Again therefore Jesus said to them: I go, and you shall seek me, and you shall die in your sin. Whither I go, you cannot come.

“(tom. xix. in Joan. s. 3.) But some one will object: If this was spoken to men who persisted in unbelief, how is it He says, Ye shall seek Me? For to seek Jesus is to seek truth and wisdom. You will answer that it was said of His persecutors, that they sought to take Him. There are different ways of seeking Jesus. All do not seek Him for their health and profit: and only they who seek Him aright, find peace. And they are said to seek Him aright, who seek the Word which was in the beginning with God, in order that He may lead them to the Father.”

“(Tract. xxxviii. 2) In accordance with what was just, He said that no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come; He now speaks to the Jews of His passion, as a free, and not a compulsory sacrifice on His part: Then said Jesus again unto them, I go My way. Death to our Lord was a return to the place whence He had come.”

“After the Lord had manifested concerning himself the privilege of light, here he consequently manifests the effect of light, namely that it frees from darkness; and first he shows that they themselves are held fast in darkness; second he teaches the remedy by which they may be freed from it, at the place, "The Jews therefore said, Will he kill himself?" and so on. Concerning the first he does three things. First the Lord announces his own departure; second he shows the perverse zeal of the Jews; third, their failure. Now the Lord says that his departure is through death; and therefore he says "I go," in which he gives two things to understand. First, that he dies voluntarily, namely as one going, and not led by another. Below, John 16:5: "I go to him who sent me"; below, John 10:18: "No one takes my soul from me, but I lay it down of myself." And according to this it is rightly continued from what precedes. For he had said: "No one laid hold of him," and so on. And why? Because of himself he goes spontaneously. Second, he shows that the death of Christ was a certain advancing to that place whence he had come and whence he had not departed; for just as one who goes forward makes progress, so Christ through death arrived at the glory of exaltation. Philippians 2:8: "He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; for which cause God also exalted him"; below, John 13:3: "Knowing that he came forth from God, and goes to God." He shows their perverse zeal in the deceitful seeking of Christ; and as to this he says, "You will seek me." Now some seek Christ devoutly out of charity; and this seeking is followed by life; Psalm 68:33: "Seek the Lord, and your soul shall live." But these seek impiously, and out of hatred, in order to persecute; Psalm 37:13: "They that sought my soul used violence." And thus he says "you will seek me," namely persecuting, after his death indeed with infamy; Matthew 27:63: "We have remembered that that deceiver said, while yet alive, After three days I will rise again." Likewise in my members; Acts 9:4: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" And death follows upon this pursuit; and therefore he adds their failure, which he foretells to them, saying, "And you shall die in your sin"; and first he foretells the failure which consists in the condemnation of death; second, the failure which consists in their exclusion from glory, at the place, "Where I go, you cannot come." He says therefore: because you seek me unjustly, therefore "in your sin," that is, remaining in it, "you shall die." This can be understood in one way of bodily death; and thus he dies in his sins who perseveres in them right up until death. And thus by saying "you shall die in your sin" he aggravates their obstinate persistence. Jeremiah 8:6: "There is none that does penance for his sin, saying, What have I done?"; Ezekiel 32:27: "They are gone down to hell with their weapons." In another way, of the death of sin, of which it is said in Psalm 33:21: "The death of the wicked is very evil." And just as bodily death is preceded by infirmity of the body, so also this death is preceded by a certain infirmity. For as long as sin is remediable, then it is as it were a certain infirmity that precedes; Psalm 6:3: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak." But when it is irremediable, either absolutely, as after this life, or with respect to itself, as is the sin against the Holy Spirit, then it causes death; 1 John 5:16: "There is a sin unto death; I do not say that anyone should pray for that." And accordingly the Lord foretells to them that the infirmity of sinners is unto death. He shows the failure which consists in their exclusion from glory when he says, "Where I go, you cannot come." Where the Lord goes, these also go through death; but the Lord without sin, while these indeed with sins, since they die in their sin, and therefore they do not arrive at the glory of the vision of the Father. And therefore he says, "Where I go" — namely, spontaneously through my passion, namely to the Father and to his glory — "you cannot come," because you do not will to. For if they had willed it and had not been able, it would not reasonably be said to them, "You shall die in your sin." But it must be noted that some are hindered from being able to go where Christ goes, in two ways. In one way by reason of contrariety, and thus sinners are hindered; and of this he speaks here; and therefore to those simply persevering in sin he says, "Where I go, you cannot come." Psalm 100:7: "He that works pride shall not dwell in the midst of my house"; Isaiah 35:8: "It shall be called the holy way, and the polluted shall not pass through it"; Psalm 14:1: "Who shall dwell in your tabernacle? He that is innocent in hands and clean of heart." In another way by reason of imperfection, or lack of disposition; and in this way the just are hindered as long as they are in the body; 2 Corinthians 5:6: "As long as we are in the body, we are pilgrims away from the Lord." And to such the Lord does not say simply, "Where I go, you cannot come," but adds a qualification of time; below, John 13:37: "Where I go, you cannot follow me now." Next, when he says "The Jews therefore said," and so on, he deals with the remedy by which they may be freed from darkness, and first he proposes the remedy for escaping the darkness; second he adduces reasons for obtaining this remedy, at the place, "They said therefore to him, Who are you?" Third, he foretells the manner of arriving at this, at the place, "Jesus therefore said to them: When you shall have lifted up the Son of man, then you shall know." Concerning the first he does two things. First is set forth the occasion of Christ's words; second are set forth those things by which the intimation of the remedy is caused, at the place, "You are from beneath." Now the occasion of Christ's words is taken from the person, or the understanding, of the Jews. For since they were carnal, they understood in a carnal way the Lord's words which he had spoken, "Where I go, you cannot come"; 1 Corinthians 2:14: "The natural man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God." Hence the Jews say, "Will he kill himself?" Which indeed, according to Augustine, is a foolish opinion. For could they not have come where Christ went, if he were to kill himself? They too could indeed kill themselves. Thus therefore death was not the terminus to which Christ was about to go, but the way by which he was going to the Father. Hence he did not say that they could not go to death, but that through death they could not go to the place to which Christ was exalted through it, namely to the right hand of God. According to Origen, however, perhaps not without cause do the Jews say this. For they had from the traditions that the Christ would die voluntarily, just as he himself said, below, John 10:18: "No one takes my soul, but I lay it down of myself." Which they seem to have had especially from Isaiah 53:12: "Because he has delivered his soul unto death, therefore I will divide him a portion with many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong." Because therefore they had some suspicion concerning Jesus that he was the Christ, therefore, when he said "I go," and so on, they introduced this opinion, that he would voluntarily hand himself over to death. But they utter this insultingly, saying, "Will he kill himself?" Otherwise they would have said: "Will his soul, when it shall please him, go forth, the body being left behind?" — which we cannot do. And on account of this he says, "Where I go, you cannot come." Next, when he says, "You are from beneath," and so on, he proposes the remedy for escaping the darkness, and first he sets forth beforehand his own origin and theirs; second from this he concludes his proposition, at the place, "I said therefore to you," and so on. Now concerning the first he differentiates his own origin from their origin in two ways. First, because he is from above, and they from beneath. Second, because they are of this world, of which Christ is not. But, as Origen says, it is one thing to be "from beneath," and another to be "of this world"; for "above" and "beneath" are differences of place. Lest, therefore, from his saying that he is "from above" they should understand him to be from the upper part of this world, therefore, excluding this, he says that he is not "of this world." As if he were to say: I am so much "from above," that nevertheless I am wholly above this whole world. And indeed that they are of this world and from beneath is manifest; but that Christ is from above, and not of this world, truly requires understanding. For certain ones, holding that all visible created things were made by the Devil, as the Manichaeans, said that Christ, even as to his body, was not of this visible world, but of a world of another creation, namely the invisible one. Valentinus also, wrongly taking this up, said that Christ had brought a heavenly body. That this, however, is not the true understanding here appears, because the Lord says to the apostles themselves, below, John 15:19: "You are not of this world." It must be said, therefore, that it can be understood of Christ the Son of God, and of Christ the man. For Christ, insofar as he is the Son of God, is from above; below, John 16:28: "I came forth from the Father, and came into the world." And likewise he is not of this sensible world, that is, the one which consists in sensible things, but of the intelligible world, which is in the mind of God, since he is the very Word of God, insofar as he is the highest wisdom. For all things were made in wisdom. Hence it is said of him above, John 1:10: "The world was made through him." But insofar as he is man, Christ is from above, because he did not have his affection set on worldly and lowly things, but on higher things, among which the soul of Christ had its dwelling, according to that saying of Philippians 3:20: "Our conversation is in heaven"; Matthew 6:21: "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also." And conversely, these who are from beneath have a lowly origin, and are of this world, because they have their affection set on earthly things; 1 Corinthians 15:47: "The first man was of the earth, earthly." Next, when he says, "I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins," he concludes his proposition, and first he makes clear what he had said about their failure; second he shows them the remedy, at the place, "For if you believe not," and so on. Now it must be known concerning the first that each thing, in its progress, follows the condition of its origin; hence those things which have a lowly origin, if left to themselves, naturally tend downward. And nothing naturally tends upward except what has a higher origin; above, John 3:13: "No one ascends into heaven, but he that descended from heaven." The Lord therefore says: this is the reason why you cannot come where I go, because since you are from beneath, as far as it is in you, you cannot but fall; and therefore what I said, that you shall die in your sins, is true, unless you cling to me. And therefore, so as not totally to exclude the hope of salvation, he sets forth a remedy, saying, "For if you believe not that I am, you shall die in your sin"; as if he were to say: you were born in original sin, from which you cannot be absolved except through faith in me, because if you do not believe that I am, you shall die in your sin. And he says "I am," but not what he is, so as to call to mind what was said to Moses, Exodus 3:14: "I am who am"; for being itself is proper to God. For in every other nature besides the divine, being and that-which-is differ, since every created nature participates its being from that which is being through essence, namely God himself, who is his own very being, such that his being is his essence. Hence he alone is named from it. And therefore he says, "Unless you believe that I am" — that is, that I am truly God, who has being through essence — "you shall die in your sin." For he says "that I am," to show his eternity. For in all things that begin there is a certain mutability, and some potency toward non-being, whence there is found in them a certain past and future; and therefore there is not there true being through itself. But in God there is no potency toward non-being, nor did his being begin; and therefore he is being itself, which is properly designated by the present tense. Next, when he says, "They said therefore to him, Who are you?" he sets forth reasons leading to faith, and first is set forth the interrogation of the Jews; second, the response of Christ, at the place, "Jesus said to them: The beginning, who also speak to you"; third, the blinding of their understanding, at the place, "And they understood not," and so on. For because the Lord had said, "Unless you believe that I am," it still remained to ask who he was; and therefore they said to him, "Who are you?" As if they were to say: whence are you, that we should have to believe you? And therefore next, when he says, "The beginning, who also speak to you," he answers, leading them to belief, first from the sublimity of his nature; second from his judiciary power, at the place, "I have many things to speak and to judge of you"; third from the truthfulness of the Father, at the place, "But he that sent me is true." What leads them to believe Christ indeed is the sublimity of his nature, because he himself is the beginning. Hence Jesus said to them: "The beginning, who also speak to you." "Principium" ["beginning"] in Latin is of neuter gender; hence it is doubtful whether it is here of the nominative or the accusative case. But in Greek it is of feminine gender, and in this place it is of the accusative case. Hence, according to Augustine, it should not be read: "I am the beginning," but rather: "Believe me to be the beginning, lest you die in your sins." The Father, too, is called "beginning." And in one way indeed the name "beginning" is common to the Father and the Son, inasmuch as they are one beginning of the Holy Spirit through common spiration; and the three persons together are the beginning of the creature through creation. In another way it is proper to the Father, inasmuch as the Father is the beginning of the Son through eternal generation. We do not, however, speak of several beginnings, just as we do not speak of several gods; Psalm 109:3: "With you is the principality in the day of your strength," and so on. Here, however, the Lord says he is the beginning with respect to the whole creature; for that which is such through essence is the beginning and cause of those things which are such through participation. Now to be through essence, as has been said, is to be his own being. But because Christ has in himself not only the divine nature, but also the human, therefore he adds "who also speak to you"; for man cannot immediately bear the voice of God, because, according to Augustine, weak hearts cannot hear the intelligible word without a sensible voice. Exodus 20: "What is man, that he should hear the voice of the Lord his God?" Therefore, so that we might hear the divine Word itself immediately, he took on flesh, by whose instrument he spoke to us; hence he says "who also speak to you"; that is, having been made lowly for your sake, I have come down to these words. Hebrews 1:1: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all has spoken to us by his Son"; above, John 1:18: "The only-begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, he himself will make [it] known to you." Or otherwise, according to Chrysostom, so that by saying "the beginning, who also speak to you" he might reprove the slowness of understanding of the Jews. For after the many signs which they had seen done by him, still hardened, they ask the Lord, "Who are you?" and so on. And therefore Jesus answered, "I am the beginning," that is, who have spoken to you from the beginning; as if he were to say: you have no need still to ask who I am, since it ought already to be manifest. Hebrews 5:12: "Whereas for the time you ought to be masters, you have need to be taught again what are the first elements of the words of God." Second, his judiciary authority leads them to believe Christ; and therefore he adds, "I have many things to speak and to judge of you"; as if he were to say: I have the authority to judge you. But it must be known that it is one thing to speak to us, and another to speak of us. For Christ speaks to us for our benefit, namely so as to draw us to himself; and thus he speaks to us, while we live, by preaching, inspiring, and doing such things. But he speaks of us not for our benefit, but to show his own justice; and in this way he will speak of us in the future judgment. But on the contrary. Above, John 3:17: "For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world may be saved through him." Response. It must be said that it is one thing to judge, and another to have the power to judge. "To judge" denotes the act of judgment; and this does not pertain to the first coming of the Lord, as he said above: "I judge no one" — namely, for the present. But "to have the power to judge" denotes the power of judgment; and this Christ has; above, John 5:22: "The Father has given all judgment to the Son"; Acts 10:42: "It is he who was appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead." And therefore he says pointedly, "I have many things to speak and to judge of you" — but in the future judgment. The truthfulness of the Father also leads to belief in Christ; and as to this he says, "But he who sent me is true"; as if he were to say: the Father is true; but I speak things consonant with him; therefore I speak true things; therefore you ought to believe me. He says therefore, "he who sent me" — namely the Father — "is true," not by participation, but by the very essence of truth; otherwise, since the Son is truth itself, he would be greater than the Father; Romans 3:4: "But God is true." "And I speak the things which I have heard from him": not by human hearing, but through eternal generation I received them, these I speak. Isaiah 21:10: "The things which I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared to you"; above, John 5:19: "The Son cannot do anything of himself." Now this saying, "He that sent me is true," is connected to what precedes in two ways. In one way thus: I say that I have to judge concerning you. But my judgment will be true, because he who sent me is true. Romans 2:2: "The judgment of God is according to truth." In another way, according to Chrysostom: I say that I have to judge concerning you; but I defer this, not out of powerlessness, but so as to obey the will of the Father; for he who sent me is true. Hence, since he had promised a savior and a defender, he sent me now to save; and I, because I speak only the things which I have heard from him, therefore speak to you things salutary. Next, when he says, "And they understood not that he called God his Father," he reproves the slowness of their understanding; for they did not yet have the eyes of the heart open, by which they might understand the equality of Father and Son, and this because they were carnal; 1 Corinthians 2:14: "The natural man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God." Here first Christ foretells by what means they ought to arrive at faith, which is the remedy against death; and concerning this he does two things. First he shows by what they are to come to faith; second he teaches what is to be believed concerning himself, at the place, "That I am." He says therefore first that they ought to arrive at faith through his passion. Hence Jesus said to them: "When you shall have lifted up the Son of man, then you shall know"; as if he were to say: now you do not know that my Father is God; but "when you shall have lifted up the Son of man," that is, when you shall have fastened me to the wood of the cross, "then you shall know" — namely, some of you, through faith; below, John 12:32: "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself." Now the reason, according to Augustine, that he calls to mind the passion of the cross is so as to give hope to sinners, namely so that no one, however conscious of guilt from whatever crime, might despair, since those who crucified Christ are themselves freed from sins through the blood of Christ. For there is no one so great a sinner that he cannot be freed through the blood of Christ. Or, according to Chrysostom, "when you shall have lifted up the Son of man" — namely on the cross — "then you shall know," that is, you will be able to know what sort I am, not only through the glory of my resurrection, but also through the punishment of your captivity and destruction. Now as to the second, he teaches three things to be believed concerning himself. First, the majesty of his divinity; second, his origin from the Father; third, his inseparability from the Father. The majesty of his divinity indeed, when he says "that I am"; that is, I have in me the nature of God, and I am he who spoke to Moses, saying: "I am who am." But because the whole Trinity pertains to being itself, therefore, lest the distinction of persons be excluded, he next teaches that his origin from the Father is to be believed, when he says, "And of myself I do nothing; but as the Father has taught me, these things I speak." But because Jesus began to do and to teach, therefore he designates his origin from the Father in two respects: namely in the things which he does, whence he says, "And of myself I do nothing" (above, John 5:19: "The Son cannot do anything of himself"), and in the things which he teaches, whence he says, "But as the Father has taught me"; that is, he handed on knowledge by begetting me knowing. For since the nature of truth is simple, for the Son to be is the same as to know; and thus just as the Father, by begetting, gave the Son that he might be, so by begetting he gave him that he might know; above, John 7:16: "My doctrine is not mine." And lest it be understood that he was sent by the Father as though distinct from him, therefore third he teaches that his inseparability from the Father is to be believed, when he says, "And he who sent me" — namely the Father — "is with me," through unity of essence; below, John 14:10: "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me." Likewise through the conjunction of love; above, John 5:20: "The Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does." And thus the Father sent the Son in such a way that he did not depart from him. Hence it follows, "and he has not left me alone," because his affection is fixed upon me. But although both are together, nevertheless one was sent, and the other sent: because the mission is the incarnation, which indeed belongs to the Son alone, and not to the Father. Now that he has not left me is evident from a sign, "because I do always the things that are pleasing to him"; which indeed is set down not as a meritorious cause, but as a sign; as if he were to say: this very fact, that I always do, without beginning, without end, the things that are pleasing to him, is a sign that he is always with me, and has not left me; Proverbs 8:30: "I was with him forming all things." Or otherwise: "he has not left me," that is, as man, by protecting me, because I always do the things that are pleasing to him. And according to this he states a meritorious cause. Next, when he says, "As he spoke these things, many believed in him," the effect of his teaching is set forth, which is the conversion of many to faith from hearing the teaching of Christ; Romans 10:17: "Faith then comes by hearing; and hearing by the word of Christ."”

“Christ here gives fair warning to the careless unbelieving Jews to consider what would be the consequence of their infidelity, that they might prevent it before it was too late; for he spoke words of terror as well as words of grace. Observe here, I. The wrath threatened (Joh 8:21): Jesus said again unto them that which might be likely to do them good. He continued to teach, in kindness to those few who received his doctrine, though there were many that resisted it, which is an example to ministers to go on with their work, notwithstanding opposition, because a remnant shall be saved. Here Christ changes his voice; he had piped to them in the offers of his grace, and they had not danced; now he mourns to them in the denunciations of his wrath, to try if they would lament. He said, I go my way, and you shall seek me, and shall die in your sins. Whither I go you cannot come. Every word is terrible, and bespeaks spiritual judgments, which are the sorest of all judgments; worse than war, pestilence, and captivity, which the Old Testament prophets denounced. Four things are here threatened against the Jews. 1. Christ's departure from them: I go my way, that is, "It shall not be long before I go; you need not take so much pains to drive me from you, I shall go of myself." They said to him, Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways; and he takes them at their word; but woe to those from whom Christ departs. Ichabod, the glory is gone, our defence is departed, when Christ goes. Christ frequently warned them of his departure before he left them: he bade often farewell, as one loth to depart, and willing to be invited, and that would have them stir up themselves to take hold on him. 2. Their enmity to the true Messiah, and their fruitless and infatuated enquiries after another Messiah when he was gone away, which were both their sin and their punishment: You shall seek me, which intimates either, (1.) Their enmity to the true Christ: "You shall seek to ruin my interest, by persecuting my doctrine and followers, with a fruitless design to root them out." This was a continual vexation and torment to themselves, made them incurably ill-natured, and brought wrath upon them (God's and their own) to the uttermost. Or, (2.) Their enquiries after false Christs: "You shall continue your expectations of the Messiah, and be the self-perplexing seekers of a Christ to come, when he is already come;" like the Sodomites, who, being struck with blindness, wearied themselves to find the door. See Rom 9:31, Rom 9:32. 3. Their final impenitency: You shall die in your sins. Here is an error in all our English Bibles, even the old bishops' translation, and that of Geneva (the Rhemists only excepted), for all the Greek copies have it in the singular number, en tē hamartia humōn - in your sin, so all the Latin versions; and Calvin has a note upon the difference between this and Joh 8:24, where it is plural, tais hamartiais, that here it is meant especially of the sin of unbelief, in hoc peccato vestro - in this sin of yours. Note, Those that live in unbelief are for ever undone if they die in unbelief. Or, it may be understood in general, You shall die in your iniquity, as Eze 3:19, and Eze 33:9. Many that have long lived in sin are, through grace, saved by a timely repentance from dying in sin; but for those who go out of this world of probation into that of retribution under the guilt of sin unpardoned, and the power of sin unbroken, there remaineth no relief: salvation itself cannot save them, Job 20:11; Eze 32:27. 4. Their eternal separation from Christ and all happiness in him: Whither I go you cannot come. When Christ left the world, he went to a state of perfect happiness; he went to paradise. Thither he took the penitent thief with him, that did not die in his sins; but the impenitent not only shall not come to him, but they cannot; it is morally impossible, for heaven would not be heaven to those that die unsanctified and unmeet for it. You cannot come, because you have no right to enter into that Jerusalem, Rev 22:14. Whither I go you cannot come, to fetch me thence, so Dr. Whitby; and the same is the comfort of all good Christians, that, when they get to heaven, they will be out of the reach of their enemies' malice. II. The jest they made of this threatening. Instead of trembling at this word, they bantered it, and turned it into ridicule (Joh 8:22): Will he kill himself? See here, 1. What slight thoughts they had of Christ's threatenings; they could make themselves and one another merry with them, as those that mocked the messengers of the Lord, and turned the burden of the word of the Lord into a by-word, and precept upon precept, line upon line, into a merry song, Isa 28:13. But be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong. 2. What ill thoughts they had of Christ's meaning, as if he had an inhuman design upon his own life, to avoid the indignities done him, like Saul. This is indeed (say they) to go whither we cannot follow him, for we will never kill ourselves. Thus they make him not only such a one as themselves, but worse; yet in the calamities brought by the Romans upon the Jews many of them in discontent and despair did kill themselves. They had put a much more favourable construction upon this word of his (Joh 7:34, Joh 7:35): Will he go to the dispersed among the Gentiles? But see how indulged malice grows more and more malicious. III. The confirmation of what he had said. 1. He had said, Whither I go you cannot come, and here he gives the reason for this (Joh 8:23): You are from beneath, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. You are ek tōn katō - of those things which are beneath; noting, not so much their rise from beneath as their affection to these lower things: "You are in with these things, as those that belong to them; how can you come where I go, when your spirit and disposition are so directly contrary to mine?" See here, (1.) What the spirit of the Lord Jesus was - not of this world, but from above. He was perfectly dead to the wealth of the world, the ease of the body, and the praise of men, and was wholly taken up with divine and heavenly things; and none shall be with him but those who are born from above and have their conversation in heaven. (2.) How contrary to this their spirit was: "You are from beneath, and of this world." The Pharisees were of a carnal worldly spirit; and what communion could Christ have with them? 2. He had said, You shall die in your sins, and here he stand to it: "Therefore I said, You shall die in your sins, because you are from beneath;" and he gives this further reason for it, If you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins, Joh 8:24. See here, (1.) What we are required to believe: that I am he, hoti egō eimi - that I am, which is one of God's names, Exo 3:14. It was the Son of God that there said, Ehejeh asher Ehejeh - I will be what I will be; for the deliverance of Israel was but a figure of good things to come, but now he saith, "I am he; he that should come, he that you expect the Messias to be, that you would have me to be to you. I am more than the bare name of the Messiah; I do not only call myself so, but I am he." True faith does not amuse the soul with an empty sound of words, but affects it with the doctrine of Christ's mediation, as a real thing that has real effects. (2.) How necessary it is that we believe this. If we have not this faith, we shall die in our sins; for the matter is so settled that without this faith, [1.] We cannot be saved from the power of sin while we live, and therefore shall certainly continue in it to the last. Nothing but the doctrine of Christ's grace will be an argument powerful enough, and none but the Spirit of Christ's grace will be an agent powerful enough, to turn us from sin to God; and that Spirit is given, and that doctrine given, to be effectual to those only who believe in Christ: so that, if Satan be not by faith dispossessed, he has a lease of the soul for its life; if Christ do not cure us, our case is desperate, and we shall die in our sins. [2.] Without faith we cannot be saved from the punishment of sin when we die, for the wrath of God remains upon them that believe not, Mar 16:16. Unbelief is the damning sin; it is a sin against the remedy. Now this implies the great gospel promise: If we believe that Christ is he, and receive him accordingly, we shall not die in our sins. The law saith absolutely to all, as Christ said (Joh 8:21), You shall die in your sins, for we are all guilty before God; but the gospel is a defeasance of the obligation upon condition of believing. The curse of the law is vacated and annulled to all that submit to the grace of the gospel. Believers die in Christ, in his love, in his arms, and so are saved from dying in their sins. IV. Here is a further discourse concerning himself, occasioned by his requiring faith in himself as the condition of salvation, Joh 8:25-29. Observe, 1. The question which the Jews put to him (Joh 8:25): Who art thou? This they asked tauntingly, and not with any desire to be instructed. he had said, You must believe that I am he. By his not saying expressly who he was, he plainly intimated that in his person he was such a one as could not be described by any, and in his office such a one as was expected by all that looked for redemption in Israel; yet this awful manner of speaking, which had so much significancy in it, they turned to his reproach, as if he knew not what to say of himself: "Who art thou, that we must with an implicit faith believe in thee, that thou art some mighty HE, we know not who or what, nor are worthy to know?" 2. His answer to this question, wherein he directs them three ways for information: - (1.) He refers them to what he had said all along: "Do you ask who I am? Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning." The original here is a little intricate, tēn archēn ho ti kai lalō humin which some read thus: I am the beginning, which also I speak unto you. So Austin takes it. Christ is called Archē - the beginning (Col 1:18; Rev 1:8; Rev 21:6; Rev 3:14), and so it agrees with Joh 8:24, I am he. Compare Isa 41:4 : I am the first, I am he. Those who object that it is the accusative case, and therefore not properly answering to tis ei, must undertake to construe by grammar rules that parallel expression, Rev 1:8, ho ēn. But most interpreters agree with our version, Do you ask who I am? [1.] I am the same that I said to you from the beginning of time in the scriptures of the Old Testament, the same that from the beginning was said to be the Seed of the woman, that should break the serpent's head, the same that in all the ages of the church was the Mediator of the covenant, and the faith of the patriarchs. [2.] From the beginning of my public ministry. The account he had already given of himself he resolved to abide by; he had declared himself to be the Son of God (Joh 5:17), to be the Christ (Joh 4:26), and the bread of life, and had proposed himself as the object of that faith which is necessary to salvation, and to this he refers them for an answer to their question. Christ is one with himself; what he had said from the beginning, he saith still. His is an everlasting gospel. (2.) He refers them to his Father's judgment, and the instructions he had from him (Joh 8:26): "I have many things, more than you think of, to say, and in them to judge of you. But why should I trouble myself any further with you? I know very well that he who sent me is true, and will stand by me, and bear me out, for I speak to the world (to which I am sent as an ambassador) those things, all those and those only, which I have heard of him." Here, [1.] He suppresses his accusation of them. He had many things to charge them with, and many evidences to produce against them; but for the present he had said enough. Note, Whatever discoveries of sin are made to us, he that searches the heart has still more to judge of us, Jo1 3:20. How much soever God reckons with sinners in this world there is still a further reckoning yet behind, Deu 32:34. Let us learn hence not to be forward to say all we can say, even against the worst of men; we may have many things to say, by way of censure, which yet it is better to leave unsaid, for what is it to us? [2.] He enters his appeal against them to his Father: He that sent me. Here two things comfort him: - First, That he had been true to his Father, and to the trust reposed in him: I speak to the world (for his gospel was to be preached to every creature) those things which I have heard of him. Being given for a witness to the people (Isa 55:4), he was Amen, a faithful witness, Rev 3:14. He did not conceal his doctrine, but spoke it to the world (being of common concern, it was to be of common notice); nor did he change or alter it, nor vary from the instructions he received from him that sent him. Secondly, That his Father would be true to him; true to the promise that he would make his mouth like a sharp sword; true to his purpose concerning him, which was a decree (Psa 2:7); true to the threatenings of his wrath against those that should reject him. Though he should not accuse them to his Father, yet the Father, who sent him, would undoubtedly reckon with them, and would be true to what he had said (Deu 18:19), that whosoever would not hearken to that prophet whom God would raise up he would require it of him. Christ would not accuse them; "for," saith he, "he that sent me is true, and will pass judgment on them, though I should not demand judgment against them." Thus, when he lets fall the present prosecution, he binds them over to the judgment-day, when it will be too late to dispute what they will not now be persuaded to believe. I, as a deaf man, heard not; for thou wilt hear, Psa 38:13, Psa 38:15. Upon this part of our Saviour's discourse the evangelist has a melancholy remark (Joh 8:27): They understood not that he spoke to them of the Father. See here, 1. The power of Satan to blind the minds of those who believe not. Though Christ spoke so plainly of God as his Father in heaven, yet they did not understand whom he meant, but thought he spoke of some father he had in Galilee. Thus the plainest things are riddles and parables to those who are resolved to hold fast their prejudices; day and night are alike to the blind. 2. The reason why the threatenings of the word make so little impression upon the minds of sinners; it is because they understand not whose the wrath is that is revealed in them. When Christ told them of the truth of him that sent him, as a warning to them to prepare for his judgment, which is according to truth, they slighted the warning, because they understood not to whose judgment it was that they made themselves obnoxious. (3.) He refers them to their own convictions hereafter, Joh 8:28, Joh 8:29. He finds they will not understand him, and therefore adjourns the trial till further evidence should come in; they that will not see shall see, Isa 26:11. Now observe here, [1.] What they should ere long be convinced of: "You shall know that I am he, that Jesus is the true Messiah. Whether you will own it or no before men, you shall be made to know it in your own consciences, the convictions of which, though you may stifle, yet you cannot baffle: that I am he, not that you represent me to be, but he that I preach myself to be, he that should come!" Two things they should be convinced of, in order to this: - First, That he did nothing of himself, not of himself as man, of himself alone, of himself without the Father, with whom he was one. He does not hereby derogate from his own inherent power, but only denies their charge against him as a false prophet; for of false prophets it is said that they prophesied out of their own hearts, and followed their own spirits. Secondly, That as his Father taught him so he spoke these things, that he was not autodidaktos - selftaught, but Theodidaktos - taught of God. The doctrine he preached was the counterpart of the counsels of God, with which he was intimately acquainted; kathōs edidaxe, tauta lalō - I speak those things, not only which he taught me, but as he taught me, with the same divine power and authority. [2.] When they should be convinced of this: When you have lifted up the Son of man, lifted him up upon the cross, as the brazen serpent upon the pole (Joh 3:14), as the sacrifices under the law (for Christ is the great sacrifice), which, when they were offered, were said to be elevated, or lifted up; hence the burnt-offerings, the most ancient and honourable of all, were called elevations (Gnoloth from Gnolah, asendit - he ascended), and in many other offerings they used the significant ceremony of heaving the sacrifice up, and moving it before the Lord; thus was Christ lifted up. Or the expression denotes that his death was his exaltation. They that put him to death thought thereby for ever to have sunk him and his interest, but it proved to be the advancement of both, Joh 12:24. When the Son of man was crucified, the Son of man was glorified. Christ had called his dying his going away; here he calls it his being lifted up; thus the death of the saints, as it is their departure out of this world, so it is their advancement to a better. Observe, He speaks of those he is now talking with as the instruments of his death: when you have lifted up the Son of man; not that they were to be the priests to offer him up (no, that was his own act, he offered up himself), but they would be his betrayers and murderers; see Act 2:23. They lifted him up to the cross, but then he lifted up himself to his Father. Observe with what tenderness and mildness Christ here speaks to those who he certainly knew would put him to death, to teach us not to hate or seek the hurt of any, though we may have reason to think they hate us and seek our hurt. Now, Christ speaks of his death as that which would be a powerful conviction of the infidelity of the Jews. When you have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know this. And why then? First, Because careless and unthinking people are often taught the worth of mercies by the want of them, Luk 17:22. Secondly, The guilt of their sin in putting Christ to death would so awaken their consciences that they would be put upon serious enquiries after a Saviour, and then would know that Jesus was he who alone could save them. And so it proved, when, being told that with wicked hands they had crucified and slain the Son of God, they cried out, What shall we do? and were made to know assuredly that this Jesus was Lord and Christ, Act 2:36. Thirdly, There would be such signs and wonders attending his death, and the lifting of him up from death in his resurrection, as would give a stronger proof of his being the Messiah than any that had been yet given: and multitudes were hereby brought to believe that Jesus is the Christ, who had before contradicted and opposed him. Fourthly, By the death of Christ the pouring out of the Spirit was purchased, who would convince the world that Jesus is he, Joh 16:7, Joh 16:8. Fifthly, The judgments which the Jews brought upon themselves, by putting Christ to death, which filled up the measure of their iniquity, were a sensible conviction to the most hardened among them that Jesus was he. Christ had often foretold that desolation as the just punishment of their invincible unbelief, and when it came to pass (lo, it did come) they could not but know that the great prophet had been among them, Eze 33:33. [3.] What supported our Lord Jesus in the mean time (Joh 8:29): He that sent me is with me, in my whole undertaking; for the Father (the fountain and first spring of this affair, from whom as its great cause and author it is derived) hath not left me alone, to manage it myself, hath not deserted the business nor me in the prosecution of it, for do I always those things that please him. Here is, First, The assurance which Christ had of his Father's presence with him, which includes both a divine power going along with him to enable him for his work, and a divine favour manifested to him to encourage him in it. He that sent me is with me, Isa 42:1; Psa 89:21. This greatly emboldens our faith in Christ and our reliance upon his word that he had, and knew he had, his Father with him, to confirm the word of his servant, Isa 44:26. The King of kings accompanied his own ambassador, to attest his mission and assist his management, and never left him alone, either solitary or weak; it also aggravated the wickedness of those that opposed him, and was an intimation to them of the premunire they ran themselves into by resisting him, for thereby they were found fighters against God. How easily soever they might think to crush him and run him down, let them know he had one to back him with whom it is the greatest madness that can be to contend. Secondly, The ground of this assurance: For I do always those things that please him. That is, 1. That great affair in which our Lord Jesus was continually engaged was an affair which the Father that sent him was highly well pleased with. His whole undertaking is called the pleasure of the Lord (Isa 53:10), because of the counsels of the eternal mind about it, and the complacency of the eternal mind in it. 2. His management of that affair was in nothing displeasing to his Father; in executing his commission he punctually observed all his instructions, and did in nothing vary from them. No mere man since the fall could say such a word as this (for in many things we offend all) but our Lord Jesus never offended his Father in any thing, but, as became him, he fulfilled all righteousness. This was necessary to the validity and value of the sacrifice he was to offer up; for if he had in any thing displeased the Father himself, and so had had any sin of his own to answer for, the Father could not have been pleased with him as a propitiation for our sins; but such a priest and such a sacrifice became us as was perfectly pure and spotless. We may likewise learn hence that God's servants may then expect God's presence with them when they choose and do those things that please him, Isa 66:4, Isa 66:5. V. Here is the good effect which this discourse of Christ's had upon some of his hearers (Joh 8:30): As he spoke these words many believed on him. Note, 1. Though multitudes perish in their unbelief, yet there is a remnant according to the election of grace, who believe to the saving of the soul. If Israel, the whole body of the people, be not gathered, yet there are those of them in whom Christ will be glorious, Isa 49:5. This the apostle insists upon, to reconcile the Jews' rejection with the promises made unto their fathers. There is a remnant, Rom 11:5. 2. The words of Christ, and particularly his threatening words, are made effectual by the grace of God to bring in poor souls to believe in him. When Christ told them that if they believed not they should die in their sins, and never get to heaven, they thought it was time to look about them, Rom 1:16, Rom 1:18. 3. Sometimes there is a wide door opened, and an effectual one, even where they are many adversaries. Christ will carry on his work, though the heathen rage. The gospel sometimes gains great victories where it meets with great opposition. Let this encourage God's ministers to preach the gospel, though it be with much contention, for they shall not labour in vain. Many may be secretly brought home to God by those endeavours which are openly contradicted and cavilled at by men of corrupt minds. Austin has an affectionate ejaculation in his lecture upon these words: Utinam et, me loquenti, multi credant; non in me, sed mecum in eo - I wish that when I speak, many may believe, not on me, but with me on him.”

“And he said unto them,.... Upon this wicked remark of theirs, and query on his words: ye are from beneath: not only of the earth, earthy, and so spoke of the earth, and as carnal men; but even of hell, they were the children of the devil; they breathed his Spirit, spoke his language, and did his lusts, as in Joh 8:44. I am from above; not with respect to his human body, which he did not bring with him from heaven, that was formed below, in the Virgin's womb; otherwise he would not have been the seed of the woman, the son of Abraham, David, and Mary: but either with regard to his divine nature and person, he was of God, the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, who then lay in his bosom, and was in heaven above at that time; or to his mission, which was from heaven. Ye are of this world; they were, as they were born into the world, sinful, carnal, and corrupt; they were in it, and belonged to it, had never been chosen, or called out of it; they had their conversation according to the course of it, and conformed to its evil customs and manners; they were under the influence of the God of the world, and were taken with the sinful and sensual lasts thereof; they were men of worldly spirits; they minded earth, and earthly things, and had their portion in this world, and might be truly called the men of it. I am not of this world; he was in it, but not of it; he was come into it to save the chief of sinners, but he did not belong to it, nor did he conform to it; for though he conversed with sinners, ate with them, and received them, being called to repentance by him; yet he was separate from them, and did not as they did: nor did he pursue the pleasures, honours, and riches of this world, being all his days a man of sorrows, and despised of men; and though Lord of all, had not where to lay his head.”