What if I told you that a certain Biblical statement took 1500 years to complete?
In Exodus 3 the Lord instructs Moses to refer to Him as "I am." Now technically "I am" is a complete sentence, having both a subject and a verb. On the other hand, it sounds rather unfinished.
Finishing the sentence would have to wait until the Incarnation and the teaching of Jesus. The Gospel of John records seven "I am" statements of Jesus, listed below. The number seven in the Bible denotes completeness. The Lord Jesus completes the sentence He began back in Exodus 3.
"I am...
the bread of life
the light of the world
the door of the sheep
the good shepherd
the resurrection and the life
the way, and the truth, and the life
the true vine."
So when Jesus says from the cross, "It is finished" (John 19:30), He could have been talking about the sentence.
"I am," by itself, is difficult to understand. It is a lofty idea. But Jesus brings it down to earth and makes it, and all of God, perfectly understandable.
See if you can memorize the seven I am's from John. No other words were ever worth such a long wait.
Where to find the I am's in John: 6:35, 8:12, 10:7, 10:11, 11:25, 14:6, 15:1.
