John 12:36

While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. WHILE YE HAVE ('THE') LIGHT, BELIEVE IN THE LIGHT, THAT YE MAY BE THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT. Instead of answering their question, He warns them, with mingled majesty and tenderness, against trifling with their last brief opportunity, and entreats them to let in the Light while they had it in the midst of them, that themselves might be "light in the Lord." In this case all the clouds which hung around His Person and Mission would speedily be dispelled, while if they continued to hate the light, bootless were all His answers to their merely speculative or captious questions. (See the note at .) THESE THINGS SPAKE JESUS, AND DEPARTED, AND DID HIDE HIMSELF FROM THEM. He who spake as nev...

36._Believe in the light. _He exhorts them to retain by faith the possession of _the light_, for he gives the appellation,_children of light_, to those who, like true heirs, enjoy it to the end. _These things spoke Jesus. _We might have wondered why he withdrew himself from them, when they were so eager to receive him; but from the other Evangelists it may easily be inferred that what is here said relates to adversaries, who burned with envy on account of the godly zeal of good and sincere disciples. For the strangers, who had gone out to meet Christ, followed him even to the temple, where he met with the saints and with the multitude of the inhabitants of the town....

34-36 The people drew false notions from the Scriptures, because they overlooked the prophecies that spoke of Christ's sufferings and death. Our Lord warned them that the light would not long continue with them, and exhorted them to walk in it, before the darkness overtook them. Those who would walk in the light must believe in it, and follow Christ's directions. But those who have not faith, cannot behold what is set forth in Jesus, lifted up on the cross, and must be strangers to its influence as made known by the Holy Spirit; they find a thousand objections to excuse their unbelief....

Verse 36. _CHILDREN OF LIGHT_] Let the light, the truth of Christ, so dwell in and work by you that ye may be all light in the Lord: that as truly as a child is the produce of his own parent, and partakes of _his_ nature, so ye may be children of the light, having nothing in you but _truth_ and _righteousness_. _DID HIDE HIMSELF FROM THEM._] Either by rendering himself _invisible_, or by suddenly mingling with the crowd, so that they could not perceive him. See John 8:59. Probably it means no more than that he withdrew from them, and went to Bethany, as was his custom a little before his crucifixion; and concealed himself there during the night, and taught publicly every day in the temple. It was in the night season that they endeavoured to seize upon him, in the absence of the multitude....

WHILE YE HAVE LIGHT - This implied two things: 1.That he was the light, or was the Messiah. 2.That he was soon to be taken away by death. In this manner he answered their question - not directly, but in a way to convey the truth to their minds, and at the same time to administer to them a useful admonition. Jesus never aroused the prejudices of men unnecessarily, yet he never shrank from declaring to them the truth in some way, however unpalatable it might be. BELIEVE IN THE LIGHT - That is, in the Messiah, who is the light of the world. THAT YE MAY BE THE CHILDREN ... - That ye may be the friends and followers of the Messiah. See the notes at...

EXPOSITION The twelfth chapter neither belongs intrinsically to that which precedes nor to that which follows. It is a paragraph of high significance, as bearing on the construction of the Gospel. It is the transition between the public and the private ministry, the great pause between the two classes of manifestation forming the climax of the public ministry. III. CONSUMMATION OF THE PUBLIC MINISTRY. JOHN 12:1 1. _The feast of love and gratitude_. JOHN 12:1 JESUS THEREFORE, SIX DAYS BEFORE THE PASSOVER. Every preliminary of that solemn feast is memorable to our evangelist. The coincidence of the

WHILE YE HAVE LIGHT, BELIEVE IN THE LIGHT,.... Receive the Messiah, and credit the Gospel revelation; this is an explanation of the exhortation in the preceding verse: THAT YE MAY BE THE CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT; that is, that they might appear to be such who are enlightened persons; and such are truly so, who are made light in the Lord, or who are enlightened by the Spirit of God to see their own sinfulness, impotency, and unrighteousness, and their need of Christ, and his righteousness and strength, and of salvation by him; and who are made meet, by the grace of God, to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; and which is made manifest by believing in Christ, and walking on in him, as they have received him, and by walking honestly, as in the daytime, and circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, for such walk as children of the light. THESE THINGS SPAKE JESUS, AND DEPAR...

John 12:1. _Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead._ The days Christ was to spend upon the earth were getting to be very few so he paid another visit to that Bethany home where he was always so welcome, and more so than ever since he had raised Lazarus from the dead. John 12:2. _There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment._ All the members of the re-united family were present, Martha busy as usual with the domestic duties which fell to her share, La

CHAPTER 12 1. The Feast at Bethany. (John 12:1 .) 2. The Entrance into Jerusalem. (John 12:9 .) 3. The Inquiring Greeks and His Answer. (John 12:20 .) 4. His Final Words. (John 12:34 .) From the close of the previous chapter we learn that the Lord had gone with His disciples to a city called Ephraim. Six days before the Passover He came to Bethany again. They made Him a feast. Lazarus is especially mentioned as well as Martha, who served; Mary also was present with others who were of His disciples. It is a beautiful type of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when He will have His own with Him. Lazarus represents the Saint

THE REQUEST OF THE GREEKS. This incident is chosen to illustrate the Lord's consciousness that only through death could the final success of His work be brought about. If it was invented to gain His authority for the admission of the Gentiles, it must again be confessed that it is very badly done. The Greeks are apparently not even admitted to His presence. The mention of Philip and Andrew is natural if their home Was Bethsaida (John 1:45), in a region largely Hellenic in population. The incident seems to bring before the Lord's mind the vision of a wider mission accomplished without the dreaded sacrifice. But it is put aside. The seed must die if it is to bring forth fruit. On earth He was confined to Judaism; only through death could the wider mission be accomplished. And if His disciples would serve they must follow even through death, to gain the support of His presence in their true...