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 

 

Yesterday we read that there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the Passover 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 is troubled in His human soul; but He is willingly going to His hour, the time of His glorification.  My study Bible comments that it is the mark of humanity to abhor death; but Jesus is without sin and so completely subjects and unites His human will to the Father's will, for this purpose.  My study Bible adds that it shows that each person must submit one's own will to God's will (Luke 11:2).  There is a quotation from Pope St. Gregory the Great:  "The words of weakness are sometimes adopted by the strong in order that the hearts of the weak may be strengthened."

"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.  The Son's death, it says, completes the purpose of the Father, and shows His love for all, thus glorifying Him.  Jesus effectively says, "Father, lead Me to the Cross."  This is our Lord's divine response to the human desire to avoid the Cross.  God the Father's response, my study Bible adds, 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."  Although the Father spoke clearly, my study Bible notes, some people heard indistinct sounds like thunder because they lacked faith.  People with a little faith heard the words, but did not know the source, thinking it was an angel.  The disciples knew that the Father had spoken ("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.  Lifted up is a reference to Christ being hung on the Cross (a phrase He has used already; see John 3:14-15; 8:28).  Christ's death will bring salvation to all peoples, and at the same time will render judgment on the faithless and will destroy 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, as has permeated John's Gospel, refers to Christ (John 1:4-9; 8:12).  My study Bible comments that Christ's teaching here has several facets of meaning.  First, He will be completing His public ministry shortly.  Additionally, our lives are very limited.  We all have but a short time to repent and believe in Christ before death.  Finally, the second coming of Christ is only a little while when compared to eternity.

There is a movie made in 1945 titled I Know Where I'm Going.  It's about a British woman headed off to marriage with a man who's a great captain of industry, a rich man, a great catch.  She thinks she has her life all bundled up in a neat bundle.  But, when she gets to where she is going (an island in Scotland rented by the rich man for the wedding), she meets a local man, down to earth, wise in ways of the sea and his heritage -- and one can figure out the ending, although it still comes as a surprise.  The title (and the title song) is all about how certain we are of our own worldly plans, and how little we know once a much deeper impulse and love makes itself known to us.  That title might well be appropriate for us to consider in light of today's reading, and Christ's very plaintive words regarding the trouble in His soul, but overcome by His love of and loyalty to the Father.  Everything comes down to that love that is inseparable from Christ's identity as Son.  He will glorify His Father's name.  There is no separating Him from the Father, not all the worldly impulses and temptations, not the human fear of death, not His possible concerns over the eventual state of His Church or His disciples.  Everything goes into His love of and trust in the Father.  Everything depends on this, for in that trust and love is the confidence that Christ expresses when He says, "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."  All of salvation depends upon this act, and its fullness comes from the love of the Father and the Son, and Christ's confidence in where He is truly going because of that love.  There is none who would deny Christ's human impulses, His desire to draw away from death that He knows is coming.  But where He is going is a place to which God the Father calls Him, and it is that place that will result in transcendence of death, the defeat of death, and that defeat is a blow for all of us.  It is that defeat of death in which "the judgment of this world" can take place; and even more specifically, that "now the ruler of this world will be cast out."  And this is where Christ is really going.  He has already shown, in His seventh and final sign in John's Gospel, that He, indeed, is the author of life.  But now He will experience human death, and in so doing, He will draw all peoples to Himself.  In the Synoptic Gospels, after Peter makes his confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and Jesus then reveals the manner of His death to the disciples, St. Peter tells Jesus that this must not happen.  But Jesus' response to Peter is, "Get behind Me, Satan!" (Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33; Luke 4:8).  He tells Peter that he's not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.  That is, in a worldly sense, when Peter tries to prevent Christ from this death, he thinks he knows what he's doing and where he's going.  But there is something else to follow, and that is the light of love that defines God, that is God.  It is the life that is in Christ, which is the light of human beings (John 1:4).  It is the way that might not sound good or right to our human, earthly ears, but is the draw of surpassing love and light, the greater outcome that offers things far beyond our vision that we can know now, at such a moment.  In this moment, Jesus says to all, "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."  In the darkness that we know still lives in this world, with which we contend who seek to follow the light, what destination or goal sounds good to you?  Have you had the experience of thinking one thing is good, and finding that God changes your life and offers you something else completely different?  Jesus knows where He is going, but He is the light with us.  As He says, he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  Even when St. Peter thought he was doing a good and loving thing, he wasn't mindful of the things of God.  The light opens up so many possibilities that would not exist without it; Christ's death will save an entire universe and we all know today that He did this for us, and we are loved.  Do we know where we are going?

 

 

 

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 

 

Yesterday we read that there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the Passover 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 refers to "this hour" -- the time of His death, which He also calls His glorification (in yesterday's reading, above).  He makes it clear to the disciples that He goes willingly to the Cross.  As a human being, His soul is troubled.  My study Bible says it is the mark of humanity to abhor death, which Jesus clearly expresses for us here.  But it is according to His divine nature that He willingly goes to the Cross.  In so doing, He expresses His will to be one with the Father's, and also the priority of submitting one's own will to God's will (Luke 11:2). 

 

"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 says that the Son's death completes the purpose of the Father, and shows His love for all -- thus glorifying Him.  Effectively, Christ is saying, "Father, lead Me to the Cross," and it is Christ's divine response to the human prompting to avoid it.  God the Father's response refers 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 was an angel.  But the disciples knew that the Father Himself had spoken ("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.  My study Bible explains that lifted up is a reference to Christ being hung on the Cross.  It is an expression He has used before as well -- see John 3:14-15; 8:28.  This death will bring salvation to all peoples, my study Bible says, and at the same time 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 is a reference to Christ, as used consistently in John's Gospel (John 1:4-9; 8:12).  My study Bible states that Christ's teaching here has several facets of meaning.  In the first place, Jesus will be completing His public ministry soon.  Moreover, our lives are very limited; we have but a short time to repent and believe in Christ before death.  And finally, the second coming of Christ is but a little while when it is compared to all eternity.  

There is so much in today's reading that it is hard to pick one thing to write about.  Possibly we can begin with what Jesus says in the "ending" verses for today's reading, when He speaks of Himself as the light.  Jesus says to the people, "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."  In John's Gospel, we know that He is addressing the religious leaders when it uses the terms "the Jews," as this is meant as a type of political label.  When Jesus addresses the disciples, the text also makes that clear.  Here, we're told, He is addressing the people.  In Greek, this word is ὄχλος/ochlos.  It means crowd or throng, a multitude.  So the indication here is for all of the people who are attending the Passover.  These words, exhorting the people to walk while you have the light, and telling them that it is but a little while longer that the light is with you, are clearly meant as attempts to save them, to gather them as the Good Shepherd before His death on the Cross.  Jesus tells them, "Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you."  This word in Greek, translated as "overtake," is the same word translated as "comprehend" in the Prologue to John's Gospel, when we're told, "And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:5).  He is setting out for them the clear path, about which He's preached all along, that He is in the world to offer guidance, for all those who would become His sheep.  This image He sets out for us here is one of extreme contrast, and that is significant, for darkness is not something that is gentle and lowly in heart; it is painful and enslaving.  The light He offers us is Himself, as the door, and as the path, the way.  Finally, He says, "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."  And there we encounter a promise, something that has to do with the opening of a mystery.  How may human beings become sons of light?    Jesus is offering a kind of "preview" of what is to come, and is speaking about taking on characteristics of the light by walking in the light.  He is speaking of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the grace that is to come, of the "much fruit" that will be produced by His going to the Cross.  (See yesterday's reading, above, in which He said, "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 is contrasting the way of darkness, which is broad and wide, with the way of light, of the Good Shepherd, who offers His life for the sheep, because He follows the command of His Father (John 10:11-18).  Let us for now consider what this means, as we go through Holy Week, and delve into the transformational way of the Cross, and this light He offers to us, so that we may become sons of light by walking the path He illumines.

 

 

 

 

 

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 12:27-36 

 

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 loaves 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 points out that here Christ reveals His human will, the natural human response to His impending Passion.  But nonetheless, He aligns Himself with the will of the Father, even as He is fully human as fully divine.  

 

"Father, glorify Your name."   Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."  The Father's name is an extension of His Person.  My study Bible says that the Son's death completes the purpose of the Father and shows His love for all, thereby glorifying Him.  He is effectively saying, "Father, lead Me to the Cross."  This is Christ's divine response to the human prompting to avoid the Cross.  The Father's response, additionally, refers to the sign already performed by Christ and also to the death and Resurrection to come.

 

 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."  Although the Father spoke clearly, those who stood by heard indistinct sounds like thunder.  My study Bible comments that this is because they lacked faith.  Those with a little faith heard the words but did not know the source, thinking it was an angel.  The disciples knew the Father Himself had spoken, as indicated in Jesus' response, "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.  Lifted up is a reference to Jesus being hung on the Cross (see also John 3:14-15; 8:28).  My study Bible notes that this death will bring salvation to all peoples, while at the same time rendering 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 Gospel has referred to Christ as the light (John 1:4-9), and Christ has referred to Himself as the light (John 8:12).  My study Bible says that His teaching here has many facets of meaning.  First, He will shortly be completing His public ministry.  Moreover, our own lives are very limited; we have only a short time to repent and to believe in Christ before death.  Finally, the second coming of Christ is but a little while compared to eternity. 

Jesus calls Himself light, and speaks of our journey through life as walking in the world.  It is His light we need to make sure we are on the right path, making the good choices of God.  He has called Himself the light of the world (John 8:12).  If we believe in the light, He says, we may become sons of light.  That is, children of light.   So, we may ask ourselves again, more deeply as the Gospel moves along toward Christ's Passion, what does it mean to be children of light, to be faithful to Christ?  Here Jesus clearly ties together faith and being.  What we put our faith and trust into, we bear likeness to, and we may become more so by walking in the light -- living according to this faith.  This is not a promise of some sort of fairy tale life, nor a promise of self-aggrandizement in some sense.  What it is, is a promise that we might have spiritual truth revealed to us and integrated into our way of being in the world, a sense of what it is to become more like Him and to follow God's judgment and discernment for our lives.  We seek His light in order to become the kind of people who seek His prudent counsel, who understand the purpose and meaning of sacrifice, and who do not fool themselves either about the nature of His light nor of the world.  In chapter 11, we were told that Caiaphas, in his role as high priest that year, advocated to the Council that they put Christ to death.  He said it this way:  "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."  But we understand these words to be inadvertent prophecy, and fulfilling the role of high priest in so doing, because they teach us about Christ's mission and work, although as a man, Caiaphas meant something quite different.  (Jesus says, "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.")  Christ's death would have the effect of gathering together Jews and Gentiles in one faith, and this is the power of His sacrifice, and fulfillment of the Father's will.  At the same time, it is a defeat of the enemy, whose final weapon is death (1 Corinthians 15:26).  What we might come to understand for ourselves, as Jesus speaks of the light, and of walking in the light, is that the sacrifices we might be called to make will be in some sense also serving this higher purpose of Christ's calling, of serving the light and becoming more "like Him," becoming, in effect, His children.  We are to understand, as we've frequently commented on the life of the Cross, that He calls us to exchange one life for another, an "earthly" life for one suffused with this kind of light, the light of spiritual reality and an understanding of discernment and higher purpose.  This is not a formula for instant gratification and happiness, but it is one of belonging to something transcendent and meaningful, one that teaches us about love and the emptiness of serving only materialism, a way of life that sees nothing of deep value and cannot recognize its own darkness.  Christ's light is one that illumines the way to discernment, to find a true worth and meaning in a world of competing interests, ruthless violence, and endless manipulation.  This is the light that shines in the darkness, the light of the world.  What side would you choose?  Whose light would you bear into the world?  Who do you choose to guide you? In 1 Corinthians 15:35-49, St. Paul speaks of glory, of the difference between the life of the Resurrection, and the various types of glory we might observe.  Here in today's passage, we are asked to ponder what type of glory we might want for ourselves, for there is the "glory" of the world and what it admires and envies and elevates especially through our media and public relations and all the means of the powerful, and then there is the glory of the light of Christ.  We might well want both, but so often we are asked instead to choose.  Whose light will draw you forward with love and truth?

 

 

 

 

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 12:27–36 

 

Yesterday we read that there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the  Passover 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."  My study bible refers us to the Synoptic Gospels which give us the story of Christ's agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.  In this statement, we can read of Jesus' troubled soul.  But nevertheless according to His divine nature, He willingly goes to His death -- which He calls His purpose at this hour.   My study bible calls it a mark of humanity to abhor death, hence Christ's troubled soul -- but He is without sin and completely subjects and unites His human will to the Father's divine will. 

 

"Father, glorify Your name."   Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."   The Father's name is an extension of His Person, my study bible explains.  It says that the Son's death completes the purpose of the Father, and shows His love for all, thereby glorifying Him.   Christ effectively affirms to the Father, "Lead Me to the Cross."  My study bible calls this the Lord's divine response to the human prompting to avoid it.  The Father's response is a reference to the sign which Christ has performed throughout this Gospel, and also to His 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."  Although the Father spoke clearly, my study bible remarks that 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, and believed it was an angel.   But the disciples knew the Father Himself had spoken; note that Jesus says it was "for your sake," speaking to the disciples.

"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.  "Lifted up" is a reference to Christ being hung on the Cross, as Jesus also used this phrase in John 3:14-15, 8:28.  This death will bring salvation to all peoples, and at the same time will render judgment on the faithless, and destroy once and 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.   My study bible says that once again, here the light refers to Christ (see also John 1:4-9, 8:12).   It says that there are many layers of meaning to Christ's teaching here.  First, He will be completing His public ministry shortly.  Moreover, our own lives are quite limited.  We have simply have a short time to repent and believe in Christ before death.  And finally, the return of Christ, or His second coming, is but a little while when it is compared to eternity.

In today's reading, Jesus says, "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."   This continues the theme of earlier statements He's made as He has walked this road toward Jerusalem and this moment in the Gospel.   When the disciples asked him about the man born blind, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus replied, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.  I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."   As Jesus set Himself for the journey to Lazarus in Bethany, the disciples feared going into Judea, asking Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone you, and are You going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."   Each of these statements, including the one in today's reading, indicate a "light" that illumines one's path in life.  Specifically, this is a spiritual light of wisdom from Christ, and would also include the enlightenment or guidance of the Spirit in our lives, the light of our faith.  Let us note that each time Jesus has used this phrase, it has been a time of courting danger and conflict, and specifically a deathly threat of hostility from the religious leaders who oppose Him.  Jesus is not simply speaking in sweet and kind terms about some kind of charmed or enchanted life and an easy road free from cares.  If we but look at the setting, and the road that He is on, the path He is taking, it suggests a much deeper and powerful story of courage and decisive action.  Jesus, in effect, walks toward the Cross, negotiating a road for Himself of certain conflict with the powerful religious leaders, and in the name of the truth.  His statements about the light make it clear that He does not walk this road from simple human courage or conviction, but because His will is united with the Father, and that in all things, He is united and cooperates with the Father.  He is following a higher and greater plan, serving some greater purpose -- and His death will have a meaning and power that no other will have.  Through His being "lifted up" on the Cross, He will conquer death itself -- and hence, Satan -- for all of us.  There is a lighted path He is following because even as He goes into the deepest darkness, and incurs an implacable wall of refusal for His message, fueled by both greed and envy, He goes in the light of God's promise, a purpose, and a mission.  This is not a grand idea He dreamed up to give Himself power or fueled dreams of the ego.  It is, instead, a purpose given by God, lived in the light of God's spirit and truth.  It's not a conventional story of warfare, or heroic battles on a battlefield, storms at sea, or climbing mountains and the inherent dangers of this world's natural forces.  It is, instead, a journey set by the light of God, the same light that is Christ the Son, and that of the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.  And this is the lighted path which He invites all of us on when He tells us to take up our own crosses and follow Him.  This world will always present to us its dangers, and while Christ has conquered death and Satan, these forces still present themselves as active in our world.  It is through His light that we have the power to walk also and join the very particular fight Christ engaged in this world, from the very beginning of His ministry in going to the desert and tempted for forty days, and right through to the end.  But the difference for us is that we now have His light in which to engage and fight the good fight of faith, as St. Paul has indicated to us:  "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses" - 1 Timothy 6:12.  We are not promised a simple or charmed life, but rather one in which we may also walk according to the light.  We still walk in a world which has darkness in it, and one in which the light shines in the darkness, even though the darkness does not comprehend the light.  But we are invited into what St. Paul terms that "good fight," and to follow in Christ's footsteps with our own cross.  In today's reading, Jesus tells us plainly:  "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out."  Let us understand these things on the terms that Jesus has set for us, as we are invited into His courage, humility before God, and greater purpose for which we live and find our own self-expression, even for our own talents and gifts.  We are invited into this judgment, and the casting out of the ruler of this world.  But absolute humility is necessary for this fight, and the light of the guidance of Christ.  Lent is particularly a time to consider this paradox or dilemma, and Holy Week shows it to us in its starkest terms.  But here we are, nevertheless, in the light where we can walk.  And for this light we pray to shine in our lives, even among the darkness, and so that we may all become sons of 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 

 

Yesterday we read there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the Passover feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, "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 His human soul, and that in His desire for life, He is in conflict with what the Father wants of Him.  But in all things, He is obedient and unified to the Father.  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, showing God's love for all and thus glorifying God.   It paraphrases Christ as saying, "Father, lead Me to the Cross."  This is Christ's divine response to the human impulse 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 comments 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 was an angel.  The disciples knew that it was the Father who had spoken.

"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.  To be lifted up is another reference to Christ being hung on the Cross (see also 3:14-15, 8:28).   This death, my study bible says, will bring salvation to all peoples, while at the same time rendering 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.  My study bible tells us that the light refers to Christ (see also 1:4-9, 8:12).   It says that Christ's teaching here has several facets of meaning.  First, Christ will soon be completing His public ministry.  Moreover, our own lives are quite limited; we have a short time to repent and to believe in Christ before death.   And then, finally, the second coming of Christ is but a little while when we compare it to eternity.

Jesus refers to Himself once again as the light.  His is the guiding light for us to follow.  His words are light, and they are life.  He shows us the way.  How is this true in your life?  As we listen to Jesus in today's reading, we observe His dedication to the will of the Father.  He will go to the Cross, although His human soul resists it, in order to fulfill His mission.  But He knows the Father is love, and He knows that He goes to the Cross for judgment.  Jesus says of this hour of the Cross:  "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out."    There is no doubt of the link between the Cross and judgment:  the "judgment of this world" is also the time "the ruler of this world will be cast out."  His is the light that casts out the ruler of darkness.  At the same time, Christ is lifted up as the One who will draw all peoples toward Himself.   The implication is that He comes to bring a shift into the world, a displacement of the "ruler of this world" whom He casts out by being lifted up on the Cross, whose place He will take as He draws all peoples to Himself.  We who live in this time as we await His return are in the midst of that transition.  It is hard to see, and we may become lost in despair and sadness at what we see in our world, be might become frightened and disheartened, but nevertheless this is His message to us.  He is working to replace that cruel, evil, hard ruler of this world who could be behind the suffering and death of the sinless person who loved us and died for us.  If we continue to see the effects of evil in our world, we need to hear the words of St. Peter, reminding us what the Psalmist teaches:  "But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8, Psalm 90:4).  We are all in this crucible, the time of the Cross initiated by Christ's being lifted up.  We either stand in His light to witness His truth, or we reject it for ourselves.  We are all in this world together, but we know that His message to us is to endure, to stand firm in the ways we are taught, to walk while we have the light, and to become sons of light.  Let us remember this every time we look around, every time we find things that disturb our quiet, when our souls are troubled and let us know that the shadow of darkness is still in some forms with us.  We would do well to remember that every step we take following His light becomes a part of witnessing for Him, a part of the judgment of which He speaks.  Let us remember today His words that are still so powerful and remain true with us, who seek to follow Him and become sons of light.

 

 

 

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

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.  Father, glorify Your name."     Here is the witness of the conflict between the human and the divine in Jesus; His soul is troubled.  A natural response to what He knows is His impending death on the Cross.  But the divine nature takes the helm, so to speak, and His human nature follows.  "Glorify Your name" is the response to the will of the Father.   A note in my study bible refers to Christ's prayer in the Garden, in Luke's Gospel (Luke 22:41-42):   "Christ willingly takes in Himself the voice of weak humanity, thereby conquering weakness:  'The words of weakness are sometimes adopted by the strong in order that the hearts of the weak may be strengthened' (St. Gregory the Great)."  He also sets the example here, for all of us, in our own fears and weakness.

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."  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 shows His love for all, thus glorifying Him.  Jesus is in effect saying, "Father, lead Me to the Cross."  This is Christ's divine response to the human prompting to avoid the Cross.  The Father's response refers to the signs that have already been performed by Christ, and to the death and Resurrection which will come.

"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 refers to His death on the Cross by speaking of being "lifted up from the earth."  My study bible says, "This death will bring salvation to all peoples, while at the same time rendering judgment on the faithless and destroying once for all the power of Satan, the ruler of this world."  He has also referred to being "lifted up" elsewhere in John's Gospel, meaning His death on the Cross -- see John 3:14-15; 8:28.

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.   Once again we can hear in the people a kind of "Greek chorus," reflecting the ideas of the crowds who listen.  They are curious and don't yet understand what He is talking about.  Jesus refers to Himself once again as the light (see also 1:4-9; 8:12).  My study bible suggests here that there are many facets of meaning in what Christ is saying.  First, He will be completing His public ministry very shortly.  Additionally, it says, our lives are very limited -- we have but a short time to repent and to believe in Christ before death.  Finally, the second coming of Christ is but a little while when compared to eternity.

We recall other words of Jesus about the light.  That was in recent readings, as He made up His mind to go to Lazarus, for the seventh and final sign in John's Gospel -- the raising of Lazarus, the one which has sealed His fate with the authorities.  At that time, His disciples warned Him about the Pharisees at the temple, who wish to stone Him.  They said, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and You are going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."   All things must be done with, in, and through this light, and that is the great message of the Gospels -- and particularly of John's Gospel which speaks so strongly and vividly of the Light.  Christ is the light of the world, as He has said of Himself.  To the writer of the Gospel, a man who has born direct witness to the ministry of Christ, the palpable impressions of that light are clearly present.  The vivid memory of Christ is something we can sense all throughout John's Gospel, and perhaps a great sadness at His rejection by the authorities in the temple, and at the evil that is in the world that will not accept the light.  Jesus also says of John the Baptist, "He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light" (John 5:35).  So light takes on the power of the gift of grace, a light from heaven showing our way -- Jesus Himself is the light, but He calls upon each of us to be a lamp, just as He has spoken of John the Baptist as a lamp.  In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus teaches His followers:  "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven"  (Matthew 5:14-16).  In today's reading, He offers to all of us: "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."   So faith is essential to this light.  Not only do we put our faith in the light, but in doing so we may also carry the light, as lamps.  In so doing, we become sons of light.   (Lest we worry about gender-related language, let us remember that in the tradition of this time and place, it is the sons who are the inheritors; thereby we are all "sons," regardless of gender.)  The implication here is that what we choose to put our faith and trust in, we become somehow.  We "inherit" whatever traits of that person or thing we put our faith in.  Thereby our choices become essential to understanding what we become, who we may be, and what we carry into the world.  Such are the terms here that the choice is made absolutely clear:  light or darkness.  What do we put our faith in?  What will we trust?  Moreover, what do we wish to become?  Whom do we wish to be like?  Whose likeness shall we carry into the world?  As His followers, we remember His light, and that we must carry it with us, within us, and out into the world.  Jesus sets the ultimate example of glorifying the Father; He will make the complete sacrifice in order to follow the will of the Father and complete this mission of love.  How do we follow Him?  What part of our lives do we give to His light today, so that we may reflect His light in our own life?