“Jesus’s understanding of himself”

Question 1

What makes the gospels vague?

Answer 1

as it’s difficult to know how much of what’s written in the Gospels is an insight into how Jesus saw himself & how much is comment of other people as to how they saw Jesus

Question 2

What is the significance of the ‘I am’ sayings in John’s gospel?

Answer 2

• i.e., ‘I am the light of the world’, ‘I am the good shepherd’, ‘I am the bread’, ‘I am the vine’
• these phrases, if they came from the lips of Jesus, don’t tell us a great deal about his spiritual biography, but tell us more about his purpose; they hang around you & require a good thinking through

Question 3

Why are the ‘I am’ phrases puzzling?

Answer 3

• Jesus wasn’t interested in giving a great deal of information about himself
• Jesus made sense of this by saying that whoever saw him, saw the Father
• however, he wasn’t interested in padding (elaborating) this, his