<p>8:28- see on Jn. 5:36; 6:63; Jn. 20:28.</p><p><i>Jesus continued: 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</i>- The Jewish conscience about the cross is predicted by the Lord here. But the Jews generally were not subsequently persuaded that Jesus was indeed Messiah, bearer of the &ldquo;I am&rdquo; Name of God. Potentially, in their consciences, they <i>did know</i> that He was, once they crucified Him. The words of Jesus were of course true. But they didn&rsquo;t confess that faith, because they suppressed it in their conscience. This is why to this day there is this Jewish conscience about the cross. And it&rsquo;s why conversion to the Lord Jesus cannot be far from the heart of every Jew. They perceived the manifestation of the great &ldquo;I am&quot; there, Yahweh Himself, but unless they gave themselves to it in total commitment, they would die eternally. Eternal life therefore depends upon an appreciation of the cross. For this reason, the atonement must be the central doctrine of the Gospel, and those who believe it must feel it and know it personally if they are to be saved in the end. This is why 20:27-29 seems to show that the Lord understood the essence of faith in all His people as meaning that they would discern and believe the marks in His hands where the nails were.The cross would confirm all He had spoken. There the words of Jesus were made flesh (1:14). In the lifted up Jesus, we see all His words, God&rsquo;s words, brought together in that body.</p><p>He predicted that when He was crucified, then His people would believe on Him; yet &ldquo;As he spake these things, many believed on him&quot;, there and then (:30). There was such congruence between His message of crucifixion and His actual life, that people believed there and then, even before seeing the actual crucifixion. His life was a crucified life, and it elicited faith in those who perceived this.</p><p>In many discussions with Trinitarians, I came to observe how very often, a verse I would quote supporting the humanity of Jesus would be found very near passages which speak of His Divine side. For example, most 'proof texts' for both the 'Jesus=God' position and the 'Jesus was human' position- are all from the same Gospel of John. Instead of just trading proof texts, e.g. 'I and my father are one' verses 'the Father is greater than I', we need to understand them as speaking of one and the same Jesus. So many 'debates' about the nature of Jesus miss this point; the sheer wonder of this man, this more than man, was that He was so genuinely human, and yet perfectly manifested God. This was and is the compelling wonder of this Man. These two aspects of the Lord, the exaltation and the humanity, are spoken of together in the Old Testament too. A classic example would be Ps. 45:6,7: &ldquo;Thy throne, O God, is for ever this is quoted in the New Testament about Jesus&hellip; God, thy God, hath anointed thee made you Christ&rdquo;. It was exactly because of and through His humanity that His glory, His &lsquo;Divine side&rsquo;, was and is manifested. His glory was &lsquo;achieved&rsquo;, if you like, not because He had it by nature in Heaven before His birth; but exactly because He as a human of our nature reflected the righteousness of God to perfection in human flesh. Thus &ldquo;When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He&rdquo; (Jn. 8:28)- the &lsquo;I am&rsquo; aspect of Jesus was manifested at the point of His maximum humanity. Thus He was &lsquo;made sin for us&rsquo; so that we might have the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21; 8:9). It was only because the Word was made <i>flesh</i> that the glory of God was revealed (Jn. 1:14).<br />&ldquo;I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me&rdquo; (Jn. 8:28). &ldquo;The Lord hath sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of myself&rdquo; (Num. 16:28 LXX).</p>