'Spirit and Truth' Gnosticism
'Spirit and Truth' Gnosticism John 4:23-27 In response to her reply, Jesus immediately seized the opportunity and declared (lit.), “ I am [ egō eimi ; 4:26 ], the one speaking to you.” In John the use of egō eimi is an important theological theme that is used in the mouth of Jesus as a self-identifying vehicle for announcing some important theological idea concerning him. Normally the expression is accompanied by some thematic description such as “bread of life” ( 6:35 ), “light of the world” ( 8:12 ), “door of the sheep” ( 10:7 ), “good shepherd” ( 10:14 ), or “resurrection and life” ( 11:25 ). But in a few places like the present one egō eimi is used without such an accompanying description ( cf. also 6:20; 8:58; 18:5 ). In these texts the shocking reality of a confession of the divine-human presence is being highlighted, and there is no need for discussion with Jesus about who he is . Elsewhere the egō eimi statement by itself is used to emphasize that Je...