Syncopating the scriptures…
"I am…I am…I am." Jesus set us up with that bass line each time finishing it a different way but then he adds a surprise on his final use of the phrase in John 15.
"I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener." (v1)
"I am the vine and you are the branches." (v5)
In those two statements, Jesus reveals the offbeat of His "I am" sayings. Up until this point in the Gospel of John, the "I am" formula was revealing something about Jesus but in these last two uses, Jesus shows us that each statement also has the potential to reveal to us the Father and ourselves.
This should send us back to all the other statements asking two questions: What does this say about the father? What does this say about me?
You’ll want to do this on your own, but take Jesus’ statement about being the light of the world. What does that say about how Jesus views us? We are in darkness. Or consider the implications of Jesus being the bread of life? What does that say about us except that we are hungry?
Each statement has an offbeat that is meant to be heard and considered.