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 12:27-36

In our present readings, Jesus is at His third and final Passover festival in Jerusalem.  Yesterday 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."  Jesus tells those who listen, and all the rest of us, that My soul is troubled.  His human soul -- the full psychological reality of being truly a human being -- means that He has a natural abhorrence of death.  But the ultimate guide for Christ is His divinity and His union with God the Father; and so, in this hour He affirms for those who hear that for this purpose I came to this hour.   The lives of the first apostles confirm that this was understood to be leadership for all the rest of us, for whom faith in Christ and the unity in that love of God would become the ultimate loyalty, the fullness of life.

"Father, glorify Your name."  My study bible tells us that the Father's name is an extension of His Person.  The Son's death completes the purpose of the Father, and it shows His love for all, and therefore glorifies Him.  Regardless of His natural human instinct, Christ is in effect saying to the Father that He should be led to the Cross.  My study bible calls this the Lord's divine response to the human prompting to avoid the Cross.

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."  The Father's response refers to the signs which Jesus has already performed, and also to His death and Resurrection to come.  Although the Father spoke clearly, my study bible says, some people heard indistinct sounds like thunder because they lacked faith.  It notes that those with a little faith heard the words but did not know the source, believing that it was an angel.   But the disciples knew that the Father had spoken, as Jesus indicates by saying, 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?"   Lifted up is Christ's reference to being hung on the Cross, as we have already read in 3:14 and 8:28.  My study bible notes that this death will bring salvation to all peoples, and at the same time it will render judgment on those who lack faith.  Once and for all it will destroy the power of Satan, the ruler of this world.

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.  Yet again, Jesus refers to Himself as the light (see 1:4-9; 8:12).  My study bible says that His teaching in these verses has several facets of meaning.  He indicates that He will shortly be completing His public ministry.  Moreover, our lives are quite limited.  That is, we have a short time to repent and believe in Christ before our own deaths.  And more -- the second coming of Christ is but a little while when compared to eternity.

Christ is willing to give up His entire life.  How can this be?  Why would the God of all creation be willing to give up life?  This One "without [whom] nothing was made that was made" (1:3) is the very creator of life.   He is in the world, in fact, to save human life.  We know of His encounters with individuals, like the Samaritan woman (John 4) -- not a man and not a Jew -- and yet His individual time was spent with her, His revelation of His identity is first made to her.  Christ has confirmed that to Him, each human life is precious, and that He loves each of us.  God's love for us will never end, and will never turn away.  But it is we who turn away from God.  In Christ's willing sacrifice, He is giving us an image of ourselves and what we do.  It is we who turn away our own lives from His life-giving love.  It is who we choose to reject His joy, and His peace for ourselves.  In today's reading, Jesus gives a warning to everyone, to all of us:  "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."  We have the light with us; the Church gives us this message.  While we are all human beings and capable of error, including the human beings who make up the Church, we accept that the truth of the Holy Spirit and the message of Christ comes to us through His words and the work of God which is active and with us and among us.  Christ goes willingly to His sacrifice simply for this, to teach us that salvation has a process and a way, and that He is the light that guides us.  Let us walk while we have the light by believing in the light, so that we know where we are going, and that we may become sons of light.  In the darkness is death.   God gives us the gift of will, and offers us His choice and His love.