John 8:51–59
Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” The Judeans said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” Then the Judeans said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
Reflection by Tom Lewis, MDiv
What’s in a name? We know that when Jesus says, “I am” in John’s gospel, he is admitting his divinity. In one of the many Old Testament references in John, Jesus uses the name that God takes when Moses asks who to say sent Moses to Pharaoh. “God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites Tell them I am has sent me to you.” I am who I am is a euphemism for it is none of your business. Moses is looking for a name like Ba’al to give to Pharaoh, but neither Ba’al, nor any other god is on a par with the living God, so to name God would be to place God among false gods. So, “It’s none of your business,” or “You are about to find out the hard way.”
God’s name has been a subject of conjecture and the application of trial names from then on. The Tetragrammaton, or YHWH, is the name used by one source in Scripture, and is thought to be the name of God that nobody should ever pronounce for fear of using it “in vain.” Adonai is used from time to time, sometimes translated “Lord.” Some church theologies are built around the name Jehovah, but that is just the consonants of YHWH, using the vowels from the word Adonai, since Hebrew was written without vowels.
We’d like to have a name we can put to God, just like the ancients. Like the Egyptian Pharaoh, if we’re going to give up something, like slaves or other comforts, so that we can simply enjoy life, we’d like to see some ID.
When we are baptized, our last name is dropped after the baptism, because we have a new name. We become members of the Christian family, living in the Way of Jesus, the name of God that is like no other. Because God claimed the People with “I am,” we are—each of us—named and claimed forever.