BIBLE LESSON

“I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.”

— John 8:24

When Jesus told the religious leaders that He was going away and they could not go where He was going, they asked contemptuously, “Is He going to kill himself?” They thought those who killed themselves went to the lowest place in hell, and they thought Jesus should go to hell, too. They also thought they could never go there. In reply, Jesus told them that they would die in their sins. Jesus knew they would never believe what He taught about himself or believe in Him; so, they would die in their sins. They would die before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, during its destruction, or soon thereafter.

Because they would die in their sins, they could not go where Jesus was going — back to His Father in heaven. Jesus told them why they would die in their sins, saying, “you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am.” Using the Greek language of Jesus' day, one could simply say with one word, “I am,” or for emphasis use two words.

When Jesus applied God's name to himself, Jesus used two words with the emphasis on “I.” Rather than preserve precisely only the two Greek words in English translation, the footnotes of most English Bibles show that English translators added “he” in italics after “I am.” In addition to applying God's name to himself, in John 8:29, Jesus claimed to be perfect, for He said that He always did what was pleasing to His Father who sent Him. Jesus always pleases His Father whenever He gives eternal life to those who believe in Him.