John 8:20–30

Read the passage.

The last entry said it covered v. 20 because it was at the paragraph break, but I didn’t really say anything about it then. Also, v. 21 starts with “So”, like “therefore”, you have to see what it’s there for and read the preceding context. In the context of the Feast of Booths, Jesus had said He was the source of living water, the light of the world, and coming to humanity with the Father’s judgement. It’s pretty obvious what Jesus is saying here, and if He wasn’t correct about it, He’d be guilty of blasphemy. Yet nobody accused Him of this because God had predetermined the time for it.

So Jesus’s shocking statements continue. He warns them that when He leaves, those with Him right then won’t be able to go to where He is and die in their sins. For the divine Son, second Person of the Triune God, that’s a perfectly normal thing to say. For Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter’s son, that would be outrageous. Yet, the reaction that John records for us focuses on the part I find less shocking. The Jews wonder where Jesus is going to go, and they rightly deduce that it’s the spiritual realm where people go when they die. How do they not see that Jesus is claiming to have the power to save them from their sins?

Perhaps they realize it by v. 25, because Jesus spells it out that they have to believe in Him in order not to die in their sins. Their response is, “Who are you?” This is their way of trying to figure out what authority Jesus has over the judgement of sins, because in Judaism, only God has that. Even though Jesus explains that He is speaking with the same authority as the Father, they still don’t get it. Most of them, anyway. After a bit more explanation, v. 30 tells us that many believed in him. The spiritual veil over their hearts was lifted and they were able to perceive Jesus as the Savior they needed, sent by the Father to bring His lost people back.

Help us to understand Your words, which have eternal life for us.