BIG IDEA:
DESPITE REPEATED REVELATION, THE IDENTITY OF JESUS REMAINS AN ENIGMA TO THOSE BLINDED BY SIN
INTRODUCTION:
How should our witness be impacted by those who simply don’t get the message? Do we experience frustration when we try to explain Who Jesus is and are met with blank stares? It is important that we persevere in continuing to proclaim the good news.
I. (:21-24) THE DESTINY FOR UNBELIEVERS IS DEATH BECAUSE OF SIN
A. (:21) Departure of Christ Creates Crisis of Urgency Regarding Discipleship –
Will burst their bubble of Pride
“I go away, and you shall seek Me, and shall die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.”
Ryle: It is possible to seek Christ in vain.
Hendriksen: In their death they will experience no comfort and no peace of any kind, only dark despair. The One whom they have rejected will not be present to help them in their need. In their sin – all their sins viewed collectively, but separately in verse 24 (sins) – they will die. The wrath of God resting upon them, they will go to the place of everlasting perdition. They cannot go where Jesus is going; namely, to the Father.
B. (:22) Heaven is Beyond the Grasp of the Mind in Bondage to Sin
“Therefore the Jews were saying, ‘Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, Where I am going, you cannot come?’”
C. (:23) The Kingdom of This World and the Kingdom of Heaven are Mutually Exclusive
“And He was saying to them, ‘You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.”
D. (:24) Death Because of Sin is the Only Option Apart from Faith in Christ as the Son of God
“I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins.”
II. (:25-26) LACK OF REVELATION IS NOT THE PROBLEM
A. (:25a) Blinded Minds Simply Don’t Get It –
They still ask the same old question
“And so they were saying to Him, ‘Who are You?’”
B. (:25b) Repeated Revelation Not the Answer –
Despite the supreme quality of the Revealer
“Jesus said to them, ‘What have I been saying to you from the beginning?’”
C. (:26) Continued Revelation is Still the Mission —
Ministry of Jesus Not Short Circuited by Spiritual Blindness
“I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these things I speak to the world.”
III. (:27-29) THE CRUCIFIXION WILL SHOW JESUS’ CONNECTION TO GOD THE FATHER
A. (:27) Foggy Haze – Missing The Connection Between the Son and the Heavenly Father
“They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father.”
B. (:28) Missing Link – The Crucifixion Will Help Make That Connection
1. Certainty of the Crucifixion
“When you lift up the Son of Man”
But it will be too late at that time for them to benefit from this understanding. The idea here in this passage is that they are doomed because of their blindness. It will be a harsh reality that hits them at some point in the future.
2. Significance of the Crucifixion
“then you will know:”
a. His Identity
“that I am He”
b. His Dependence Upon the Father
“and I do nothing on My own initiative,”
c. His Revelation From the Father
“but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.”
C. (:29) Blessed Union
1. Powerful Union
“And He who sent Me is with Me”
2. Permanent Union
“He has not left Me alone”
3. Pleasing Union
“for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him”
(:30) CONCLUSION:
“As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.”