. Amen.