Exodus 3 — Thoughts

Did Jesus Say He Was God?

In this chapter, Moses is confronted by the burning bush, a living plant that is set ablaze and yet doesn't burn. But this event isn't the most interesting part of this story for me. Instead, it's what Moses hears the burning bush say:

"I Am."

This is God's name for Himself. It's odd because it's a sentence. But so much is said in that sentence. As created beings, we depend on God for our existence. But God doesn't depend on anyone. He simply IS.

God's name for Himself is an important one to remember because we'll hear it again from Jesus.⁠

Some people deny that Jesus is God, and they'll support this claim by pointing out that Jesus never said the words "I am God." They're right that He never said those words, but they're wrong that He never claimed to be God.

You see, Jesus lived in the ancient Jewish world, not in ours. In our multicultural society, we have to be a "low-context culture." We have to explain what we mean clearly so we'll be understood by people from different backgrounds.

But the ancient Jewish society was the opposite. They were a "high-context culture." This means that they could say things indirectly, and they could be sure that everyone would understand them because everyone came from the same Jewish background.⁠

In John 8, Jesus utilizes the high-context culture of His society to say something important about Himself. When a crowd challenges Him, demanding to know who He is, Jesus responds with a simple name — a name that's a sentence:⁠

"I Am."

The crowd knew exactly what Jesus was saying because they knew the context of this story — they knew that God had said those same words to Moses through the burning bush.

And we know they understood Jesus because they reacted exactly how you would expect an ancient Jew to react to someone claiming to be God — they wanted to kill Him.

So we know exactly who Jesus claimed to be. Jesus said He was the "I Am." Jesus said He was God.

(Originally written October 12, 2020)