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21 Once 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.” 22 This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?” 23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.” 25 “Who are you?” they asked. “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.” 27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him. John 8:21-30
The words the Lord Jesus spoke to the religious leaders in v.21 indicate that our opportunities to respond to the free gift of salvation are limited. The Lord sought me for years before I responded. In fact, it took the death of my mom at age five and the death of my dad at age seventeen to get me to the place of inviting Him into my life. The persistence of God shouts to us that He loves us and does not want anyone to spend eternity in hell.
In response, according to v.22, the Jews replied, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?” The religious leaders believed that those who committed suicide were sent to hell. Although not biblical, because the only thing that keeps us out of heaven is what gets us into hell. The opposite is also true: that which gets us into heaven is that which keeps us out. The issue is what we do with the Lord Jesus' offer of salvation.
All of the thinking of the religious leaders was limited by the narrow confines of time. They did not know what was going on in the invisible, spiritual realm. They did not understand anything beyond the limited, narrow range of this life. But the Lord Jesus came from heaven with truth that enables us to not only navigate time but also eternity.
The religious leaders were blind to real reality and they did not want to hear anything about hell. But, the Lord Jesus taught most about hell which is eternal separation from all that is real, true, substantive, and fulfilling. Hell is the removal of God from any context.
The Lord Jesus continues to speak earnestly with these men who are in love with the lie and blind to the truth. His words in v.24, "I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins" were not motivated by impatience or anger. But these religious leaders are stuck in their ignorance and pride.
In response, in v.25, those who were experts in knowing God and His ways, ask about the Lord Jesus' identity, proving their ignorance which was blocking their understanding of who God really was.
In v.26-27, the Lord Jesus makes it clear that He came to proclaim the trustworthiness of God and that He did not come to condemn these who were committed to their religion more than the God of the Bible.
Then in v.28, the Lord Jesus told them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me." When we see the Lord Jesus on the cross then we begin to understand real reality. This is what He is saying. When He is lifted up on the cross He grants the ability to see who He really is, the Redeemer of sinful mankind.
It is good for us to preach the Gospel to ourselves daily. It is so instructive to remember the deep darkness of His loneliness, His prayers, His pain, His scourging, the smiting, the spitting, the mocking; the crown of thorns, His cross.
The Lord Jesus tells these hard-hearted religious leaders over and over that He is from the Father and that He has come to deliver the message of salvation from the Father. But all this comes to a climax in v.28 where He tells them that they unwittingly are going to help Him to be the light of the world. They ended up lifting Him up on that cross.
And so it is: when we, according to v.30, see Him lifted up, we have a choice to believe in Him or not. To believe in Him is to invest our hearts in a personal relationship with Him. Believing in Him is “trusting in, clinging to, resting in” His sacrificial death for the forgiveness of our sin. For the Israelites, a one-time glance at the bronze serpent brought them healing (Numbers 21). The Lord Jesus reminds His hearers “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he." For us today, belief in Jesus’ ability to forgive our sin brings eternal life. It is not the amount of faith that saves us but the object of our faith.
