John 8:22-25 - Who are you?

8:22-24

The Jews continue in their ignorance, failing to see what Jesus is saying. They wondered if Jesus was going to kill Himself. Jesus points out the fundamental difference between Himself and the Jews. They were of the world, He was from above. When we rebelled against God we became of the world, we were cut off from God. It is impossible from an earthly perspective to fully realise who Jesus is. Jesus was sent from above, from the Father, from beyond this world. In order to fully understand we need revelation from above. Then in verse 24 Jesus gives them hope. It is also a warning against interpreting any verse in the Bible in isolation. If we look at verse 21 on its own then they were done for without hope. That was not the case. They were done for if they persisted in their unbelief. The heart of the matter was that they need to believe in Jesus, and that is the heart of the matter for all of us.

8:25

“Who are you?” The Jews had no idea who Jesus was, no understanding at all. We are dead in our sins without Christ and cannot even recognise Him. Remember the great advantage that the Jews had. They had all the history, they had the Law, they had the years of study, they had the Son of God standing right there in front of them, they heard His teaching, they saw His miracles. Yet they did not know who He was. So how can anyone hope to believe in Jesus unless the Father draws him?

A common objection to the gospel is that it is unfair on those who haven’t heard. There are two things to say to this. The first is that the best thing we can do about this is to go and tell them. The second is that it is based on a false premise, namely that if only they heard then they could believe. But they are dead in their sin and would not believe. Now this most assuredly does not mean we should not tell. It is a clear command from God, and a clear expression of His will that we should go and tell, but the notion that some people will go to hell through the mere misfortune of not having heard the gospel is simply not true.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning”. This could also be translated “why do I bother continuing to speak to you”, but the translation in the NIV (and ESV) is probably preferable. From the beginning could refer to all the time Jesus has been with them, or could refer to right back to the time of Abraham.