John 12:34 The crowd then answered Him, "We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up?' Who is this Son of Man?"
The crowd must have understood that Jesus was identifying as the Christ. The disciples certainly knew it but had been told to tell no one. Matthew 16:20 “Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.” The same crowd that said they heard thunder when God spoke, expressed confusion over how the Christ, the Son of Man, could be crucified. Their understanding was that He was to live forever. The disciples thought the same. So the question was and still is. How does one die, yet live forever? The answer: Jesus is the resurrection and the life. To live to love with Jesus we must be convinced that we must die to (we must hate) our lives in this world in order to experience Jesus’ resurrection life which pours Himself out in love.
