A critical element in divine revelation is ensuring that no one has any excuse when they stand before divine judgment. This explains why Jesus spent so much time explaining things to those who would never believe His message. This is why we openly live the gospel when the majority of the world around is going to Hell.
What Jesus says here is often badly translated from John’s schoolboy Greek grammar. The text says quite literally that Jesus planned to withdraw from the situation, to leave the Temple and go away. He had no doubt they would try to hunt Him down because they were headed for Hell anyway. Their eternal destiny was not with Jesus; that’s for sure.
They didn’t argue with Him, but mocked by suggesting He was going to commit suicide. He responded by noting their thoughts were worldly. He was trying to discuss eternal truth. That’s why He tried to warn them that they would die in their sins. As long as they rejected His claims, they were rejecting redemption.
Again they mocked, asking Him who He thought He was. Jesus replied that His claims had not changed since the first day He began His ministry. He had plenty to say against them, but they never seemed capable of hearing the truth about themselves. Jesus was sent by the One who was truth Himself, and everything He taught was only what He learned from Him.
But these men were incapable of understanding God in the first place, so they were genuinely confused about His references to the Heavenly Father. So Jesus went on: If they ever got around to exalting this man (referring to Himself), then they would become fully aware that He was an agent of God, and did nothing on His own initiative. Everything He taught was from His Father.
And it’s not as if He had gotten lost along the path of His mission. He was always careful to defer to His Father, because the Father had never deserted Him. Not only was He watching what Jesus said and did, but approved of it.
John notes for us that at this point, a significant number of people listening there were moved to believe.
“John’s schoolboy Greek grammar”
Was John kind of a beginner in Greek, or did he just use simple sentences to get his point across?
The unanimous assessment of Greek language experts is that John was just a beginner, but adequate.