Last month, I had the opportunity to preach at a Christian camp. Since the campers’ ages ranged from 7 to 12 years old, I wanted my sermons to be simple, memorable, and foundational. So I chose to preach on the seven “I Am” sayings of Christ in the book of John.
As I prepared my sermons, the truths of these seven sayings began to deeply impact me. I wanted them to stick with the campers long after the week of camp. Then I had a thought: Turning these sayings into a song might help the kids remember these truths. So I went to work, putting these sayings into rhyming verse, and my wife Christa put it to this beautiful tune. As it turned out, this exercise pushed me to understand more clearly what Jesus was saying, and the significance it has for our lives.
The final product was a simple four-verse poem and chorus. I’ve provided the text below, with some comments on its context in the Gospel of John.
1
To hungry souls, Christ is the Bread
Who fills and satisfies.
To darkened hearts, He is the Light
Who opens blinded eyes.
John 6 tells us that Jesus had miraculously fed a monstrous crowd numbering over 5,000 people. When these people with full tummies followed Jesus hoping for more handouts, Jesus told them that their real need wasn’t for physical bread. After all, not even manna—bread that fell from the sky—could keep their ancestors alive. The only thing that would ultimately satisfy them was the Bread that came straight from Heaven—in other words, the Son of God who would die and rise again on their behalf. To “eat” this Bread means to believe in Jesus. Whoever does, Jesus assures us, “will live forever” (John 6:58).
In John 8:12, Jesus proclaims, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” The very next chapter dramatizes this claim. Jesus restores vision to a man with congenital blindness. However, this man still needed another kind of sight—faith in Jesus. When he later came to Jesus and believed in him, the formerly blind man could finally “see.” He understood that he was a sinner in need of Jesus. The proud Pharisees, however, ironically remained blind, since they refused to believe. To them, Jesus said, “Your guilt remains” (9:41). When we come to Christ as the light, we simultaneously see our sinfulness and Christ’s perfection. We no longer try to deceive ourselves into thinking that our sin is hidden to God. Instead, we confess our sin, taking refuge in His perfect Son.
2
To wandering sheep, Christ is the Door
Who loves and lets them in.
No better Shepherd can they know
Than He who died for them.
Many people cherish the idea that there many paths to God. Christ’s teaching, however, is quite clear: access to the “fold” is only through Him. But the invitation is free: “I am the door,” Christ proclaims, “If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9).
Not only is Jesus the door of the sheepfold, he is the Shepherd of the sheep. In contrast to false shepherds, those self-seeking “hired hands,” Jesus proves his love by his sacrificial death: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep” (10:11). Let no one think that Christ’s death betrayed his weakness, for “no one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (10:18). Neither should anyone think that his death was permanent, for “I lay down my life that I may take it up again” (10:17). Can we find any better Shepherd than Christ?
3
Like branches, we can bear no fruit
Except through Christ the Vine.
He is the only Way to God,
The Truth, the Life Divine.
The third verse echoes John 15, which teaches that fruitfulness comes only through a relationship with Christ: “I am the vine,” he explains, “you are the branches. whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” The second part of this verse reflects the familiar words of John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
4
Those dead in sin will come alive
At Jesus’ mighty cry.
For all who trust in Christ the Life
Will live and never die.
The phrase “those dead in sin” calls on Ephesians 2:1 to explain our deadness without Christ. I hoped the words “Jesus’ mighty cry” would evoke the scene of our Lord standing at the gaping mouth of the tomb shouting, “Lazarus, come forth,” which is the context in which he tells grieving Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).
I saved this saying for the final verse, even though it comes earlier in the book of John. It serves as a fitting climax since the theme of eternal life runs throughout John’s gospel from beginning to end. In 1:4, John tells us that “in him was life.” And near the close of this book, when explaining why he wrote, John says, “These [signs] are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (20:31).
Chorus
Come to this Feast, behold this Light,
Pass through this open Door.
Be led by Him and loved by Him,
And live forevermore.
With the chorus, the verbal mood changes from declarative to imperative. These sayings of Jesus are not intended as interesting facts to ponder. They present us with a Person to whom we must respond. That is why I wanted the chorus to be an exhortation, a direct call to action, just as the Apostle John intended for the readers of his gospel. I tried to incorporate at least a hint of each of most of the seven sayings. The “Feast” reminds us of Jesus as the Bread. The “Light” and “Door” are stated explicitly, and the words “pass through” reflect Jesus’ being the “Way” to the Father. The exhortation to “be led by Him” urges the proper response to Christ as the Good Shepherd. Finally, the invitation to “live forevermore” is evocative of Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life.
