Portrait of Jesus in John's Gospel

Question 1

Purpose and Characteristics of the I AM statements

Answer 1

• In John’s Gospel Jesus speaks in a distinctive way, employing “I Am” statements (Gk ego eimi).
• These statements refer to the Divine Name in Exodus 3, where God reveals his identity to Moses as “I Am Who Am.”
• In using ‘I Am’ statements, Jesus is signifying his divinity and equating himself with the Father.

Question 2

Purpose and Characteristics of the Son of God title

Answer 2

• In John, Jesus is presented as the Son of God.
• He is one with the Father, doing the work that his Father has sent him to do.
• He is the Messiah, but different from the expected political Messiah.
• John’s Gospel presents Jesus as a glorious King, whose throne is the Cross.
• As such, Jesus goes to his death fully in control, freely embracing his passion and death.
• In John’s Gospels these are not moments of sorrowful defeat, but rather they are moments of victory and glory.

Question 3

Pupose and Characteristics of the Lamb of God title

Answer 3

• Jesus is presented in John’s Gospel as the Lamb of God.
• He is crucified at the same time as the lambs for Passover are slaughtered in the Temple.
• As such, he replaces the Jewish Passover, for it is by his blood that salvation is achieved.
• He is the perfect sacrifice which takes away all sin.

Question 4

Purpose and Characteristics of Incarnate Logos title/identity

Answer 4

• John presents Jesus as the Incarnate Word.
• This reality gives John’s Gospel a sacramental orientation, as the Word assumed human nature and manifested the divine in it.
• Those who come to believe in Jesus recognize his divinity; those who reject him only see his humanity.
• A key verse to John’s Christology is 1:14 – “The Word was made flesh, he lived among us.”
• John deliberately uses the word ‘flesh’ as it conveys all that is human, i.e., encompassing human weakness and mortality.