Context and References
John 3:14-21 John 7:27-36 John 5:30-47 Isaiah 43:10-13 John 8:12-19 Son of Man - Daniel 7
notes
Main point summary
Our belief and life-eternal stems from Christ's divine unity with the Father, and if we do not see Christ for who he is , and us for who we are , we reject him, reject God and remain condemned to die in our sins.
Arc
editing
NT
John 8:21-30
nasb
mine
Then He said again to them, “I go away,
Again, Jesus said to the people, "I am going away [to the Father - the one who sent me],"
and a you will seek Me,
and you will look for Messiah,
and b will die in your sin;
and you will remain and die in your sin of rejection and unbelief (because you won't be able to find me - after rejecting me as Messiah).
progression
situationresponse
where I am going,
I am going to a place
you cannot come.”
where it is impossible for you to come (because you have rejected the Son, and therefore the Father too, cf. 5:23)."
locative
ideaexplanation
So a the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He,
Therefore, the sceptical crowd, missing the point entirely, were wondering aloud, "Will he commit suicide,
since He says, ‘ b Where I am going,
because he says, 'I am going to a place
you cannot come’?”
where it is impossible for you to come' ?"
ground
inference
And He was saying to them, “ a You are from below,
While they wondered this, Jesus said to them, "You are from below, i.e. of this fallen, already condemned, rebellious world,
I am from above;
but I am from above, i.e. not of this world.
negativepositive
b you are of this world,
c I am not of this world.
Therefore I said to you that you a will die in your sins;
This is why I said that you will die in your sins - the consequence of your sin of rejection/unbelief -
for unless you believe that 1 b I am [ He ],
because, if you do not believe that I AM,
a you will die in your sins.”
you will remain and die in your prior and consequent sins .
bilateral
So they were saying to Him, “Who are You?”
Hearing this, they asked him, "Who are you ?"
Jesus said to them, “ 1 What have I been saying to you
Jesus replied, "Just what I told you
from the beginning?
from the beginning.
temporal
questionanswer
I have many things to speak
I have many things to say to you
and to judge concerning you,
and, inevitably, in judgment of you ,
actionmanner
but a He who sent Me is true;
But I am not speaking and judging on my own accord . Instead, you must know that He who sent me is true,
and b the things which I heard from Him,
and it is only the things that I hear from Him
these I speak to the world.”
that I declare to the world."
actionresult
They did not realize that He had been speaking to them
They did not understand that Jesus had been speaking to them
about the Father.
about God, the Father.
So Jesus said, “When you a lift up the Son of Man,
Therefore, Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man (crucify, and therefore, exalt the Son of Man),
then you will know that 1 b I am [ He ],
then you will know that I AM; you will know the identity of Jesus, the Son of Man - God, incarnate.
and c I do nothing on My own initiative,
Not only that, you will also realise that I do and say nothing on my own accord (including my exaltation on the cross),
but I speak these things
but I speak all of what you hear
as the Father taught Me.
as the Father has taught me.
series
And He who sent Me is with Me;
And the one who has sent me is with me.
a He 1 has not left Me alone,
He has not left me alone,
for b I always do the things
because I always do those things
that are pleasing to Him.”
that give him pleasure (including my exaltation on the cross)."
As He spoke these things,
As Jesus was saying all that he said,
a many came to believe in Him.
many believed in him.
discourse
Questions
What is the consequence of sin? Why will the Jews/crowd/us die in our sins? How can one not die in their sins? What is the one thing that the Jews completely missed, which Jesus points out? In this passage, what does our eternal life hinge on? Do I love the light or the darkness? What kind of belief do I have? How is it evident?