Have you ever tried to convince someone of who you are, but they just wouldn’t believe you?  Or perhaps you’ve been on the other end of the discussion where you’ve been unwilling to accept a person for who they say they are.  In today’s era of identity thefts and complex technology, it seems like it gets harder and harder to prove that a person is, or isn’t, who they say they are.  Yet, this isn’t a new problem.  Read the following exchange of words as an identity is being questioned.

At this the Jews exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed!  Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death.  Are you greater than our father Abraham?  He died, and so did the prophets.  Who do you think you are?” John 8:52-53

Who do you think you are?  The people of his day often asked this of Jesus.  Not so much because he was always so mysterious and hard to understand.  Rather, it was a question of his authority.  It was that very authority that people marveled at when they would state, “He teaches like one with authority, not like our teachers of the law.”  The authority was inherent in his teaching — it was the acceptance and submission to that authority that people were often rebelling against. 

We’ve all been there in relationships with people, right?  You know, “Who do you think you are to tell me what to do? . . . what to listen to? . . . who to see? . . . what to wear? . . . when to be home? . . . where to go? . . . how to treat others? . . . how to treat myself? . . . Who do you think you are to have any input into my life whatsoever?”  We like to believe, and we try desperately to convince ourselves, that we are in complete control of every aspect of our life.  No one can take that autonomy away from us.  Pity the person who tries, because they are going to get an earful.  Who do they think they are, anyhow?

We do the same with God, don’t we?  When God calls us to live out our professed love for Him through obedience, we say, “who do you think you are?” . . . “You don’t understand what I’ve been through.” . . . “If only you knew what that person did to me.” . . . “Who do you think you are to expect me to love my enemies? . . . to care for widows and orphans? . . . to share with the poor and needy? . . . to talk to my friends, neighbors, co-workers, and others about my relationship with Jesus?  Who do you think you are to have any input into my life whatsoever?” 

It is through an ongoing dialogue with Jesus in John chapter 8 that He challenges His listeners to know true freedom through the truth found in holding to His teachings and living in submission to His words.  The response of the people is quite typical; “we are not slaves, so how can you say we will be set free?”  As Jesus explains the truth to them of who He is, who they really are, of the bondage they are really under, they reach the point where they have had enough. . . . enough truth. . . . enough of being exposed. . . . enough of the challenges to their trust in Abraham. . . . enough of this man Jesus making veiled claims that add up to him being an imposter.  The time had come to insist on an answer to that all important question, “Who do you think you are?”  “How can you have seen Abraham and talk like you have perfect knowledge of both his actions and his thoughts?”

I don’t think they saw it coming.  They were begging for an answer, but only for the answer they already had in their minds.  “Jesus, agree with us.  We’ve already figured this out, so just confess and be done with it.”  “Get over this craziness that has you speaking words that make absolutely no sense.”  “Jesus, what you keep saying is impossible.  You are a young man.  Abraham and the prophets died long ago.  Yet, you keep speaking as if you knew them — actually as if you know them.  This is completely impossible.”  And as the questions kept forming in their minds and spilling out into the air, Jesus makes a simple statement: “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!”  With this statment, His hearers pick up stones to stone Him because they understood what Jesus was saying and refused to accept it.

Who do you think you are?  Jesus replies, “I AM!”  The I AM that we discussed in a previous post where God introduced Himself to Moses as such.  The answer hasn’t changed.  When we fight against living faithful, obedient lives in submission to Jesus and we cry out to Him, “Who do you think you are?”, His answer is the same: “I AM!”

What will you do with the “I AM”?  Will you pick up “stones” and try to run Him out of your world — to attempt to destroy His existence in your life?  Or will you surrender completely to the God who was, and is, and is to come?  Will you submit to the God who always has been and always will be, to the only God whose true being is “I AM!”