21 Then He said again to them," I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come."
Jesus made it clear that he wasn’t going to stay around. He didn’t specify a timeframe, but the truth is that he would not continue to be insulted or misunderstood by them forever. Had they understood Psalm 2, they would not have been throwing out accusations against him. To us, it is clear he was talking about his resurrection and ascension into heaven. Of course, they could not understand this at this time. I wanted to say they didn’t have a clue, but the Old Testament was loaded with clues.
It is interesting that Jesus says they will seek him. We live in an age where many churches want to be seeker friendly. They base their premise on believing that some people are truly seeking God and want to know him. So they tailor their programs to making people feel welcome avoiding anything that could make them feel uncomfortable. Sins becomes mistakes or poor choices, and salvation is living in community with each other. When everyone is having a good time of fellowship, they hope that they will then embrace Christ, whatever that means.
Bad news guys, sinners don’t seek God! They run from him. John 3:19-20 says, “Men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (NASU). If someone is really seeking God, that means that God is drawing that person. Jesus clearly teaches this in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (NIV). Therefore, we shouldn’t try to make people comfortable but teach them the Word of God that clearly explains that following Jesus will cost them. It will mean they must face their sins and repent. It is after they are born again, have repented as a result, that they can have true fellowship.
22 So the Jews were saying, "Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?"
This shows that there was no spiritual discernment for these Jews. They were not born again. They didn’t have God’s Spirit living in them or even whispering in their ears. They are like the people who believe the Bible to be myths or just the writings of men. They have no concept of what Jesus is saying.
23 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
Jesus doesn’t make it easy for people to believe. The truth that everyone who is of the world will die in their sins without believing in him is a message that must be given to everyone. Many will object and point to those in areas of the world where no one has heard of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t mince his words. He is from above, from heaven, God incarnate, bringing the very words of God. What he says here is absolute. Without believing in Jesus, that he is the Messiah and God in the flesh who will take our sins upon himself, we will have to carry our own sins to the grave. And that can mean only one thing. Condemnation forever.
25 So they were saying to Him, "Who are You?" Jesus said to them, "What have I been saying to you from the beginning?”
Look at their reaction. Is this a sincere desire to know who Jesus is so that they can believe in him? For some of it was. As we look ahead to verse 30, some did believe. However, some of those who believed then apparently changed their minds. Unlike these people, Jesus doesn’t change his mind. He continues to reiterate what he has been telling them all along.
26 “I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world." 27 They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." 30 As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.
Jesus knows that in just a short while, some of these people who say they believe are going to object to his teaching and he will have to tell them that they are children of the devil. They didn’t pick up on this when he said his words would soon judge them.
So, he reminds them that what he has been telling them comes right from God the Father. Had they been really paying attention earlier, they would have understood this. But John tells us that they still didn’t understand that Jesus was from the Father and that the One who sent him is the Father. So, believing in Jesus means that a person must believe this about Jesus. He isn’t an angel or a mere man. They must believe that everything Jesus taught comes from God the Father and Jesus is not going out on his own mission trip. He is following what the Father has set in motion and willingly going along with it.
This means that going to the cross, to be lifted up, is the Father’s initiative. God set this plan into motion even before the creation of the world. Peter explained it on the day of Pentecost, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23 ESV). Notice, however, that they didn’t say one word about it. It went right over their heads. Yet it is one of the most important things that points everyone to understanding who Jesus is. The other is his resurrection. Jesus explaining that the Father is with him and hasn’t left him alone explains that even as the Father poured out his wrath upon Jesus for our sins and Jesus felt abandoned at that moment, God was with him. Jesus knew that going to the cross was both going to cause him to suffer God’s wrath but also his pleasure because he was doing the Father’s will.
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