May 15, 2023

Hidden Death Within All

“So the Jews were saying, ‘Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, Where I am going, you cannot come’? 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. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.’” John 8:22-24 (NASB)

        One night while patrolling my zone, I received a call about a man in the woods and very sick. When the paramedics arrived, we went into the wooded area. We found a man in a sleeping bag who had been (with basically no other way to say it) throwing up his stomach. It was from a severe stomach ulcer. He had a long history of alcohol abuse and was now homeless. The paramedics knew this man from past encounters. They repeated a statement from the last ER doctor, “The doctor told you if you keep this up, you will die.” He refused to believe them. The man was transported again. I don’t know if he took another course in his life. I never saw him again. He heard the truth but failed to listen. It probably later cost him his life. The Jews knew the truth but would not change their course either. It probably cost them as well.   

        “So the Jews were saying, ‘Surely He will not kill Himself, will He,’” These statements were spoken in either confusion or more likely a mockery of Christ. Whatever way, it was with scorn for Jesus. “Jewish tradition condemned suicide as a particularly heinous sin that resulted in permanent banishment to the worst part of Hades (Josephus Wars iii.viii.5 [iii 375]).”[1] The self-righteous Jews said they wouldn’t be with Him in the future. To commit suicide was to condemn the person’s soul to Hades. If Jesus committed suicide, He went to Hades, and they in Heaven. Little did they know they would experience a reverse outcome. Jesus would return to Heaven, and they to Hades, the worst part. “Where I am going, you cannot come.” Of course this statement is true for all, throughout time. None can arrive in Heaven without God’s forgiveness, who makes them righteous. How? By faith. Because we are all born with the sin nature, we cannot go to the place Jesus said, “Where I am going.” Why? Because “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.” We were born into sin. We are from below in origin and nature. We are from the lower, sensual, earthly economy; He is from the Heavenly (James 3:15). The distinction is clear if you didn’t notice. “No man, therefore, will ever be qualified to become a disciple of Christ, till Christ has formed him by his Spirit. And hence it arises that faith is so seldom found in the world, because all mankind are naturally opposed and averse to Christ, except those whom he elevates by the special grace of his Holy Spirit.”[2] Such is true from John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” We must be born again, born of the Spirit. So what’s the answer to all this? Jesus leaves no doubt. “Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). 

        I have seen some really stubborn people in my life. You have too. Let us tell them the truth today. The world is not going to like it either, because truth comes from above and it comes from below. It is our responsibility to share it with all, even when they don’t want to hear the truth, even when it’s not popular. Do it because, The truth will set them free (John 8:31-32).

[1] (MacArthur, 1997), 1598.

[2] John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on the Gospel according to John, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 333.