John 8:21-23

New Catholic Bible

²¹I AM!^[a] Again he said to them,

“I am going away,
and you will search for me
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going, you cannot come.”

²²Then the Jews wondered, “Is he planning to kill himself—because he was saying, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³He continued,

“You belong to what is below,
whereas I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I am not of this world.

John 8:21 The discussion is continued so that the reader may come into direct contact with the mystery of Jesus. Who then is he? He does not belong to the world of sin but gathers around himself those who believe in him. Without this faith in him, people remain shut up in death, cast off from God. A sudden word is uttered: I am, the name by which God revealed himself to Moses (Ex 3:14). Jesus is so closely united to his Father that he can claim the title “Lord” for himself. Jesus will appear as Judge and Lord when he is lifted up on the cross (Jn 3:14; 19:37).

New Catholic Bible (NCB)