“And He said to them, ‘You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.’” John 8:23-24.
The terms, “You are from beneath” and “I am from above” are not meant as insults; rather they are a true assessment of where the hearts of these men and the Lord lie.
Jesus, of course, was literally from above, but His heart and desires as a man on earth were to glorify the Father in heaven.
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” John 6:38.
“And they said, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, “I have come down from heaven”?’” John 6:42.
To glorify the Father in heaven was true of Jesus, and should be true of His Christian disciples always even though they are in the world, they are not of the world.
“They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” John 17:16.
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:13-16.
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” Hebrews 12:1.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-7.
So then just as Christ could say, “I am from above”, so too the Christian’s heart should be seated in the heavenlies with Christ.
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-4.
To the contrary those who, “are from beneath” and “are of this world” are the ones who are described in Revelation 3:10 as “…those who dwell on the earth”.
Earth dwellers; folks who have settled down on the earth as their home, fully accepting the world’s systems of commerce and religion; the Greek word used is katoikeo.
It is important for you to understand this mindset because it explains why so many people are so militant about saving the earth, even to the point of giving up their freedom. It is their home.
These same folks are antichrist because He is a threat to life as they want to live it.
“Arise, O Lord, confront him, cast him down; deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword, with Your hand from men, O Lord, from men of the world who have their portion in this life, and whose belly You fill with your hidden treasure. They are satisfied with children, and leave the rest of their substance for their babes. As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.” Psalm 17:13-15.
Our last consideration here in John 8:24, is the phrase, “…if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” these words confirm the interpretation of the phrase, “…you will seek Me, and will die in your sin” verse 21.
Jesus tells them that they need to believe that “I am He”, meaning if you do not believe that I am the Christ, He, whom you are seeking, you will have missed it and will die in your sins.
In both verses then, He is urging them to accept Him for whom He is saying that He is; the long sought after Messiah.
“Then they said to Him, ‘Who are you?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.’” John 8:25.
It is interesting that the New American Standard Version puts Jesus’ answer here as a question, “What have I been saying to you from the beginning?” As a question, it would indicate that Jesus expected them to know the answer.
God expects us to use the sense we have to answer that question; if we seek, He will answer, if we do not seek, He will still hold us responsible.
However the statement, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.” is valid, Jesus never made any pretense as to who He was, one only had to look.
Herod testified to Him when he slaughtered all those children in an effort to kill the Christ. Read the account in Matthew 2:1-18.
“A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more [murdered].” Matthew 2:18.
John the Baptist testified that Jesus was the Lamb of God who was to take away the sin of the world.
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” John 1:29.
God the Father testified verbally, in the hearing of witnesses on three different occasions.
“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” Matthew 3:16-17.
Amazing attesting miracles of healing, even raising the dead in front of multitudes and reported throughout the land.
“And He came down [from the mountain] with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.” Luke 6:17-19.
Jesus Himself testified as to His being the Christ numerous times and the religious leaders of all of Israel confirmed this by arresting Him and crucifying Him for blasphemy (calling Himself God).
“I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.” John 8:26.
Indeed, Jesus did have many things to say and judge about these men, being God incarnate, He knew their very hearts.
However this is not what He was here for, rather He was here to, “…speak to the world those things which I heard from Him [God the Father].”
Unfortunately for these men, there is coming a day, ordained of God, who gave all judgment into the hand of Jesus Christ.
“… [Christ Jesus] commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.” Acts 10:42.
All of these men who mocked, spat upon, denied, and set Him up to be crucified will face this very same One as their righteous Judge.
“They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.” John 8:27.
So mired in their own preconceptions, so befuddled by Satan, and so engrossed in finding fault were they that they missed many of the things that the Lord said to them during this dialogue.
As a result of this, when He said, “He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.” John 8:26b they did not know who “He” was.
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.’” John 8:28-29.
The term “When you lift up the Son of Man…” has the meaning of crucifixion and was understood by those around Him to be just that. That this is so can be seen by a later incident shown as follows.
“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die. The people answered Him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, “The Son of Man must be lifted up”? Who is this Son of Man?’” John 12:32-34.
This phrase is further clarified by the Lord’s own words.
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:14-15.
See Numbers 21:4-9 for the account of the serpent in the wilderness.
Jesus says here, when you lift Me up, prophesying that it will be the Jewish religious leaders who will crucify Him. They will crucify, they will hear of His resurrection, they will hear many of the witnesses to His sojourn here after His death and resurrection.
But they will be so hardened and reprobate that they will not own Him as Lord and Savior. Christ the spotless Lamb of God, “…for I always do those things that please Him.”
“As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.” John 8:30.
You Will Die in Your Sins, John 8:23-30 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 12-4-12, updated on 10-28-17.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.