John 8:22

"The Jews therefore said." Here the second point is touched upon, namely, on account of the Jews' doubt, the exposition of the threat. For they doubted concerning what He had said: "Where I go, you cannot come": therefore they say: "Will He kill Himself, because …

Then said the Jews, will he kill himself?....

This passage contains deep things, so deep that we have no line to fathom them. As we read it we should call to mind the Psalmist's words—"Your thoughts are very deep." (Psalm 92:5.) But it also contains, in the opening verses, some things which are clear, plain, and unmistakable. To these let us give our attention and root them firmly in our hearts. We learn, for one thing, that it is possible to seek Christ in vain. Our Lord says to the unbelieving Jews, "You shall seek Me, and shall die in your sins." He meant, by these words, that the Jews would one day seek Him in vain. The lesson before us is a very painful one. That such a Savior as the Lord Jesus, so full of love, so willing to save, should ever be sought "in vain," is a sorrowful thought. Yet so it is! A man may have many religious feelings about Christ, without any saving religion. Sickness, sudden affliction, the fear of death, the failure of usual sources of comfort—all these causes may draw out of a man a good deal of "religiousness." Under the immediate pressure of these he may say his prayers fervently, exhibit a strong spiritual feelings, and profess for a season to "seek Christ," and be a different man. And yet all this time his heart may never be touched at all! Take away the peculiar circumstances that affected him, and he may possibly return at once to his old ways. He sought Christ "in vain," because he sought Him from false motives, and not with his whole heart. Unhappily this is not all. There is such a thing as a settled habit of resisting light and knowledge, until we seek Christ "in vain." Scripture and experience alike prove that men may reject God until God rejects them, and will not hear their prayer. They may go on stifling their convictions, quenching the light of conscience, fighting against their own better knowledge, until God is provoked to give them over and let them alone.

This passage contains deep things, so deep that we have no line to fathom them. As we read it we should call to mind the Psalmist's words—"Your thoughts are very deep." (Psalm 92:5.) But it also contains, in the opening verses, some things which are clear, plain, and unmistakable. To these let us give our attention and root them firmly in our hearts. We learn, for one thing, that it is possible to seek Christ in vain. Our Lord says to the unbelieving Jews, "You shall seek Me, and shall die in your sins."

Will he kill himself? - It is difficult to know whether this question was asked from ignorance or malice. Self-murder was esteemed then, as it is now, as one of the greatest crimes; and it is not improbable that they asked this question with mingled hatred and contempt. “He is a deceiver; he has broken the law of Moses; he is mad, and it is probable he will go on and kill himself.” If this was their meaning, we see the wonderful patience of Jesus in enduring the contradiction of sinners; and as he bore contempt without rendering railing for railing, so should we.