Jesus' “I am” statements were direct statements of deity. He uses the same language that God the Father used in Exodus 3:14. In Exodus 3:14: God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I Am has sent me.’” There is a sense of security, a sense of authority, in the “I am” statements. All of these statements happen during the last year of Jesus’ life. It was a time when he was met by strong opposition by the Pharisees, and other religious leaders of the time. They had made up their minds that Jesus had to be dealt with and so time and time again they would challenge his teaching. Each time though Jesus would prove to be greater than they, and they soon realized that just discrediting Jesus would not work, and that they would have to kill him.