I AM

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
John 8:21-30
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032426.cfm

“I am who I am” is what God responded when Moses asked God for a name. It signifies God as the creator of all or being itself. In ancient times too, there was a thought that having a deity’s name was to have power over it. The Hebrew God didn’t give such an opportunity. God was nameless and referenced by what God was. 

So when Jesus says “I AM” he is referencing the God of Moses and putting himself in that context. Jesus is proclaiming his divinity in this gospel, a divinity through his relation to the Father. Jesus is one with the creator of all because Jesus does the will of the creator. Jesus says, “...I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him.”

To do the will of something is to be one with that thing. There are a lot of things we can give our will over to: addiction, power, glory, recognition, accomplishments, material, our own ego. Jesus found a way to go beyond all that and do the will of God. We too should aspire to do the same. While we are not perfect, we can examine our life and take breaks from the things that dominate and drive our lives. We can pause to see if we are putting them above God or if they are just something that we do. To follow Jesus is to strive for the same, to align one’s will with the Divine.