Anchor My Faith

From Below or from Above?

Scripture: John 8:21-24

Jesus opened the previous section by claiming to be the light of the world. He opens this section by claiming to be from above. This section appears to take place just a short time after the previous section. The teachings of John 8 appear to take place in the temple during the last day of the feast.

^{Jn 8:21} “So [Jesus] said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”’

In John 7:33 (ESV), Jesus said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.” Again, he is saying that he is going away, and where he is going they cannot come because they are spiritually dead. They desire and seek the coming of the Messiah, but the Messiah they expect will not come. The true Messiah stands before them, but in rejecting Jesus they are rejecting their Messiah and their Savior, and as a result they must die in their sins. They will die unpardoned, and as they did not seek him where they might find him, they will be unable to go with Jesus to the Father.

The Jews had no clue about what Jesus was talking about as we see in their response. ^{Jn 8:22} “So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”’ They did not understand that he was talking about returning to heaven to his Father.

Jesus then angers them further when ^{Jn 8:23} “He said to them, “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, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

Being from below means belonging to this natural world; your place of citizenship. Being from above means being from heaven; his place of citizenship. Being of this world describes a sinful behavior. Being not of this world describes a behavior like that lived in heaven. Jesus is here on assignment from heaven, from God the Father, following his will and speaking his truth.

Jesus has made it clear to them that they would die in their sins unless they believed in who he was and were willing to humble themselves before him in obedience. So, what is the meaning of “I am he?” It could mean “I am the Messiah,” the one sent by the Father, or it could mean “I am the living bread” that has come down from heaven from the Father, or it could mean “I am the light of the world” as three examples. There is so much more that Jesus is that they must be willing to accept along with a right attitude of heart.

There is more to the “I am” that we should look at. In Exodus 3:14 (ESV), we read, “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”’ There God identifies himself to Moses with the name of “I am.” Jesus then appears through a virgin birth and associates seven things with “I am” in the gospel of John. His use of “I am” identifies himself as God and then he identifies seven things necessary for us as believers. Jesus is the “I am” that spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and now he is God in the flesh of man telling the Jews that they must “believe that I am he [or] you will die in your sins.”

Conclusion

Of Jesus, we must believe the “I am he” or we will die in our sin. The appearance of Jesus is not confined to the gospels. We find Jesus in the beginning as he speaks the universe into existence, and we see him in various forms through the Old Testament. The focus of the Bible is Jesus; it is a book about him and his activities.