John 12:35 Jesus replied, "The light is with you for a little while longer. Walk~~ while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
Jesus had just declared He would be “lifted up from the earth” to describe the “death he was going to die” (Jn 12:32-33), but the crowd thought the OT Scriptures said that the “Christ remains forever” (12:34), so if He is going to die, “who is this Son of man?” Rather than directly answer their question, He gives them a principle to follow even when they do not experience what they were expecting. He said, “[All of you keep on continually] walking…” in the “light” or truth of Jesus’ teachings not matter what happens.
When He is gone, the darkness, from the lack of His personal guidance and His teachings, could overtake them leaving them with a sense of being lost as one who does “not know where he is going.”
Doubt, frustration, and disillusionment are the results of having been deceived by evil powers or simply by self-centered and selfish expectations leading one to believe that we deserve better in life. In John’s Gospel, they wanted a Messiah who was important, powerful and permanent, but Jesus was a poor, unknown from Nazareth, not politically connected and, by His own declaration, He was temporary. Why should they put their trust in Him and risk their lives for someone who appeared to be a weak failure.
When doubts arise, keep on walking in the light that you know in the Word. James said that “the testing of your faith produces patience” (1:3), which is the sign of being made “perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (1:4), that is, you become the likeness or characteristic of Christ. We cannot let our hurts, loneliness or disillusionments with our circumstances become our excuse to abandon Jesus on the trail, because they are all part of His plan to bring us to maturity, if we continue to trust Him.
Jesus had declared Himself to be the Light of the world and promised His disciples that anyone who follows Him “will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). Paul put it this way, “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Eph 5:8). The key is in the next verse: “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light” (12:36). To walk, therefore, means to habitually trust and believe in the revelation of God in the person of Jesus and His recorded Word. These disciples would soon become the light for others to walk with, just as Jesus had been to them by enlightening them to the mind of God.
The command was needed because in spite of the many miracles He had done in their presence yet, “they still did not believe in him” (12:37). Many might be following Jesus to see what happens, but have not stepped into the light with all their heart in abandon to trust Him fully for everything in life. Can anything discourage you from trusting in Christ?
Psalms 119:35, Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it.
For a year's daily devotional of these Bible studies, order a copy of the book Truths to Live By at Branches Publications for your copy.
Jesus had just declared He would be “lifted up from the earth” to describe the “death he was going to die” (Jn 12:32-33), but the crowd thought the OT Scriptures said that the “Christ remains forever” (12:34), so if He is going to die, “who is this Son of man?” Rather than directly answer their question, He gives them a principle to follow even when they do not experience what they were expecting. He said, “[All of you keep on continually] walking…” in the “light” or truth of Jesus’ teachings not matter what happens.
When He is gone, the darkness, from the lack of His personal guidance and His teachings, could overtake them leaving them with a sense of being lost as one who does “not know where he is going.”
Doubt, frustration, and disillusionment are the results of having been deceived by evil powers or simply by self-centered and selfish expectations leading one to believe that we deserve better in life. In John’s Gospel, they wanted a Messiah who was important, powerful and permanent, but Jesus was a poor, unknown from Nazareth, not politically connected and, by His own declaration, He was temporary. Why should they put their trust in Him and risk their lives for someone who appeared to be a weak failure.
When doubts arise, keep on walking in the light that you know in the Word. James said that “the testing of your faith produces patience” (1:3), which is the sign of being made “perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (1:4), that is, you become the likeness or characteristic of Christ. We cannot let our hurts, loneliness or disillusionments with our circumstances become our excuse to abandon Jesus on the trail, because they are all part of His plan to bring us to maturity, if we continue to trust Him.
Jesus had declared Himself to be the Light of the world and promised His disciples that anyone who follows Him “will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). Paul put it this way, “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Eph 5:8). The key is in the next verse: “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light” (12:36). To walk, therefore, means to habitually trust and believe in the revelation of God in the person of Jesus and His recorded Word. These disciples would soon become the light for others to walk with, just as Jesus had been to them by enlightening them to the mind of God.
The command was needed because in spite of the many miracles He had done in their presence yet, “they still did not believe in him” (12:37). Many might be following Jesus to see what happens, but have not stepped into the light with all their heart in abandon to trust Him fully for everything in life. Can anything discourage you from trusting in Christ?
Psalms 119:35, Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it.
For a year's daily devotional of these Bible studies, order a copy of the book Truths to Live By at Branches Publications for your copy.
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