John 12:35 Then Jesus said to them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come on you… The occasion of this admonition is intelligible enough. The Jews were naturally perplexed at Jesus' saying (ver. 32) concerning his approaching death, and the mysterious power which in and after his death he should exercise over men. No wonder that they asked who this Son of man could be. Jesus did not want to discourage them from this inquiry as one of great speculative interest; truth, especially upon the highest themes, must be reverently and earnestly sought. Yet it was the desire of Jesus that the Jews should remember the practical bearing of his language. His ministry among them was a probation to those who were brought into contact with him. Some used that probation aright; many misused it. Now that the light shone, it was for those favored with its shining to walk by its celestial guidance. I. AS INJUNCTION. 1. What is the light in which we are directed to walk? Undoubtedly the spiritual light shed upon the world by Christ and his gospel - the light which is Divine, glorious, unsetting, and sufficient for the illumination of all men. This is the clear light of knowledge, the pure light of holiness, the bright light of joy, the welcome light of counsel and of safety. 2. What is it to walk, having the light? It is in the first place to accept the true and Divine light in preference- to false, delusive lights of earth. Then to be practically guided by it so as to escape the errors and follies and sins into which men are prone to be misled. Then to learn by experience so to love the light as to partake its very nature, and so to become the children of the light. II. A WARNING. "That darkness overtake you not." A traveler in a lonely desert or a dangerous country is anxious to travel by daylight, and to reach his halting-place or his destination before nightfall. Making use of this similitude, our Lord enjoins all who value his counsel to speed their onward way, lest, if they be slothful and inattentive to Divine guidance, they be overtaken by the night of judgment and destruction. The darkness to be dreaded is the darkness of spiritual insensibility. The soul that shuns the light learns to hate the light. And such a moral failure to use aright the precious advantages conferred involves the privation of privilege. Thus the unfaithful is brought into the darkness of Divine displeasure and death. How the warning of Christ was fulfilled in the experience of Israel as a nation, history has recorded. The destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the once favored nation, show that "darkness overtook" them. No more solemn warning exists against negligence and unfaithfulness. - T. Parallel Verses KJV: Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. |
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