A report on the talk by Rev. Michaël Merle titled “I am – Fear not”

by John-Peter Gernaat

The statement of Christ “I am – fear not”, he makes before he makes any of the seven “I am …” statements.

After the feeding of the five thousand Jesus retreats onto the mountain and the disciples enter a boat to sail across the Sea of Galilea. The boat is blown far from land in a storm. The disciples are filled with an overwhelming awe at seeing Jesus walking towards them on the water. Then they hear the words: “I am – Fear not”. Immediately they find themselves at the shore. One can imagine what it feels like when a sailor arrives back at the shore after a journey.

How would the disciples, with an intimate knowledge of the Old Testament, have heard these words of Christ? Hearing these words would have shifted their relationship to Jesus. They would have had an intimate knowledge of Exodus 3: 13-18. Moses has an encounter with YHWH (Yahweh) in the burning bush. He asks YHWH who he should say has sent him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. The answer that he receives is: “I am that I am: you shall say to the children of Israel that I am sent me to you.” When Jesus says to the disciples “I am”, they immediately know who He is. These are the words spoken from the Burning Bush. These words are spoken by Christ in the Burning Bush, for it is the Trinity that sends YHWH to lead the Israelites.

They would also have known the book of Isaiah where in chapter 41 it says: “For I, YHWH, your God, take hold of your right hand and say to you: ‘Fear not, I will help you.’” YHWH often represented himself as the God who had, in fact, sent him.

The book of Isaiah has an extensive shift between chapters 39 and 40 and the part of Isaiah from chapter 40 onwards is also known as the ‘Book of Consolation’. This was translated into Greek as the ‘Book of Good News’ or the ‘Book of Gospel’. Theologians often refer to this book as the proto-Gospel. In this book are four ‘Songs of the Servant’ that have been attributed to Christ. The Christ dwelling in Jesus of Nazareth fulfils the promises of the four Servant Songs. So, the statement from YHWH in chapter 41 is from the Gospel.

The disciples hear “I am”, the words from the Burning Bush and “Fear not”, the Servant words.

By this stage of human evolution YHWH, who is one of the Elohim, an Angel of the Lord, has presented himself as God. YHWH has exceeded his mission in the development of the human being. Scripture scholars can clearly discern from the early writings of the Old Testament that YHWH is not the Father God. By the later writings in the Old Testament YHWH has clearly taken on the role of the Father God. In Isaiah 41: 46, YHWH explains the role he now carries but that must be transformed when the Servant of God arrives, for then the Servant of God takes over the (self-elevated) role YHWH has at that time. YHWH says in Isaiah 41: 46: “I, YHWH, who am the First and will be the Last”. Those words are true until the Servant comes and then the Servant becomes ‘the First and the Last’. YHWH is the first in that he was there at the heart of the creation in Genesis 1, and he will be there at the end of this creation, but this creation is one cycle of many cycles of time in which YHWH had and will have other roles. The new creation is Christ.

Isaiah 41: 8-10 is, by tradition, titled “Hope for a new Exodus” and is key to the “I am” statements of Christ. It says: “But you, Israel, my servant Jacob, whom I have chosen. Seed of Abraham, my friend. You who I have taken from the ends of the earth, called from the remotest corners and to whom I have said, ‘you are my servant’. I have chosen you and not cast you away. Fear not, I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will give you strength, I will bring you help, I will uphold you with the right hand of my justice.”

When the disciples hear “I am – fear not”, they know exactly what they are letting into the boat: the very power of the new creation, the very power of God. And in that instant the boat has reached it destination and is safe, they are home. The Christ is now in the boat; the Christ is starting to work in them – they are taking the Christ into their ‘boat’. This first “I am” is heard by disciples in night consciousness – they get into the boat at night – and it wakes them – they are at the shore. The seven “I am” statements that follow are heard in waking consciousness.

Now to look at the seven “I am” statements and what the Christ is saying in and through these statements – what aspect of the human being is he addressing.

First, in John 6: “I am the Bread which descends from heaven”. This references Exodus 16 when YHWH says to Moses: “Now I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you and in the morning you will see the glory of YHWH, and in the morning bread to satisfy your hunger”. It is clear that Christ is telling his disciples that he is taking over the work from YHWH; he is saying that ‘I now represent exactly what you need’. This is strongly connected with our physical existence. A few verses later Christ says: “I am the bread of life”. What life? The new life. The first temptation in the desert is the tempter asking Jesus to turn the stones to bread. The answer the tempter receives is: “We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”. The scripture that Jesus is quoting is Deuteronomy 8: 3: “He made you experience hunger, but he gave you manna to eat which neither you nor your fathers had known to show that Man does not live on bread alone but that all that proceeds from the mouth of God is life for Man”. So, to say, “I am the bread of life” is an extraordinary statement to make which Jesus fulfils at the Last Supper: “with this bread, take my body”. There is now a strong connection made between the Bread of Life and the physical experience of the body.

When we study the three temptations in the desert, it is clear that each represents a shortcut that would circumvent something later on in the mission of the Christ:

1. If Jesus turned the stones into bread, there is no need for the Last Supper, when the true bread is the bread that bears the body.
2. If Jesus threw himself down from the temple and was lifted by the angels, the Christ does not need to die on the cross and rise of Easter Sunday.
3. If Jesus takes all the possessions of the earth, then the Christ will not be able to spread the Gospel through the Ascension and the sending of the Holy Spirit.

The temptation cuts out all the events from Maundy Thursday to Whitsun had Jesus acceded. It is a temptation to circumvent the way in which the Christ was destined to fulfil His task, and rather become a magician. (This is indeed interesting as there are books written about great magicians of that time that might have fulfilled the mission of the Christ in the minds of the authors. It becomes clear that the mission of the Christ was to fulfil the tasks, not to make them appear easy.) The rest of John 6 reveals that what is present in Jesus is a completely new thing, not just speaking from the old. It is taking on what has been promised and fulfilling it by taking it beyond what might be expected.

Second, in John 8 Jesus says: “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light in which there is life.” The light relates to our etheric being. In the Book of Exodus we read: “By day YHWH went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light enabling them to travel day and night. Neither the cloud by day nor the fire by night disappeared from the sight of the people.” The cloud that led the Israelites was a cloud that radiated light; the same cloud that appeared at the Baptism in the Jordan and at the Transfiguration. Now Christ says “I am the light” and not only will one walk in light but that light is life. Reading Isaiah 42, one of the Servant Songs: “I, YHWH, have called you for the sake of justice. I will hold your hand to make you firm. I will make you as a covenant to the people and as a light to the nations.” This is the passage from Isaiah that is read in the synagogue in Nazareth when Jesus rolls up the scroll and says: “These words come to pass now in me.” Isaiah 49: “I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation will reach out to the ends of the earth.” We know from Luke’s Gospel where Simeon speaks after seeing the baby Jesus: “… Here is the light which will reveal to the nations the glory of your people Israel.”

Third, in John 10: 9: “I am the door and he who enters through me will find salvation.” This links us to our astral experience. Our sentient soul allows us to experience the gateway that exists between us and the world. In the Book of Exodus the pillar of cloud moves to the rear of the Israelites to place itself between them and the Egyptian army. To the Israelites it provides light while to the Egyptians it gives darkness. The pillar of cloud is a threshold that leads the Israelites from the front and protects them at the rear. Psalm 118: “This is the Lord’s gate through which the upright enter.”

Fourth, “I am the Good Shepherd”. Here we have a relationship to our ego being. The shepherd guides the flock. He takes a leadership role. This is the role of the “I” in the human being: to take hold of the astral, the etheric and the physical, to coordinate, to guide and to lead. Isaiah 40: 3: “Like a shepherd he feds his flock. He gathers the lambs in his arms. He gathers them in his bosom; gently leading those who are with young.” This is known as the Song of God’s Presence. In this passage we hear: “A voice cries, ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of YHWH. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God’”. Ezekiel 34 says: “And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ‘Son of Man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy’, and say unto them, ‘Thus says the Lord God unto the shepherds: Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? … I will save my flocks from their mouths and no longer will it be food for them’. Indeed the Lord YHWH says this, ‘I myself will care for my sheep and watch over them.’” When Christ says: “I am the Good Shepherd”, He is taking on the role that YHWH (God) had spoken to the people. Every “I am” statement says: “I am your God”.

Fifth, “I am the Resurrection and the Life” relates to the Spirit Self. The “I” (the Good Shepherd) has transformed the doorway. The resurrected life is the life in the spirit so that evolution can continue. This is still dormant in us. Isaiah 43: “Yet it was the will of YHWH to crush him with grief as if you have made his life an offering for sin. He will have a long life and see his descendants. Through him the will of YHWH is done.” This is that the subject of great grief is not the true situation but rather that everlasting life is the true situation, and the servant will see his descendants. The promise made to Abraham is that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the heavens, as the sand on the shore of the sea. Now the Servant, Christ, will see his descendants – all those who descend in faith, who carry the Christ in them.

Sixth, John 14: 6: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” The whole experience of Exodus was that the condition of that salvation was based on the Law. The Law could be followed in order to continue the protection that had been offered. Following the Law led to life. This it is now replaced; the Law is replaced with, “I am the Way, The Truth and the Life”. This is a new Life Spirit experience: to live in the Way of Christ, the Truth of Christ, the Life of Christ. It is possible to translate ‘way’ as ‘the way by which you are able to progress’ and ‘truth’ as the ‘truth by which you can truly know’ and ‘life’ as the ‘life in which you experience yourself in the span of time’.

Seventh: “I am the true vine”. First, “I am the bread” and finally, “I am the true vine”; these are the two pillars of the Eucharist: bread and wine. “I am the true vine” relates to the ultimate experience of our development as human beings, what we can refer to as Spirit Human. First, we hear, “I am the true vine that has life.” Later we read: “I am the vine, you are the branches.” This is the source of our life to which we are now connected and is the source for our becoming Spirit Human. Isaiah 5 is known as the Song of the Vineyard: “Let me sing for my beloved a love song about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard in a fertile hillside. He dug it up; cleared the stones and planted it with the choicest of vines. He built there a watchtower and hewed out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only wild grapes. Now inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard, what more was there to do that I have not done for my vineyard. Good grapes was the yield that I expected and why did it yield only sour grapes? Now I will let you know what I will do with my vineyard. I will remove its hedge and it will be burned. I will break down its wall and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland. I will neither prune not hoe it. Briars and thorns will grow there. I command the clouds as well not to send rain on it.” It represents the wasteland, the wilderness, the desert in which a straight highway will be made; the way of the Lord. Moving to Isaiah 27 known as the ‘Vineyard of YHWH’: “On that day I will say, ‘Praise my fruitful vineyard, I YHWH am its keeper. I water it every moment, so that no one will harm it. Day and night, I guard it. I have no walls. Who will cleanse me from thorns? I myself will march against them, I will burn them all together, for if they come to me for refuge let them make peace with me, yes let them make peace with me. In the days to come, Jacob will take root; Israel will blossom and bear many a shoot and fill the earth with many a fruit.” “I am the True Vine, and you are the branches” who will fill the earth with many a fruit. You will bear fruit because of your connection to the True Vine. What lives in Christ will produce fruit because it also lives in everyone who is able to experience the Christ in them.

The seven “I am” statements in John provide us with the whole picture of how Christ becomes the new guide in our becoming. Christ becomes the source of our new creation.
If these “I am” statements are as much now about us, bearing the Christ in us, as they are about the Christ, then I must become the bread of life; I must become the light of the world; I must become the resurrection and the life. Ultimately that is the purpose to which each one of our lives is evolving. We are a part of the transformation, the transubstantiation experience. In the Act of Consecration the bread becomes the Body of Christ, so that the substance of each one of us can transform. The Act of Consecration of the human being is not only the act of consecration of the bread and wine, it is our transformation. We need to take on the ownership of these words, these “I am” statements.