Jesus began to contrast Himself and His critics.310
8:21 Evidently what follows continues Jesus' teaching in the temple when He spoke the words that John recorded in the preceding verses. The Greek word palin("again"or "once more") indicates a pause but not a significant break in the narrative (cf. v. 12). The content of His teaching in this verse recalls 7:33-34.
When Jesus said He was going away He was speaking of His death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. The Jewish leaders would not seek Jesus personally, but they would continue to seek the Messiah. They would die in their sin (singular) of unbelief because they rejected Jesus. Jesus was going to His Father in heaven. These Jews could not come there because they had rejected Jesus.
8:22 Jesus' hearers wondered if He was speaking about taking His own life. In 7:34-35 they wondered if He was talking about going on a mission to the Gentile world. In both cases they did not grasp that Jesus was speaking of spiritual rather than physical spheres of reality. However these people again spoke better than they realized. Jesus' departure would involve His death, not as a suicide but as a sacrifice for sin. Consequently their words here are an ironic prophecy of Jesus' death (cf. 11:49-50).311
8:23 Jesus explained their reason for misunderstanding Him as being traceable to their origins. Jesus was from God above while they came from His fallen and rebellious creation below. The second contrast in this verse clarifies the first. To understand Jesus' meaning His hearers needed new birth (3:3, 5) and the Father's illumination (6:45).
8:24 Jesus' hearers would die in their sins (plural) unless they believed in Him. Only belief in Him could rescue them from this fate. Here Jesus viewed their manifold sins (plural) as the consequences of their sin (singular, v. 21) of unbelief.
"The attitude of unbelief is not simply unwillingness to accept a statement of fact; it is resistance to the revelation of God in Christ."312
They needed to believe that Jesus was "I am."In this context this phrase has heavy theological connotations (cf. vv. 28, 58; 13:19). It appeared enigmatic at first, but later Jesus' hearers realized that He was claiming to be God (cf. v. 59). The NIV "the one I claim to be"is an interpretation of Jesus' meaning that is perhaps more misleading than helpful. Jesus was alluding to the title that God gave Himself in the Old Testament (Exod. 3:14; Deut. 32:39; Isa. 41:4; 43:10, 13, 25; 46:4; 48:12). Essentially "I am"means the eternally self-existent being.313Unless a person believes that Jesus is God, he or she will die in his or her sins.
8:25 Jesus' hearers did not understand what He meant at first. He responded that He was saying nothing different from what He had been saying about His identity since the beginning of His ministry. This was a new title, but it represented revelation that was consistent with what He had always claimed about Himself.
8:26 Jesus also claimed to have much more to reveal to His hearers. Part of that would involve judgment for their unbelief. However all of what He would say would be true because it would come from God. It would not be simply His own words spoken independent of the Father (cf. 3:34; 5:19-30; 8:15-16).
8:27 John clarified for his readers that Jesus had been speaking about His Father when He mentioned the One who sent Him. John did not want his readers to suffer from the same confusion as those who originally listened to Jesus. Jesus had explained earlier that it was God the Father who had sent Him (5:16-30).
8:28-29 Lifting up (Gr. hypsoo) the Son of Man refers to His crucifixion, which John viewed as His exaltation (cf. 3:14; 12:23). The title "Son of Man"is messianic (Dan. 7:13-14) with emphasis on His perfect humanity. Jesus' enemies would lift Him up. When they did, they would realize that Jesus was the self-existent God. Jesus did not mean that His crucifixion would convince all His critics of His true identity but that that exaltation would be the key to many of them believing on Him (cf. 12:32). The Crucifixion would convince many unbelievers of Jesus' true identity (cf. Acts 2).
"This concept of the death on the cross of one who was one with the Father is the great central thought of this Gospel."314
Jesus again affirmed that everything He said came from and with the authority of His Father (cf. vv. 16, 18, 26). All that He said and did was the Father's will including the Cross. Jesus continually expressed His dependence on the Father and gloried in the Father's presence with Him (cf. 3:34; 5:30; 6:38; 8:16; et al.). Even though His own rejected Jesus and crucified Him, the Father never abandoned Him. Jesus' ultimate purpose was to please His Father.
8:30 John noted that, in spite of the confusion of many that resulted from Jesus' teaching, others believed on Him because of these words (cf. 7:31). God opened their understanding with His illuminating and life-giving words. However in view of the following verses, the faith of some of them seems to have been quite shallow.
