"He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?"
To the Pharisees there didn't seem to be any other options, besides places on earth to which they could follow him, and his death, where they could not. They could not see beyond the horizon of what was below. But Jesus was from above, and only he could lead others to where he was going. His power would allow others to be born from above so that they too did not belong to this world.
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you (see John 15:19).
The Pharisees who would not believe in him and follow after him would die in their sins. Although they could not see beyond the horizon of death, Jesus could. He saw the two possible ultimate destinies for women and men and revealed them, as if to say, "choose life, that you and your offspring may live" (see Deuteronomy 30:19).
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.
The default condition of the human race since the fall of Adam was spiritual death. But God provided the possibility of salvation in Jesus Christ. In order to avail oneself of it one would necessarily need to believe in him. If one refused to acknowledge that the rescue craft was real, what alternative was there but to drown? If one chose to remain in a place of slavery even while a hero was all around him setting prisoners free, how could he expect his condition to change? But of course, they refused to acknowledge their predicament. They told themselves that they were never slaves of anyone (see John 8:33), which, based on the history of Israel, was pretty far-fetched. They did not realize that the rain had already begun, the flood was imminent, and that only the ark provided by God could sustain them. God might well rescue captives who didn't know better but desired to be rescued. He might well throw life preservers to those who were unaware of his ark. But he would not force anyone against his will.
So they said to him, "Who are you?"
Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world."
They hadn't been listening or they wouldn't have needed to ask. They hadn't heard because they did not want to hear. But that didn't change the truth of what Jesus said, or the reason why he said it. They were invested in this world, and closed to what was above. But Jesus came from above to reveal the Father, whom they claimed to desire to know. If Jesus was not in unity with the Father they might have grounds to mistrust him. But he came only to say exactly what he heard from the Father. There was no possibility of error or deception because he was the very Word of the one who was himself Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.
So Jesus said to them,
"When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
If Jesus wanted to persuade the Pharisees one might imagine many different methods he might try, from mighty deeds, to persuasive arguments. But who would have guessed that the method he would use to give the fullest revelation of himself and his connection to the Father was the cross? How could the great I AM succumb to death, apparently forsaken by the Father? But that was only the earthly way of looking at it. In truth, who else but the Son of the Father could so perfectly fulfill the Father's will? Who else could demonstrate such perfect and complete love for the Father and for the world? None else but the Son. It's hard for us to imagine anything except tragedy and sorrow in connection to the cross. But Jesus saw it as something else, being lifted up, that is, exultation. And why? Because it was precisely in handing himself over for our sake that his divinity was more perfectly revealed. There were in fact some few who saw the events of that dark hour, who looked on him whom they had pierced, and recognized this exultation.
When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (see Matthew 27:54).
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