24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins."
Bold and clear Words from our Savior’s lips to the religious Pharisees – and for that matter, all other human beings as well - rejection of the Sin-Bearer will continue to leave one in the realm of their sinful nature. Powerfully and forcibly wielding the sword and cutting straight to the heart of the matter, Jesus states we will die in our sins if we do not believe - the root of all of one’s misery grounded deeply in unbelief. All sin eventually ends in misery and death. Indeed, when God gave the command to Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He follows it with this sentence:
17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Gen 2:17 (NIV)
While there was no instantaneous physical death, there was certain death in relationship. No longer were they free to walk in the garden with God in the cool of the day – banished forever from God’s oasis of Eden, the wonderfully pleasing and soul satisfying representation of heaven on earth – sadly, instead opening up for themselves and for us as well the proverbial can of the way to empty living.
“Nothing teaches us so much the preciousness of the Creator, as when we learn the emptiness of all besides.” C. H. Spurgeon
The Pharisees were not too unlike our first father Adam - by clinging to worthless idols and forfeiting the grace that could be theirs, they turn from Jesus, their only hope for salvation. The Baptist had already testified regarding Jesus’ identity earlier in John:
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 (NIV)
Peter puts it in the following way:
17 Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1:17-21 (NIV)
The writer of Hebrews expands on this thought:
13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! Heb 9:13-14 (NIV)
Jesus’ words were endowed with peculiar solemnity - He being the One who lays down His life for His sheep. The loving, compassionate, merciful and gracious Savior and Friend of sinners in our verse for today, speaks to us Words that can be trusted – even though seemingly harsh and unkind. They appear to me to be as a lighthouse in the midst of a dense fog warning travelers of impending doom. It is rather most unkind not to warn or speak of hell or future punishment when one knows full well the Remedy. We can be assured that just as there is an eternal heaven for the believer in Christ there is also an eternal hell for those who turn their backs on Him.
“Let us rather maintain that it is the highest love to warn men plainly of danger, and to beseech them to ‘flee from the wrath to come.’ It was Satan, the deceiver, murderer, and liar, who said to Eve in the beginning, ‘Ye shall not surely die.’ (Genesis 3:4). To shrink from telling men, that except they believe they will ‘die in their sins,’ may please the devil, but surely it cannot please God.” J. C. Ryle