Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going

 "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 our current reading, it is Holy Week, and Jesus is in Jerusalem in the third and final Passover reported in John's Gospel.  It is the last week of Jesus' earthly life.  In yesterday's reading, we read that there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "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."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."    Jesus refers to the approaching hour of the Cross, which He knows is here.  My study bible explains that the Father's name is an extension of His person.  The Son's death completes the purpose of the Father and shows His love for all, thus glorifying Him.  In effect, my study bible says, Christ is saying, "Father, lead Me to the Cross," a divine response to the human prompting to avoid the Cross.  The Father's response refers to the signs already performed by Christ and to the death and Resurrection to come.  

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."  My study bible explains that although the Father had spoken clearly, some people heard indistinct sounds like thunder because they lacked faith.  Perhaps perception depends on the fullness of faith; an inability or lessened capacity to discern perceives only the sounds of thunder as representative of this voice.  Those with a little faith, says my study bible, heard the words but did not know the source, thinking it was an angel.  This suggests more capacity, but not full discernment or knowing.  The disciples knew the Father Himself had spoken; it is to the disciples that Jesus directs His remarks when His says that the voice came "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.   Jesus once again refers to Himself as being lifted up (see 3:14 and 8:28 for earlier statements He has made about this hour of being lifted up).  This is a reference to the Crucifixion, being hung on the Cross.  His death will bring salvation to all peoples, says my study bible.  This statement that He will draw all peoples to Himself further illumines the metaphor of the grain of wheat that falls to the ground (yesterday's reading, above) and producing much grain.  And as He earlier explained to Nicodemus in chapter 3, Jesus being lifted up on the Cross is similar to Moses' lifting up of the serpent in the wilderness to destroy the deathly capacity of the serpents biting the Israelites (Numbers 21:4-9).   He will once and for all destroy the power of Satan, the ruler of this world.  Ultimately, Christ's role in Judgment has everything to do with His mission of Incarnation.

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.  The light refers to Christ (see 1:4-9; 8:12).  Once again, Jesus speaks in phrases and references He has used before about walking in the light (see 9:4, 11:9-10).   My study bible says that His teaching here has several facets of meaning.  First of all, He will be completing His public ministry.  Also, our lives are short - we have a limited time to repent and believe in Christ before the end of our lives.  Finally, the second coming of Christ is but a little while when compared to eternity. 

In today's reading, we get elements of light and of darkness as well.  The light casts a kind of brightness and everything else is determined by the light.  Darkness is where the light is not, that place that doesn't receive the light or refuses it or cannot take it in.  Christ speaks very strictly about walking in the light.  We can only think of this light as both God and God's word -- and quite literally Christ, the Word Himself.  We walk by the will of God, and we walk in the light.  To be ignorant of God and the things of God is to be in darkness.  It's like the people who perceive a sound like thunder but cannot perceive the voice of God, nor that it comes from the Father.  To have eyes to see and ears to hear is to live with the capacity to perceive the things of God, to welcome and know the light.  Jesus emphasizes to these people that the time is short; He's going to be with them yet a little while longer.  He's always working for their salvation, the purpose of His mission.  And all our lives are in some sense similar.  Life seems long from our immediate perspective, but in the true scheme of things, life is very short.  We get caught up in events and circumstances, and it's easy to avoid the tough decisions about the inner life of the soul:  the things that pertain to Christ's second coming.  But as life and experience may teach us, the here and now is right here and right now.  Decisions and choices we put off may lead to a darkness down the road; something that we put off being truly clear about now leads to a deeper darkness.  We're always on a path to somewhere.  Seeking the light, seeking discernment means that here and now we choose to walk in that light.  And if we don't know it well, and if this "way" isn't so well known to us, we make a commitment to begin to desire to find it, to seek it with all our hearts -- as Christ puts it, to ask and seek and knock.  The time is really always now to begin this journey, or to reinforce it within ourselves and to remind ourselves what we want to be about.  To ask and seek and knock is to always be in some form of dialogue or prayer with God.  Christ says in today's reading that those who do so may become sons of light.  That is, growing in "God-likeness."   This is the purpose for which He's come into our world as a human being, as the Son of Man.  It is the purpose for which He goes to the Cross.  He reminds us always that the time is now and limited.  It is always the right time to seek the light, His guidance and discernment for our lives, so that we know where we are going.