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 the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.”
25 “Who are you?” they asked.
“Just what I have been claiming all along,” Jesus replied. 26 “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.”
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 the one I claim to be 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 put their faith in him.
Here Jesus warns them about the implications of their blindness or unbelief. He is going to die, rise again and go back to the Father. But if they don't believe, when they die, they will not go to the Father. If they (or we!) persist in rejecting the Light of the world, they will spend eternity away from God in hell.
But He offers hope - to them and to everyone.
John Piper's explanation of v28
That doesn't mean that at the crucifixion of Jesus, they all became believers. It means that you yourselves unwittingly are going to help me finish being the light of the world. You are going to lift me up. You are going to crucify me. And when I am crucified, my role as the saving, redeeming, creation-filling light of the world will be secured. And I will rise and reign and shine forever. And the day will come when you will know this. You can know now and have your sins forgiven. Or you can be the ones who crucify me, and die in your sins, and find out the truth only later when it is too late.
And so it is with you and me: We see him and receive him as the light of the world now. Or we die in our sins and see it only when it is too late. May God grant you to see and believe now.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: John 8:31-47
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