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"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 12:27-36
In yesterday's reading, Jesus had gone to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. This will be His third Passover in John's Gospel. After visiting His friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus at Bethany, Jesus went into Jerusalem in His Triumphal Entry, on what we now celebrate as Palm Sunday. Many pilgrims have come in preparation for the Festival, among them Greek-speaking people, proselytes from outside of Israel, Gentiles who are attracted to Judaism. Some come to Philip and say, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip told Andrew and together they told Jesus. He said, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 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. Father, glorify Your name." My study bible points out that Jesus' reference to His 'troubled soul' gives us a glimpse of the Gethsemane experience of Jesus. It teaches us about the human experience of Christ. In the previous verses, in yesterday's reading, Jesus has made reference to the soul when He said "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will will keep it for eternal life." This 'troubled soul' is what He was referring to; that is, the side of Himself that only experiences this fear without the balancing love of the Father that leads Him forward. But for this purpose Jesus has been sent into the world. Of "Father, glorify Your name" my study bible says: "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 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."
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." Christ reminds us that all things done in this salvation plan in which He's been sent to the world are done for our sake. Here, a revelation in the voice from heaven is for their 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. Jesus' death as martyr will be for the judgment of this world; that is, for the judgment of the 'ruler of this world' who oppresses those who cannot easily find their way to God, and need liberation, which Christ brings. On the Cross, He will be "lifted up from the earth" and will draw all peoples to Himself, and therefore out of the separation from God. Where He is there the Father is also, Who will send the Spirit. My study bible says that "lifted up is 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 on the unbelieving world of darkness and the abolition of the power of the ruler of this world, Satan." It adds, "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)."
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." Jesus once again refers to Himself as light. It reminds us of the recent passage, in which He told His disciples He would walk in the light of the day, when they feared what would come to Him if He went to Lazarus. Again, there is a note worth quoting: "The theme of Jesus as 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."
These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. Passion week begins. It is not yet time for His confrontation with the authorities.
Let us think of Christ as the light. Often we're tempted to separate Jesus from the Father and the Spirit, but in truth they are inseparable. And in this is the true light of Christ, the place where He leads us. In Scriptural terms, the Fall or separation from God is seen as the ailment of humanity. It's in this sense that there is spiritual darkness in the world. God loves us, this Gospel tells us, and so sent His son that we might be united through grace. This is what Christ means when He teaches us to become sons and daughters of light. He is the "light from Light" as my study bible references, and He's sent to lead us into that light and more -- that we may also become illumined, children of the light by adoption, God-like. St. Athanasius, an early Bishop of Alexandria, perhaps most influential in proposing our canon of New Testament Scripture that we use today, is quoted as saying, "The Son of God became man so that we might become God." So think about how light, through grace, becomes a part of who we are. How does Christ's light come to us that we might also be children of God? What is it to follow and walk in that light? How do you experience this relationship and its action of grace in you, in the way you see things?
