Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23

by Dallas Willard

In the apostle John’s depiction of the events in the Garden of Gethsemane, as Judas arrives with the group of Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers who have come to arrest him, Jesus asks them who they are looking for. When they respond, “Jesus of Nazareth,” Jesus’ reply is powerful. While most versions of the Bible record Jesus as having said “I am he,” the Greek phrase is literally “I am.” Their reaction to this self-revelation is telling: they draw back and fall to the ground (John 18:1–8). Jesus knows what he is saying in using this phrase, one that shows up throughout the gospel of John. Jesus is signaling his identity as the great “I AM”—Yahweh, the eternal, self-sufficient creator of all things, and the covenant Lord of Israel.

Satan uses not only our desires to deceive us but also our fears. Fear that we will not get what we desire can provide the motivation for actions that cause so many of our problems. When you compare the three main sources of temptation—desires of the flesh, desires of our eyes, and the pride of life—with the things we fear, you will find that nearly all our fears are grounded in our desires.

Richard Beck’s book makes a similar claim