The seven I am statements of Jesus
In the Gospel of John, Jesus says: "I am the bread of life" (6:35), "I am the light of the world" (8:12), "I am the door" (10:9), "I am the good shepherd" (10:11), "I am the resurrection, and the life" (11:25), "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (14:6), and "I am the true vine" (15:1). He also says "Before Abraham was, I am" (8:58).
These seven sayings join I am to a picture: bread, light, a door, a shepherd, resurrection, a way, a vine. Each one comes with a promise or an explanation, and most are tied to something happening around Jesus at the time.
All seven are found only in John. Jesus repeats several of them in the same chapter, so you will see the same image more than once (for example John 6:48, John 9:5 and John 10:14).
The seven I am sayings in John
I am the bread of life
Said the day after he fed the five thousand, when the crowd spoke of manna. The promise: "he that cometh to me shall never hunger."
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 6:35I am the light of the world
Spoken in the treasury of the temple (John 8:20) and said again before he healed a man born blind (John 9:5). Whoever follows him "shall not walk in darkness."
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
John 8:12I am the door
Part of his teaching about the sheepfold. He first says "I am the door of the sheep" (John 10:7); whoever enters by him "shall be saved."
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
John 10:9I am the good shepherd
In the same teaching: the good shepherd "giveth his life for the sheep." In John 10:14 he adds that he knows his sheep and is known of them.
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
John 10:11I am the resurrection, and the life
Said to Martha at Bethany after her brother Lazarus had died, just before Jesus raised him. He asks her, "Believest thou this?"
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
John 11:25-26I am the way, the truth, and the life
His answer to Thomas, who asked how they could know the way. It goes on: "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14:6I am the true vine
Spoken to the disciples on the night before the crucifixion. His Father is the husbandman, and in verse 5 he says "ye are the branches."
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
John 15:1
Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58)
Alongside the seven sayings with a picture, John records a short I am with nothing after it. Jesus told the crowd that Abraham "rejoiced to see my day." They answered that he was not yet fifty years old. He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."
The crowd then "took they up stones to cast at him," so they understood it as a serious claim. Many Christians connect it with Exodus 3:14, where God tells Moses, "I AM THAT I AM," and read it as Jesus speaking of himself as eternal.
Other I am moments in John
When soldiers came to arrest him and named Jesus of Nazareth, he said "I am he," and "they went backward, and fell to the ground" (John 18:5-6). In the KJV the word he is printed in italics there, a sign the translators supplied it.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14:6 · KJV
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Common questions
What are the 7 I am statements of Jesus?
Bread of life, light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way the truth and the life, and the true vine. All are in John's Gospel.
Are the I am statements in Matthew, Mark or Luke?
These seven picture sayings are found only in John. The other Gospels record Jesus teaching with images like light and shepherds, but not in this I am form.
What does Before Abraham was, I am mean?
Jesus said it when the crowd doubted he could have seen Abraham. They took up stones, and many Christians read it as a claim to eternal existence that echoes "I AM THAT I AM" in Exodus 3:14.
Why are there seven I am statements?
John does not number them. Readers group these seven because each joins I am to a picture and comes with a promise or explanation.
100 Roots in Scripture
Every verse in its own language, in its own place
100 Roots in Scripture looks at the Greek and Hebrew words behind famous verses, a natural next step after sayings like I am the way, the truth, and the life.
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