Where Are You Going?

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come.”
So the Jews said,
“He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”
He said to them, “You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.”
So they said to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him.”
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him. - Jn. 8:21-30

Today's gospel is about Jesus confronting the Pharisees again. Even deeper though, is how misguided and confused the people by what Jesus said. He says that where he is going people won't be able to follow. They think he is talking about suicide, but he is talking about how he has to suffer and die for all mankind, a task that no mere mortal could do as well.

Jesus corrects them and once again explains that this is all because he receives his guidance and message directly from God. Unlike previous attempts at expressing this, Jesus seems to gain more followers this time.

Do we take the time to ask Jesus where he is going? Maybe we should. While we can't carry the weight of complete redemption for all mankind like Jesus, we can carry our own crosses beside him and grow closer to God as a result.