“We” vs. “you” = the crowd is contrasting itself with Christ. They are saying that the holy scriptures teach certain things about the Christ but Jesus is teaching something completely different and they want Him to explain Himself. Their reference to “the Law” is a very Jewish expression for the whole of scripture. They may have had the following passages in mind along with some others (Psalms 89:4, 36; 110:4; Isaiah 9:6-7; Eze 37:25; Dan 7:14).

Psalms 89:4  ‘I will establish your line for ever and make your throne firm through all generations.’” Selah

Psalms 89:36  that his line will continue for ever and his throne endure before me like the sun;

Psalms 110:4  The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest for ever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

Isaiah 9:6-7  For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

Ezekiel 37:25  They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there for ever, and David my servant will be their prince for ever.

Daniel 7:14  He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

They had expected Jesus to be the Messiah from the events of the previous Sunday and now they want to know if the “Son of Man” by which Jesus is calling Himself is the same as the Messiah. Their question, “Who is this ‘Son of Man’?” may be the most significant question in all of the world. To them it is significant because until they come to an answer for it, they will continue to walk in darkness, “totally unable to appreciate the magnitude of the gift that is offered them, nor the significance of the Person who offers it.” (Morris)

Jesus is saying that it is by the cross that He will be exalted and it is by the cross that He will draw all men to Himself. The crowd knew exactly what He was saying and they could not understand this in relation to what they “knew” about the Messiah and His kingdom. Barclay points out that “the lesson of history is that Jesus was right.” No other kingdom has stood the test of time but His.

Ozymandias

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: ‘Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand
Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip sneer of cold command
Tell that sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stanp’d on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that collosal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.