John 8:21-22 One place I may not follow Jesus
Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?”
John 8:21-22 NKJV
Jesus said something very similar in John 7:33-34, and later to Peter in John 13:
“Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”
John 13:33, 36 NKJV
Where I go you cannot come
Jesus’ exchange with the Jews seems like it has a bite, “and you will die in your sin.” Yet, when I reread what he said with the recognition that he is the incarnation of pure love, there were no better, pragmatic words, for these ears. Why? Whether I recognize it or not, every person carries guilt, blame, and shame. Even the best, most sincere, kind-hearted among us has regret. Besides, sin has created an uncrossable chasm to God. Jesus offers a very real mental, physical, and spiritual release from it. Before he offered himself on the cross, that release came in the form of faith. After the cross, it was an actual weight lifted from my shoulders. The intersection of before and after was standing in front of them. Not only was their faith insufficient to provide that relief before, but their unwillingness to recognize who Jesus is would rob them of the real relief after sin’s penalty had been paid. So, in a very real sense, they would never experience real relief from sin. When they died, the very gift Jesus was offering them would remain unopened. They would die with the burden, weight, and guilt of sin — even though in fact it had already been paid for. What a shame!
In just about everything, Jesus is our example. We may emulate him and aspire to be like him. He is called Emmanuel, or God with us. Presence. Companionship. Fellowship. Friendship. I get the sense that he simply likes being together with me and enjoys my company. The pleasure of fellowship is programmed within man’s heart. When you love someone, you want to be with them. Yet here, almost sorrowfully, he says this is the one place you may not come. In being made into the likeness of sinful man, he became like me (rather than the other way around). He suffered and died, carrying the weight of my sin and suffering its penalty. The three days he spent in the grave was payment for my redemption, along with all of those who have been waiting for this day since Adam. But it’s a place we were never intended to be — separate from God. He made it clear: we may not follow him to this place.
Just like he experienced a separation from his Father, the disciples and even these Pharisees, would experience a separation from him. Something that would never be repeated—there is only one payment needed for sin.
In a similar context in John 13 he told Peter: “you will follow me later.” We would be rejoined, but only after paying the penalty for sin. The man of the earth will also become the man of heaven. The fallen has been redeemed! Corruption inherits incorruption. Where he is (now!) Peter and the disciples would be — following him there. Closeness. Nearness to his heart. Cradled in the love and the goodness of God and His kingdom never to be separated again. Never. Ever. (Enjoy His presence as you read this.)
Where did he go?
This is the question that the Pharisees asked, and later Peter. I’m not really sure. The reality is, it is tough to know with certainty but there are several clues listed in the epistles (which follow). One day I’m sure we’ll understand more fully. Trying to make sense of it today, I imagine that like all of the lambs sacrificed in the Old Testament or the scape goats sent away from the camp, sin required a sacrifice. It symbolized separation from Israel, and consequently, God. It is impossible for light and darkness to be together. Since Adam’s first sin and death, there seems to be a place where souls were held. In this prison away from the presence of God, they awaited the promise of redemption. There was a day the Christ would come and take them home. And it came during that fateful hour when his body died on the cross and his spirit descended to Sheol (often translated “hell”) carrying sin to the same place the others were. This is where Christ did NOT want us to follow him, a place we could not go for a few days.
The following are several places this event is described:
Having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, In which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
1Peter 3:18-22
For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.
1 Peter 4:6
This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people. (Why does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)”
Ephesians 4:8-10 (NIV)
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Colossians 2:13-16
Below is my personal doodles about where Christ’s journey through death took him. He “decended” in Ephesians 4:9, then ascended, or was “not abandoned in Sheol” in Psalm 16:10
Death and hell
The death of my physical body is not the end for me. From the very beginning, God understood that humans would fail and break relationship with Him. He had a plan early on for my redemption. He told Adam and Eve they would be saved. But until that price was actually paid and the redeeming accomplished, it was impossible to enjoy the presence of God, except by faith, until Christ. Jesus, who chose to offer himself, redeemed those in waiting. He snatched them from disaster and took them to paradise.
“You will die in your sin”
Why did Jesus say this? It’s ironic that Israel was God’s light-bearer and through this nation, the other nations of the world could be saved. He never wanted His goodness toward all to be bottled up in a little country in the Middle East. What they had should have been shared with all. Yet, the very salvation for which they held the key, the real lamb sacrifice that takes away sin, was standing in front of them in the man Jesus. The animal upon which they laid their sin and faith was simply a placeholder for the real thing. The real thing was standing there talking with them! Yet, they didn’t believe he was that lamb. As long as they would not or could not believe, the sad truth was that they would die not experiencing the release from sin.
“Will he kill himself?”
I really like what this question represents — a search for meaning. They didn’t understand and began questioning. Something didn’t make sense. When there are questions or when there is ambiguity, it is an invitation to seek, find, discover and know. Need speaks. When my curiosity is piqued, God delights in showing me more. But just like their unwillingness to believe was a veil over the Pharisees eyes, I too may have something in the way of understanding fully. It’s not just the answer that the Father wants me to have, but the wholeness of person that allows me to question, and seek to understand something, and so much more.
Will he kill himself? No, the Jews did a good job of doing that for him. Faith, whether pure or misdirected like the Pharisees, finds a way to express itself.