THE DESTINY OF JESUS.
John 7:32-36.
JOHN 7:32. “The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning Him; and the Pharisees and chief priests sent officers to take Him.”
More literally, “The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring.” In fact, the Pharisees heard exactly what the people were discussing among themselves concerning Jesus, even as they mingled with the crowd.
Then the Pharisees and the chief priests formed an unholy alliance and sent officers of the temple police to arrest Jesus.
JOHN 7:33. “Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto Him who sent me.”
The time was not yet, but Jesus was going back to His Father. Yet the timetable was His, not theirs.
JOHN 7:34. “Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.”
There is such a thing as seeking Jesus too late (cf. Proverbs 1:28). For many who lived then, the day of His visitation came and went, and yet still they were not saved. It is the same today: many will hear the gospel and refuse it, and discover too late that they were wrong.
Jesus spoke as God, in the present tense: “Where I AM, thither YE cannot come.” Unconverted men cannot enter heaven. Unbelieving men, too, who deny Jesus’ divinity.
JOHN 7:35. “Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will He go, that we shall not find Him? Will He go unto the dispersed among the Gentles, and teach the Gentiles?”
Literally, “Where is He about to go that we shall not find Him?” Was He about to go on a mission to the Jews of the dispersion, and even teach the Gentiles?
They had the right idea, but it was not about to happen as they may have thought. Jesus had such a mission, but first He must go to His Father through His death and resurrection, and ascension into heaven.
Then He would send the Holy Spirit, and the gospel would spread among the Jews first (cf. James 1:1), and then throughout the nations, from the time of the Apostles onward.
The people who asked, will He even “teach the Gentiles?” probably did so with a sneer. The opening of the door of salvation to the Gentiles was to be strongly opposed by some, as we read in the book of the Acts of the Apostles.
JOHN 7:36. “What manner of saying is this that He said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?”
People will always baulk at hard sayings. These people were suspicious of Jesus’ words, perhaps even wondering if He was about to break down the ‘middle wall of partition’ (Ephesians 2:14) between Jews and Gentiles.
He was, but again not necessarily in the way that they thought He meant (cf. Ephesians 2:13-18).
