While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light

"Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." This He said, signifying by what death He would die. The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever, and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man?" Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

- John 12:27-36a

In yesterday's reading, Jesus has come to Jerusalem in the Triumphal Entry. In the first words we are given to His followers after that, He predicts His death. He says, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified." It is His time. This is the beginning of Passion Week. See Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. Jesus tells us, "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

"Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour." My study bible says that this verse gives a glimpse of the Gethsemane experience of Jesus (Matt. 26:36-46). We have already been told by John the Evangelist that "Jesus wept" at the grief of His friends when Lazarus was dead. We understand Him to be as fully human as we are, with all of our emotional life.

"Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." My study bible notes, "The Father's name is an extension of His Person. The Son worked for the glory of the Father, and His death is now to be offered up to complete that purpose (v. 27) and to show the Father's love for all people. The divine voice gives assurance that the death of Jesus is not humiliation but glorification through the fulfillment of God's plan for the redemption of the world."

Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake." This is not the first time, of course, such a voice has been heard. In the stories of Jesus' baptism, we hear of this voice. John the Evangelist will also repeat many times in the Revelation that he heard heavenly voices that sounded like thunder. It is another type of Epiphany (as was the baptism); it is a revelation of God for the sake of the followers who are with him.

"Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." This He said, signifying by what death He would die. My study bible notes here: "Lifted up (v. 32, see also 3:14, 15; 8:28): a reference to the lifting up of Christ on the Cross, which is His glorification and will lead to the salvation of the human race. At the same time this event is a judgment (v. 31) on the unbelieving world of darkness and the abolition of the power of the ruler of this world, Satan." My study bible continues with the following (referring to an Eastern hymn): "We live in a state of tension between the victory won (see 1 John 2:13) and that yet to be won (see 1 John 5:4,5). In a vespers hymn for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross we sing, 'Lifted high upon the Cross, O Master, with Yourself You have raised up Adam and the whole of fallen nature. Therefore, exalting Your undefiled Cross, O You who love mankind, we ask You for Your strength from above, crying: O God Most High, in Your mercy save those who honor the sacred light-giving and divine Exaltation of Your Cross.' " Ironically, we were told that the high priest Caiaphas stated, in his prophetic capacity, that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. Jesus repeats this prophecy, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." Today we understand that it is the instrument of this "lifting up" itself, the means of His crucifixion, that serves as a uniting symbol to "draw all peoples to Myself." The judgment is Jesus' rejection as Creator, by the effects of evil, of the "ruler of this world." It is the response to the work of God in the world that creates judgment.

This He said, signifying by what death He would die. The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever, and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man?" Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. My study bible notes here, "The theme of Jesus as the light receives renewed emphasis. The crowd wants to know the identity of the Son of Man. But Jesus challenges them to come to the light while there is still time to become children of light. Christ is 'light from Light' (Nicene Creed). In union with Him, we partake of His light, becoming children of light (v. 36)."

Of course it is John the Evangelist who has also given us these images of Christ as the light that has come into the world. He has also given us Jesus' own words referring to Himself as the light of the world. Here, Jesus teaches us once again about becoming "like God" by adoption, of becoming sons of light. As we know, He has already quoted (to the leadership of the temple) from Psalm 82: "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods."'?" When we walk in His light, we, too, becomes "sons of light." His light is the life of the world, we are taught. Repeatedly in this Gospel, we are given to understand the notions of life and light in Christ. What does it mean to be permeated by that light, to become a part of that light? This is something that knows no limits in us; it reaches to all of our depth and breadth and height, and down into everything that it means to be a human being. As we take this walk, and continue to follow that light, to "abide in His words," we may find ourselves more and more deeply permeated by that light. It will illumine all of our dark corners, it will ask us to change at depths we didn't understand that we had. It will take us all in, and while "the darkness did not comprehend it," the light will certainly comprehend the darkness. This is part of the sacrifice and change He asks of us (see yesterday's reading). As we become children of that light, we are asked to change, and it permeates us more and more deeply. This is life, abundantly.