PLAN OVERVIEW Plan Overview
Understand who Jesus truly is, what He came to do, and how His identity transforms your life today.
Through the book When Jesus Says I Am, Bible teacher Sim Kay Tee invites you to experience Jesus not just as a historical figure, but as your personal Shepherd, Savior, and Source of life.
THE BREAD OF LIFE
READ: John 6:1-59
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
(John 6:35)
John 6 describes an interesting meal. With a little boy’s five small barley loaves and two small fish, Jesus feeds 5,000 hungry men. The actual number of people fed may be as high as 20,000, if women and children are included. Quantitatively, this is the biggest of all Jesus’ miracles.
Awed by this miracle, the crowd pursues Jesus, believing that He is the prophet like Moses promised in Scripture. Except that they demand yet another sign from Jesus to prove that He is the Messiah (John 6:30). They appear to be hoping for a miracle
that would exceed the provision of manna—as if the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on the water hadn’t been spectacular enough!
Against this backdrop, Jesus gives us His first “I am” (egō eimi) declaration, in John 6:35: “I am the bread of life.” He describes himself as the new manna, “the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (v. 33).
The crowd is pursuing Jesus because they want Him to continue to provide for them. Bread is their staple, their basic essential food for survival and sustenance. But Jesus now corrects their materialistic expectations of the kingdom of God, and tells them to seek spiritual nourishment and sustenance instead (v. 27).
Jesus says this because He doesn’t just want to give them bread for sustenance; rather, He is offering himself as bread for life abundant. He can easily feed them a second or third time, or even for a lifetime, but He knows that no matter how much bread they eat, they will be hungry again. This is why He offers not the bread they want, but the bread they need—Himself: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry” (v. 35).
As the bread of life, Jesus is more than a staple that sustains life. In fact, He is life, in its fullest measure. Jesus offers us a “rich and satisfying life” (10:10 nlt), which we experience in all its
abundance when we know God intimately and know Jesus Christ personally as the Saviour who came to save us from our sins.
RESPOND: Lord Jesus, thank You for being our bread of life who freely offers us life in abundance, today and for eternity. I confess that far too often, I come to You seeking material things instead of seeking to feast on You. I pray that I will hunger not for physical bread that perishes, but for Your presence as my soul’s greatest delight. Help me to do so by knowing You through Your Word, obeying Your will for my sanctification, and doing Your work.
DAY 2:
I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
READ: John 8:12-20
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
(John 8:12)
Imagine that you’re a Jewish man living in Jesus’ time. You make your annual pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem to commemorate God’s presence, provision, and protection during your ancestors’ 40-year journey in the wilderness.
One major ceremony you take part in involves lighting four golden oil-fed candelabras in the temple courtyard. As you gaze up at the giant lamps, you can’t help but be reminded of how God’s
presence must have looked something like this when He guided your forefathers with the pillars of fire and cloud. Then, you hear Jesus declaring: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). What does Jesus mean by this?
1. Jesus Is God with Us. The pillars of fire and cloud are a theophany, or a physical manifestation of God himself. Through the two pillars, God demonstrated His presence in the Israelites’ midst and showed that He was personally involved with them. And now, Jesus, in His incarnation, is “Immanuel”—God with us. Jesus, the light of the world, is the ultimate and final theophany, the fulfilment of all Old Testament theophanies, and He is intimately present with His followers (Hebrews 1:2-3).
2. Jesus Guides Us with His Presence. Through the pillars of cloud and fire, God guided and led His people from the very day they left Egypt. So, when the Jews hear Jesus saying that He is the light of the world, they are immediately reminded of the pillar of fire that had led their forefathers through the wilderness. As the light of the world, Jesus guides us with His presence.
3. Jesus Protects Us with His Power. God also protected His people with the pillars of fire and cloud and kept them safe as they escaped Egypt. The pillars of cloud and fire were thus God personally protecting His people, keeping them safe. Likewise, when Jesus says that He is the light of the world, He is revealing
to us His power to protect us from Satan and sin’s bondage, and God’s judgment and condemnation.
RESPOND: Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to this world to give light to us. Thank You for being with us as Immanuel, for protecting us from the evil one through the salvation You have given to us, and for providing for our every need, whether spiritual or physical. As I reflect on my identity as a child of light, my calling to live in the light, and my duty to shine as a light for others, I pray that You would use me to glorify our Father.
DAY 3:
I AM
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
READ: John 10:1-21
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep . . . I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”
(John 10:11, 14)
Why does Jesus call himself the good shepherd? Why not just say that He is our Shepherd?
In our Bibles, there are actually two distinct Greek words that have been rendered as “good” in English. One is agathos, which means “good as a positive moral quality (vs. bad)”. The other is kalos, which has more of the meaning of being “beautiful, better, excellent”. In John 10:11 and 14, the word used is kalos. Jesus
is not merely claiming to be a good shepherd. Rather, Jesus is making the exclusive claim that He is the good shepherd—the “beautiful, better, and excellent” Shepherd. Of the seven “I am” sayings, this is probably the most cherished, because it speaks of how much He cares for and loves us.
1. Jesus Lovingly Dies for His Sheep. In John 10:11–13, Jesus contrasts the differing responses of a shepherd and a hired hand to a predator encountered by the sheep. As opposed to the hired hand who cares more for his own life than those of the sheep, the shepherd lovingly “lays down his life for the sheep” (v. 11) because they are his. The shepherd’s love for his sheep is based on a personal relationship with each one of them, whom he knows and loves intimately.
2. Jesus Willingly Dies for His Sheep. No one forces Jesus to die for His sheep (v. 18). This is reflected in how He willingly identifies and surrenders himself to His enemies in the garden of Gethsemane. Twice, in the original Greek text, He says to them: “I am” (18:5, 8), which is the personal name of God. In doing so, He reiterates His identity as the God-Shepherd who voluntarily gives himself up for His sheep.
3. Jesus Purposefully Dies for His Sheep. Jesus’ death is borne not just out of love and willingness, but also out of God’s sovereign plan from “before the beginning of time” (2 Timothy 1:9). From
“before the creation of the world”, God had already purposed and planned for Jesus to die for the sins of the world (Ephesians 1:4).
4. Jesus Vicariously Dies for His Sheep. Why did Jesus have to die at all? The answer is: He dies for us. In John 10:11, “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”. The preposition “for” comes from the Greek word, hyper, meaning “in place of, on behalf of, in behalf of”. It means that Jesus dies not only on our behalf (taking our place) but also in our behalf (for our benefit).
RESPOND: Lord Jesus, thank You for being our good God-Shepherd. You lovingly, willingly, purposefully, and vicariously died to atone for my sins, so that I might be reconciled to God. Thank You for knowing and calling me by name. Guide me to listen to Your voice and to follow You in obedience, that I might not go astray.
Enjoyed this 3-day reading plan? Read Jesus’ other “I Am” statements.
Get your copy of the book When Jesus Says I Am and walk through all seven “I Am” declarations— unabridged and complete with personal reflections and biblical insights.
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