Say My Name

A couple of years ago, my pastor preached a sermon series called The Great I Am, which covered all of the statements Jesus made about Himself. Much of this information comes from him, so I can’t take full credit.

However, one sermon in the series that stuck out the most to me covered God’s name. And no, I’m not referring to how the Christian deity got a monopoly on the Big G God while all the other religions got the little g.

This God we serve has an actual, proper-noun given name.

And yes, while the typical Sunday school answer “Jesus” is technically correct, there was another name God gave us much earlier than Jesus’s arrival. There is a tie-in to Easter, though. Just sit tight for a bit.

Let’s turn back the clock to the book of Exodus. Moses was out in the wilderness, tending to his father-in-law’s sheep, when he came across an unusual sight: a random bush, on fire yet not being consumed by the flames. When he went to investigate, God spoke to him through the burning bush, telling him to rescue the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt.

Like most of us when given a monumental task, Moses started asking questions and making excuses. One of the many things he asked went a bit like this: “When I tell your people, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to deliver you,’ they’re going to ask, ‘In whose name do you come?’ What name should I give them?”

God’s response was simple: “I am that I am. When they ask who sent you, tell them ‘I am’ sent you.”

In Hebrew, “I am” is Ehyeh. “I am that I am” translates to Ehyeh asher Ehyeh. This is how God refers to Himself. The Israelites adjusted it grammatically to address Him as “He is.” This is where we get Yahweh.

When God refers to Himself as “I am that I am,” what is He implying? He is saying that He will be whatever He needs to be for a given situation. Israelites needed deliverance from slavery? He would be their Deliverer. Business owner struggling to pay his employees? He would become his Provider. Pastor’s daughter suffering from an incurable blood clot? He would be her Healer.

So, what does this have to do with Easter?

Let’s fast forward to the night before Jesus was crucified. Jesus and His followers had just finished their Passover meal and went out to the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’s disciples, betrayed Him and brought a detachment of Roman soldiers to arrest Him. The Greek implies that this “detachment” was one tenth of a legion (somewhere between 600-1,000 soldiers).

Jesus asked them, “Who are you looking for?” They replied, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus told them, “I am He.” In that moment, that “small detachment” of soldiers drew back and fell to the ground. One verbal response was all it took to bring hundreds of people to the floor. Once they got up, Jesus asked them again, “Who are you looking for?” They replied (probably with some shaking), “Jesus of Nazareth.” “I told you that I am He. Since I am the one you are seeking, let them (my disciples) go.”

Most of our English translations do not do this scene justice. Grammatically, Jesus’s “I am He” response is sound. However, what He said in Hebrew had so much more impact.

“Who are you looking for?”

“Jesus of Nazareth.”

“Ehyeh.” “I AM.”

Mind blown? Let’s keep going. Soldiers pick themselves off the ground. Jesus asks them again:

“Who are you looking for?”

“Jesus of Nazareth.”

“I already told you asher Ehyeh.” “I already told you THAT I AM.”

In storytelling, this is called Bookending. Something mentioned in the beginning is brought up again towards the end.

In Exodus, out in the wilderness, God said through a burning bush, “I am that I am.”

In the Gospels, out in a garden, Jesus said to a small army, “I am that I am.”

Jesus had gone on record for alluding to Himself as God, but here, there is no allusion. He did not merely invoke the name of God. He declared Himself God with that name. Not the human-honoring-God Yahweh (He is), but the personal self-referring Ehyeh (I am).

Many people agree that Jesus was a good teacher, that if we actually behaved the way He did, the world would be a better place. However, Jesus declared Himself Ehyeh, God. A good teacher, a good man, wouldn’t make such a claim.

The Bible says that everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s standard. No one is perfect, no, not one, and the penalty for that imperfection is death, eternal separation from God.

Easter doesn’t celebrate a “good man” dying for his friends. Easter is celebrated in honor of God Himself dying for our sins, paying the price we couldn’t hope to pay, and reestablishing our connection with Him through His resurrection.

Ehyeh asher Ehyeh. I am that I am. I will be what I need to be.

We were in need of a savior, so God became Savior for us.

If you’d like a more in-depth look at the full sermon, check the link here.

Happy Easter!