Jesus speaking of himself
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This is a curated sub-catalogue of the 2,029 red-letter sayings of Jesus in the companion article Words of God and Jesus Christ. It contains only the sayings in which Jesus speaks about himself — his person and identity (“I am the way, the truth, and the life”), his origin and relationship with the Father (“I am from him, and he hath sent me”), his works and words (“my words shall not pass away”), his coming and going (“I go unto the Father”), his body and blood (“this is my body”), his name, his kingdom, and his disciples. The 604 entries span the four Gospels, Acts, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians and Revelation, in canonical order. “I am” declarations may be isolated with the filter below.
▸ Scope and methodology — read first
Selection rule. A saying is included when Jesus is the speaker and the content of the saying is about himself: his person, identity, origin, nature, works, words, will, cup, hour, glory, kingdom, throne, body, blood, flesh, name, voice, coming, going, return, presence, and his relationship with the Father and the Spirit. First-person sayings whose subject is other people (commands, parables about others, prophecies about others) are excluded.
Third-person self-reference. Jesus frequently speaks of himself as “the Son of man” — e.g. “the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matt 8:20), “the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath” (Matt 12:8), “the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). These are included.
Parables. Only parabolic speeches where the first person is Jesus himself are included — the King of the final judgment who identifies with “the least of these” (Matt 25:35–40), the returning Lord of the talents and the nobleman of the pounds, “occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13). Speeches of the parable’s other characters (the wicked tenants’ lord, the father of the prodigal, the unjust steward, the friend at midnight, the servants) are excluded.
Quoted scripture. Where Jesus quotes the Old Testament and the speaker of the quotation is God or David — e.g. “I am the God of Abraham…” (Matt 22:32), “The LORD said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand” (Matt 22:44) — the verse is excluded, since Jesus is not speaking about himself in it.
Acts and Revelation. The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to Saul and to John the apostle are included, as are the letters of the risen Christ to the seven churches (Revelation 1–3, 22).
Not included here: sayings about Jesus by other speakers — such as the guards in John 7:45, “No man spake as this man spaketh” — since this page is restricted to Jesus’s own voice. Such sayings appear in the parent article under their book and chapter.