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

 

Christ the Bridegroom

 "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 

 

Yesterday we read that there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast of Passover.  It is now the final week of Jesus' earthly life.  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' soul is troubled, for this hour is the approaching time of His Crucifixion and and death.  My study Bible comments that it is the mark of Christ's humanity to abhor death.  Yet, according to His divine nature, He affirms that for this purpose He has come to this hour.  His divine will is one with the Father's, and He will submit His human will to the same.

 

"Father, glorify Your name."  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."   My study Bible explains that the Father's name is an extension of His Person.  It notes that the Son's death completes the purpose of the Father, and it shows His love for all -- thereby glorifying Him.  Effectively, Christ is saying, "Father, lead Me to the Cross."  This is the Lord's divine response to the human prompting to avoid the Cross ("Now My soul is troubled").  The Father's response, according to my study Bible, is a reference to the signs which have already been 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 says that although the Father spoke clearly, some people heard indistinct sounds like thunder because they lacked faith.  Those with a little faith heard the words but did not know the source, thinking it to be an angel.  But the disciples knew that the Father Himself had spoken, and it is to them that Jesus says that this 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.  Once again Jesus uses the term lifted up to refer to being hung on the Cross (see also John 3:14-15, 8:28).  Christ's death will bring salvation to all peoples, and at the same tie render judgment on the faithless, and destroying once for all the power of Satan, the ruler of this world.  

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, my study Bible says, refers to Christ (John 1:4-9, 8:12).  It notes that there are several facets of meaning to Christ's teaching here.  First, He's indicating that He will soon be completing His public ministry.  Additionally, our lives are very limited.  We have only a short time to repent and believe in Christ before our own deaths.  And finally, the second coming of Christ is but a little while when compared to eternity. 

 

 Father Stephen Freeman, an Orthodox priest who writes a blog called "Glory to God for All Things," has written an interesting commentary on the Crucifixion.  In the Orthodox Church, these first few days of Holy Week are focused on Christ the Bridegroom, the One who will be united to His Bride, the Church.  The icon of the Bridegroom may seem like one that is very counterintuitive to us.  Christ the Bridegroom is also Christ the Prisoner.  This Bridegroom icon is also -- in a way which likely strikes us as strange as well -- the icon of marriage.  Christ's hands are tied; in marriage we are not free to do just as we please, but we enter into a covenant that means mutual sacrifice on the part of both spouses.  We also may suffer with those whom we love, as when a child or other loved one is ill or goes through harm or misfortune.  But Father Stephen's commentary focuses on the Cross as revealing what truly is.  For the Bridegroom is also the Judge.  Christ's parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins focuses on the Bridegroom coming at midnight:  which virgins have filled their lamps with oil in preparation to keep their lamps lit, and which have not. To make sense of this parable, one must understand that the word in Greek for the olive oil that traditionally filled those lamps sounds alike to the word for "mercy."  Thus, to be prepared for our Bridegroom upon His return is to live our lives in the practice of the mercy He teaches us as His disciples, keeping our lamps full, and lit with His light for this world.   We prepare for the coming of our Bridegroom by following His teachings, keeping His word, walking in His light so that we might become sons of light.  For this is what it means to keep our lamps full, to learn to practice His grace and mercy and grow in that discipline with His light, His help.  Father Stephen's commentary on the Bridegroom teaches us that we have all received of Christ's fullness through His life, and judgment is laid bare at the Cross.   Everything is revealed.  For there we accept or we do not accept, we believe or we do not believe, and His life is the revelation of God for us (John 14:9).   It is, after all, in His light that all darkness is dispelled, and life -- and truth -- are revealed for what they are.  May we all become sons (and therefore heirs) of that light.