The Great Discourses: "I Am" and the Upper Room
❦
The Gospel of John records long discourses, in which Jesus explains who he is. Their most striking feature is the repeated phrase "I am."
The Seven "I Am" Sayings
| Saying | Reference |
| "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst" | John 6:35 |
| "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" | John 8:12 |
| "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" | John 10:9 |
| "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" | John 10:11 |
| "I am the resurrection, and the life" | John 11:25 |
| "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" | John 14:6 |
| "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman" | John 15:1 |
The Olivet Discourse
On the Mount of Olives, shortly before his arrest, Jesus described the future: the destruction of the Temple, trials and false messiahs, and his own return. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matthew 24:14). He told of the day of his return: "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matthew 24:36). The discourse urges watchfulness and leads into the parables of the ten virgins, the talents, and the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25). The Temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, within a generation, as he had foretold (Matthew 24:2).
The Upper Room
On the night before his death, in an upstairs room, Jesus gave his disciples his final teaching (John 13-17). He comforted them: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you: I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:1-3).
He promised the Holy Spirit: "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever" (John 14:16). And he left them his peace: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).
He taught abiding: "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). And he spoke of the greatest love: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).
The Prayer for His People
The chapter closes with the "High Priestly Prayer" (John 17), in which Jesus prays for himself, for his disciples, and for all who would believe. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). He also prays: "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was" (John 17:5), a claim to have existed with the Father before creation.
CHAPTER 11