2.2 Titles Of Jesus In The Synoptic Gospels And Selected ‘I Am’ Sayings In John

Question 1

What is meant by messiah?

Answer 1

The ‘anointed one’ chosen by god to usher in the new, messianic age

Question 2

What are the three different types of messiah?

Answer 2

1. Royal messiah = from the house of David
2. Priestley messiah = would restore priestly leadership of Israel
3. Prophet messiah = gods spokesperson

Question 3

What kind of messiah is Jesus?

Answer 3

At times he appears to be all three e.g. john 18:36 he is a royal messiah as the king of the spiritual realm
NT = messiah is replaced with the Greek word ‘christos’ meaning Christ

Question 4

What is meant by son of man?

Answer 4

OT = refers to a heavenly being who would bring salvation and judgement

Question 5

How is Jesus presented as the son of man?

Answer 5

Jesus seems to fulfil the roles attributed to this eschatological figure
- Jesus uses his term when he speaks of his messianic authority on earth + the age to come

Question 6

What is meant by the son of god?

Answer 6

OT = used to describe the king of Israel
NT = highlights Jesus’ unique relationship with god to
Greek = a heroic human figure

Question 7

What is meant by the ‘i am’ sayings in John?

Answer 7

A deliberately used phrase that possess great theological significance

Question 8

What is the Greek significance behind ‘I am’?

Answer 8

Ego eimi (i am) = used to describe Greek deities

Question 9

What is the OT significance of using i am

Answer 9

Barrett (1975) = phrase comes from the OT + used as the divine word of self-revelation from god himself e.g. exodus 8:14 “i am who i am”

Question 10

How many ‘I am’ sayings are there in john

Answer 10

7

Question 11

What are the 4 ‘i am’ sayings that need to be known?

Answer 11

1. I am the bread of life
2. I am the light of the world
3. I am the good shepherd
4. I am the true vine

Question 12

What was the meaning and significance of “i am the bread of life”?

Answer 12

• the nourishing heavenly bread is seen as the teaching of Jesus : a WISDOM theme
• where the living bread is jeus’ own flesh : sacramental theme

Question 13

What was the meaning and significance of ‘I am the light of the world’?

Answer 13

• Jesus is the TRUE light (links to the prologue) who can lead all to ETERNAL LIFE
• ironically the Torah was a light but it was this that caused the pharisees’ blindness as they condemned Jesus for breaking the sabbath laws
• Christian’s today see this as a call to EVANGELISE and share Jesus’ light with the whole world

Question 14

What was the meaning and significance of ‘i am the good shepherd’?

Answer 14

• the universal nature of Jesus’ ministry is shown; all people (including gentiles) can be saved -> universal salvation

Question 15

What was the meaning and significance of ‘I am the true vine’?

Answer 15

• REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY = there is no other way to god except through ‘remaining’ in Jesus
• there are some SACRAMENTAL UNDERTONES -> Eucharist, messianic banquet