John 8:21

John 8:21. He said therefore again unto them, I go, and ye shall seek me, and in your sin ye shall die: whither I go, ye cannot come. The conflict of Jesus with His opponents has now passed into a higher stage. It is no longer with the Pharisees merely (John 8:13), but with the Jews (John 8:22). The witness, too, which Jesus now bears regarding Himself has reference to the last things, both for Himself and for them. It is vain however to inquire when the discourse was thus continued: the bond is one rather of thought than of date. The main object of these words is judgment: hence Jesus does not linger on the thought of His own departure, but on that of the fate awaiting them. The time will come when they will seek Him, but in vain. He is not speaking of the seeking of faith or of repentance, but (as before in chap. John 7:34) of the awakening (too late) to need and danger, an awakening not accompanied by the forsaking of sin, for He adds, ‘in your sin' (i.e. your state of sin, comp. John 8:24) ‘ye shall die.'