The “Tetragrammaton” is the four-letter word in the Hebrew Bible that represents the Name of God. This word has been considered so sacred, that its pronunciation is actually been lost to the annals of history.
It consists of the four letters yod heh vav heh – or loosely YHWH or JHVH. Whenever a Hebrew reader comes across it, the merely substitute the Hebrew word for Lord – Adonai. In English texts, it has often been transliterated as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah.”
13 years ago, the Vatican – as directed by the pope – asked that any songs or Bible translations used in Catholic worship stop using those transliterations … out of respect for the Jewish tradition of not speaking the name of God.
Nonetheless, the closest approximation of assigning meaning to those 4 letters is found in Exodus 3:14, when Moses is speaking to God in the Burning Bush and asks what name should he tell the Israelites God told him, the Lord responds: “I am who I am . . . tell the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”
Today is the 5th Sunday of Easter.
Our Gospel reading from St. John’s Gospel – part of the Last Supper Discourse – where Jesus tells the disciples:
I am the true vine …
This is one of seven “I am” statements that Jesus makes in John’s Gospel – in a certain sense, using the alliterative Name of God to a metaphoric title for Himself.
Earlier in that discourse, right after the washing of the disciples’ feet, He says:
I am the way, and the truth, and the life …
Last week we heard from an earlier part of St. John’s Gospel, where Jesus says:
I am the good shepherd …
In the text leading up to that passage, He says:
I am the gate for the sheep …
We heard that last year on the fifth Sunday of Lent.
One chapter later, before He raises Lazarus from the dead, Jesus says,
I am the resurrection and the life …
We heard that read on the fifth Sunday of Lent this year.
Two chapters earlier, He says:
I am the light of the world …
Next year, we’ll hear that on the fifth Sunday of Lent.
And two chapters before that He says:
I am the bread of life …
We’ll hear that chapter broken up across four weeks this summer, beginning at the end of July and continuing throughout August.
We also hear a snippet of that chapter every year on the Sunday of the Body and Blood of Christ – this year falling on June 6 … or nine weeks after Easter Sunday.
So, this year – the second of the three year cycle of Sunday readings – we hear 5 out of the 7 “I am” statements.
Although, every year, they are read on the weekdays of Lent and Easter … if you follow the daily lectionary readings.
For your personal reflection – you can call it “homework” if you like – I encourage you to consider these seven “I am” statements of Jesus … and in your reflection, consider that question that Jesus asks His disciples in the synoptic Gospels – that is, Matthew, Mark, and Luke – when He says:
Who do people say that I am?
Followed by:
Who do you say that I am?
As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ – Who comes to us at every Mass as the Bread of Life … let us pray that He may be for us our Way and our Truth and our Life … as we continue to move through Easter season and as we live our lives out and about in the world.
