John 8:22

22 Then the Jews said, Will he kill himself? because he says, Where I go, ye shall not be able to come.

John 8:22 Meaning and Commentary

John 8:22

Then said the Jews, will he kill himself?
&c.] Which was not only a wicked, but a foolish consequence, drawn from his words: for it by no means followed, because he was going away, and whither they could not come, that therefore he must destroy himself; this seems to be what they would have been glad he would have done, and suggested the thought that he might do it, in which they imitated Satan, ( Matthew 4:6 ) , under whose influence they now apparently were, and hoped that he would, which would at once extricate them out of their difficulties on his account:

because he sayeth, whither I go ye cannot come:
this is no reason at all; for had Christ's meaning been, as they blasphemously intimate, they might have destroyed themselves too, and have gone after him.

John 8:22 In-Context

20 Jesus spoke these words in the treasury as he taught in the temple, and no one laid hands on him, for his hour was not yet come.
21 Then Jesus said again unto them, I am going away, and ye shall seek me, but ye shall die in your sins; where I go, ye shall not be able to come.
22 Then the Jews said, Will he kill himself? because he says, Where I go, ye shall not be able to come.
23 And he said unto them, Ye are from below, I am from above; ye are of this world, I am not of this world.
24 Therefore I said unto you that ye shall die in your sins, for if ye do not believe that I AM, ye shall die in your sins.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010