Daily Devotions
John
Proclamations about the death of Jesus
Text: John 8 : 12-59
PROCLAMATIONS ABOUT THE DEATH OF JESUS
From time to time, Jesus would preach about His death. He spoke of His demise in what must have seemed to be obscure symbolic language to all who heard Him. It was important that Jesus spoke on this topic for a number of reasons:
1. As an expression of foreknowledge.
2. As an expression of full faith in His Father.
3. As an attempt to prepare His Disciples to accept His death.
4. As a teaching point where He brought in the message of the Gospel of salvation.
DIFFERENT EXPRESSIONS EMPLOYED
John recorded a number of expressions used by Jesus to describe His death. Let us take time to appreciate the different symbols used.
1. “Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up”
John recorded what was probably the first time Jesus described His death. He wrote,
“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
In that context, Jesus opened up for Nicodemus hope of everlasting life through faith in Jesus, the Son of Man. As the brazen serpent of Moses brought hope of healing and life to those who gazed up at it, so those who looked up at Jesus on the Cross of Calvary would also find life and salvation.
2. “I am going away”
As Jesus spoke to the unbelieving Jews who sought to kill Him, He mentioned that soon enough He would die. This time He phrased it differently.
“I am going away, and you will seek Me,
and will die in your sin. Where I go, you
cannot come.”
John 8:21
It was so ironic. On the one hand The Jews were seeking His death but they were not sure if they would be able to put Him to death through some means of legal and religious manipulation of their laws. On the other hand, Jesus spoke about His death not in the way The Jews contemplated it. To Jesus, His death was His “going away”. His death was not “death” as The Jews understood it. They plotted His death and saw it as the termination of a troublemaker who was a thorn in their flesh.
They were presently seeking to kill Jesus. One day, they would seek Jesus for a different reason. They would certainly like to seek Jesus for His mercy when they stood before God at Judgment Day! They would seek Jesus then, but it would be too late. They would die in their sin! Had they not realized just how great a sin it was to persecute Jesus the way they did? They would die for their sin! They could never be with Jesus in heaven. Where Jesus was going – to His Father – The Jews would never be able to go!
CONFIRMATION OF A GROSSLY SINFUL HEART
You would imagine that a solemn word like this from Jesus would have triggered off an alarm in the hearts of The Jews. But no, they chose to deliberately ignore the word of warning by Jesus. The Jews once again sneered at Jesus and said,
“Will He kill Himself, because He says,
‘Where I go you cannot come.'”
John 8:22
The Jews chose the most bizarre of possible interpretations to explain the words of Jesus. They deliberately twisted the words of Jesus to postulate the question of whether Jesus would commit suicide. The Jews disdained the act of suicide as something grossly sinful. They would even refuse the right of a decent burial for one who has committed suicide. People who committed suicide were not people to be understood. They were people to be despised instead. The words of The Jews reflected just how much they hated and despised Jesus! We can now understand better why Jesus said that The Jews would “die in (their) sin”.
A SAD RESPONSE FROM JESUS
Jesus was probably sadder than angry or upset at the response of The Jews to His words. Quietly He said,
“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
How startlingly obvious were the differences between The Jews and Jesus! Their thoughts, their behaviour, their very reaction to the words of Jesus reflected the differences! What a sharp contrast existed between them. It was like darkness and light. The Jews were in utter darkness! They refused to consider believing that Jesus was indeed the Christ! Did they truly know that they would die in their sins? Were they really prepared and willing to die in their sins?
Could anybody become so hardened and so blinded? The Jews exemplified how hardened the human heart could become! How we must guard our hearts.