2.2 titles for Jesus in the synoptic gospels and the I AM sayings in John Flashcards
What is meant by Messiah?
the ‘anointed one’ chosen by God to usher in the new, Messianic age
What are the three different types of Messiah?
- royal messiah = from the House of David
- priestly messiah = would restore priestly leadership of Israel
- prophet messiah = God’s spokeperson
What kind of Messiah is Jesus?
at times he appears to be all three
e.g. John 18:36 he is a royal messiah as the king of the spiritual realm
NT = messiah is replaced with the greek word, Christos, meaning Christ
What is meant by Son of Man?
OT = refers to a heavenly being who would bring salvation and judgement
How is Jesus presented as the Son of Man?
Jesus seems to fulfil the roles attributed to this eschatological figure
- Jesus uses this term when he speaks of his messianic authority on Earth + the age to come
What is meant by the Son of God?
OT = used to describe the King of Israel
NT = highlights Jesus’ unique relationship with God
Greek = a heroic human figure
What is meant by the ‘I am’ sayings in John?
a deliberately used phrase that possess great theological significance
What is the Greek significance behind ‘I am’?
Ego Eimi(I am) = used to describe Greek deities
What is the OT significance of using I am?
Barrett(1975) = phrase comes from the OT + used as the divine word of self-revelation from God himself e.g. Exodus 8:14 -> “I am who I am.”
How many ‘I am’ sayings are there in John?
7
What are the four I am sayings that need to be known?
- I am the bread of life
- I am the light of the world
- I am the good shepherd
- I am the true vine
What was the meaning and significance of “I am the bread of life”?
- the nourishing heavenly bread is seen as the teaching of Jesus : a wisdom theme
- where the living bread is Jesus’ own flesh : sacramental theme
What was the meaning and significance of I am the light of the world?
- Jesus is the true light (links to the Prologue) who can lead all to eternal life
- Ironically the Torah was a light but it was this that caused the Pharisees’ blindness as they condemned Jesus for breaking the Sabbath laws
- Christians today see this as a call to evangelise and share Jesus’ light with the whole world
What was the meaning and significance of I am the good shepherd?
- The universal nature of Jesus’ ministry is shown; all people(including Gentiles) can be saved -> universal salvation
What was the meaning and significance of I am the true vine?
- replacement theology = there is no other way to God except through ‘remaining’ in Jesus
- there are some sacramental undertone -> eucharist, messianic banquet