<\/p>
In John\u2019s gospel, Jesus famously says \u201cI am\u201d again and again. These allude to the Old Testament\u2019s revelation of \u201cI am,\u201d but if we can press the wording, they are also statements about the being of Jesus. Let\u2019s say they are ontological <\/em> statements. <\/p>\n The predicate, though, describes Jesus\u2019 ministry in the world. Jesus does not <\/em> say, \u201cI am infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in My being, power, holiness, goodness, and truth\u201d (though He could have). He says \u201cI am Bread\u201d and \u201cI am light\u201d and \u201cI am the good shepherd.\u201d <\/p>\n But then how can these be ontological statements about who or what Jesus is <\/em> . Perhaps we need to loosen the ontological claim: Jesus is no more eternally and inherently bread than He is eternally and inherently flesh; He becomes bread. That solution breaks the link with the Old Testament revelation of Yahweh. Alternatively, we could say that Jesus the Son is inherently and eternally bread, light, shepherd \u2013 but then His being seems to be dependent on creation. If He is <\/em> bread for the world, He ceases to be God. <\/p>\n Neither of these solutions satisfies. This is the riddle that Barth strove to answer with his meditations on election and on \u201cGod for us.\u201d Whether we follow Barth in every respect, he was entirely right in his insistence that the Triune God is free <\/em> to be <\/em> God for us, that He is <\/em> God-for-us without ceasing to be antecedently God in Himself. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In John\u2019s gospel, Jesus famously says \u201cI am\u201d again and again. These allude to the Old Testament\u2019s revelation of \u201cI am,\u201d but if we can press the wording, they are also statements about the being of Jesus. Let\u2019s say they are ontological statements. The predicate, though, describes Jesus\u2019 ministry in the world. Jesus does not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-nt-john","category-theology-christology"],"yoast_head":"\n