John 8:21-30

²¹Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for Me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come." ²²This made the Jews ask, "Will He kill Himself? Is that why He says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'?" ²³But He continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the One I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins." ²⁵"Who are You?" they asked. ²⁶"Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied. "I have much to say in judgment of you. But He who sent Me is reliable, and what I have heard from Him I tell the world." ²⁷They did not understand that He was telling them about His Father. ²⁸So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the One I claim to be and that I do nothing on My own but speak just what the Father has taught Me. ²⁹The One who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him." ³⁰Even as He spoke, many put their faith in Him.

After John’s brief interlude, Jesus brings up another lesson that had been a point of discussion in the past – “Where I go, you cannot come.” And just like the first time this statement was made, there was confusion over its meaning. The people thought He was going to Greece. But this time, Jesus makes Himself clear. They realize He’s talking about the afterlife, because they ask, “Will He kill Himself?” But their question is mockery, as in, “If He kills Himself, we acknowledge that we cannot accompany Him, because we do not choose to do so.” They regarded Jesus’ absence as insignificant, thinking they’d finally gain victory over Him. But Jesus, of course, is speaking of their destiny after death. When they (the scribes and Pharisees) died, they would not go where Christ would be after His own death, for they would still be in their sins, because they did not believe in Him.

Jesus rebukes them again, saying, “You are from below (this world); I am from above (not of this world).” Calvin says that these synonymous statements are doubly issued for the emphasis that “no man, therefore, will ever be qualified to become a disciple of Christ, till Christ has formed him by His Spirit. And hence it arises that faith is so seldom found in the world, because all mankind are naturally opposed and averse to Christ, except those whom He elevates by the special grace of His Holy Spirit.” Having stated that they would die in their sin (singular) in v21, Jesus expressed that unbelief (the singular sin) was the source of all other sins. Apart from repentance in faith from this singular sin, all else loses importance in the realm of God’s wrath; thus in v24, Jesus says that they will die in their sins (plural), signifying all the particular sins that will be held against them on Judgment Day. Some suggest that unbelief alone incurs the wrath of God, but this is false; all of our sins will be held against us – including the unforgivable one, that of unbelief (blasphemy against the Holy Spirit). Jesus tells us at the end of v24 that the solution to this problem of sin is to believe that He is the One He claims to be, that He is Messiah.

Jesus’ response to the question, “Who are You?” in v25 is difficult to translate and interpret. We have it, “Just what I have been claiming all along.” The KJV renders it, “Even that I said to you from the beginning.” We could spend the rest of our time looking at what commentators have to say, but a summary of what Jesus said to them might be this: “You pretend to be disciples of the Prophets and lovers of the Law, looking to the eternal covenant of God, but though I was promised from the beginning and present Myself before you, still you reject Me.” And in v26, Jesus changes the subject, effectively threatening the judgment of God against unbelievers on the ground that God must inevitably defend His truth; and the scribes and Pharisees, and presumably others in the undoubtedly large crowd, just don’t get it.

Eventually they would see Jesus glorified (v28), but they would not be able to be with Him, for they rejected the words of the Father, which Jesus was clearly teaching them. He declares that, after they have been struck with new and unexpressed horror at the wrath of God, then and only then will they be made fully aware of what they have done. The wicked will at length feel how great a loss they have suffered by rejecting the freely offered Christ. They will feel it, but it will be too late, for there will be no more room for repentance (2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 3:13,15). Jesus alludes in v28 to the outward form of His death, that He was to be lifted up on the cross; but He undoubtedly looked chiefly to the glorious result of it, soon to follow, contrary to the expectation of all. And in v29, Jesus boasts that He is neither alone nor without strength, for God the Father, who sent Him, was with Him by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. That’s the mentality that brings Paul to declare, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13), and such is the courage with which we ought to live.

Jesus says some seriously grim things in the close of this passage. He declares, “Unless your sins are covered and dealt with, unless propitiation is made, unless a redemption price is paid, you will die in your sins. You will die under the judgment of God, unless you believe in Me.” That’s an unmistakably exclusive statement. He is the only way to be saved. And if you believe in Him, if you are united to Him by faith, you will never again walk in total darkness. You will never experience the darkness of the wrath of God. Would a “good moral teacher,” as some say Jesus was, carry on a discourse like this? No way.

John reveals that through these harsh words, many people in the audience believed Jesus and “put their faith in Him.” It is primarily this group whom Jesus will address next time as we look at the rest of this chapter, and we’ll see that the shallowness of their faith becomes apparent – for their hope for freedom is actually in their being descended from Abraham, not in Christ. Many of these so-called believers were frauds, just like those in John 2:23-24. Of course, their error is something that John had addressed from the beginning, when he clearly explained that God’s children were not those who were descended from Abraham, but those who were given a new birth by the Spirit (John 1:12-13; Romans 9:6-8). But having fraudulent faith mustn’t describe us. We ought to be able to say with John Wesley, “Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature’s night. Thine eye diffused a quickening ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.”