Every day of Lent, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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“I AM” is the name of God.
Remember when God sent Moses to tell the enslaved Israelites that God was about to save them from the Egyptian tyranny, Moses said to God, “But . . . if I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what do I tell them?” (Exodus 3:13).
“God replied to Moses: ‘This is what you will tell the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14).
I AM, God’s name, means that God is ever-present. God is being itself. God is existence. He simply is. God is the ground and source of all being – the creator through whom everything is held in existence. Without God, nothing would be. With God, everything is possible because God is. His name says it all, I AM.
So, when Jesus said to his detractors: "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM," they picked up stones and tried to kill him – because he had said that he shared God’s name, I AM, making himself to be God’s equal (which he is, by the way).
Jesus wants to be present to us, constantly being with us and being for us. May we always make sure to honor the great I AM and the name of Jesus – who is now one of us in his flesh as well as so much other than us in his divinity.
Peter said it well, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Holy is his name, I AM!