What is the context?
Some people in Jerusalem know of the threat against Jesus and wonder why He is teaching openly without being stopped. They also question His claim because they think they know where He comes from. Jesus directs them toward the One who sent Him, whom He knows.
An attempt to seize Him fails because His hour has not yet come. Many in the crowd nevertheless believe, asking what greater signs the Christ could perform. The chief priests and Pharisees then send officers to arrest Him.
Jesus says He will remain only a little longer before going to the One who sent Him. His hearers puzzle over whether He means traveling to Jewish communities among the Greeks, or teaching the Greeks themselves. Their geographical questions miss His statement about returning to the Father.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christian readings commonly understand Jesus’ departure as pointing toward His return to the Father through death and resurrection. Calvin reads it as assurance that His opponents cannot prevent the mission’s completion, while Wesley contrasts their earthly guesses with His heavenly destination. (Calvin on John 7:33; Wesley on John 7:33–35)
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Later in the Gospel, Jesus states the whole movement plainly: He comes from the Father into the world and returns to the Father. He also speaks of completing the work given to Him and sharing again in the glory He had before the world existed. His destination here belongs within that larger mission. (John 16:28; John 17:1–5)
Acts records His ascension alongside the promise of the Spirit and a mission reaching the ends of the earth. Returning to the Father leads into the wider witness carried by His followers. The people’s question about Greeks is not itself a prediction of a journey He will make to Greece; the wider purpose is made clear in these later passages. (Acts 1:8–11)
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.