What Does Jesus Mean When He Says, “You Will Look for Me and Die in Your Sins?

Question: In John 8:21 Jesus says “…you will look for me, and you will die in your sin.” I am deeply confused by this verse as it appears to be saying they will search for Jesus, but die from lack of salvation. This, therefore, seems to imply that some who search earnestly for salvation through Jesus will not find it.

I have read several commentaries in an attempt to understand this verse, but I am still at a loss. The commentaries seem to all assert that Jesus was saying they would search for the Messiah, but having rejected the true Messiah they would not receive salvation. They say that Jesus explains his statement further in v24, but I don’t see any evidence to suggest that.

In v21 Jesus clearly states, “you will look for me and you will die in your sin”. There is no “if you do not believe” attached to his words. And later in v24 he repeats what he has said multiple times throughout the New Testament – that those who do not believe in him will die. I do not see any evidence to suggest v24 is a continuation or explanation of v21. Instead, it appears to be another retelling of his eternal warning.

Please help me understand. I am always wary of explaining away issues/questions I have with scripture through rationalization rather than truly looking at what the scripture says and trying to understand it for itself.

Answer: Let’s look at the passage in context:

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. (John 8:12-20)

John is giving us a real interaction of Jesus with religious leaders who were antagonistic toward him. They don’t want to believe in him. So they challenge him that he is only bearing witness about himself. He shouldn’t have to, but he asserts that the Father also bears witness to him, something these antagonists are fully aware of, because they have seen the miracles he has done, which are the stamp of approval the Father has put on him and his ministry. The antagonists would arrest him if they could, but God is not allowing them yet (they had sent officers to arrest Jesus, 7:32).

21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him. (John 8:21-30)

Jesus says he is going away, by which he means, these antagonists are going to have him killed. When he says they will seek him, he doesn’t mean they are going to sincerely and humbly seek to believe in him, he means they are going to seek him with some desperation at their circumstances, seek him as Messiah whom they have already rejected as such, but because of their unbelieving hearts they will die in their sin. Jesus opens the possibility that some might seek him genuinely when he says, in verse 24, that “unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” They can believe in him and not die in their sins. His warning is a challenge to them to not remain in hardened unbelief. It is similar to Jonah preaching God’s message in Nineveh that in forty days they would be destroyed, but the warning terrified them, and they repented and weren’t destroyed. Verse 24 tells them that Jesus doesn’t believe they are disposed to genuinely seeking him and so will die in their sins, but should they choose to believe they won’t die in their sins.