The Teachings of Jesus in John 12

John 12.40
September 21st 2014

Welcome. How is everyone doing? That’s a loaded question, with responses that arrive from the superficial to the deep. Whatever is happening in your lives we welcome you and are blessed to see and know you.

Jesus' Death Foretold

So let’s… And when we come back we’ll pick our verse by verseTGNN’s Bible teaching series—book-by-book, through the lens of fulfillment and spiritual liberty. back up at verse 32 and work our way forward. Okay, last week we finished a four-week review of what verse 32 means from a contextual view of scripture. In it, Jesus said:

32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

Verse 33 continues with John saying:

33 This he said, signifying what deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God. he should die.
34 The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?
35 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.
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.
37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

Contextual Clarity

Okay, back to 32 where Jesus says:

32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

And John adds, referring to Jesus saying that He will be lifted up from the earth,

33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

Remember, John is writing well after the fact and is in a position to explain things retroactively. So he cites Jesus using the term “being lifted up from the earth” and is then able to tell us what exactly Jesus was referring to – the manner of death that He should die – being lifted up on a cross and suffering death by crucifixion.

Back in John 3 we read Jesus say:

Joh 3:14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

And so we can see that the Lord used this description before to describe the fact that He would be lifted up – to a person living under Roman rule, “death by being lifted” up would be an obvious reference to being crucified.

Misinterpretations of the Messiah's Role

I don’t think this phrase was lost on those who heard it and support this view with the next verse (34):

34 The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?

After referring to the death that He should die the people responded and said, “We have heard out of the law that Christ (the Messiah) would live forever.” Another way to say this would be, “we have been taught by those who have interpreted the law (to us, meaning the Old Testament or possibly just the first five books of the Old Testament) “that the Messiah would abide or live forever.” Because of passages like Psalm 110:4, which says, referring to the Messiah, “Thou art a priest forever,” many Jews took this literally – which they should. Unfortunately, they allowed the singular thought – that the Messiah would live forever – to overwhelm any other factors that could play into the teaching. And therefore they believed errantly that He would (or could) “never die.”

We have a tendency as human beings to make the most sense out of information because, as Spinoza said, “nature abhors a vacuum.” What this means is we hate empty spaces, concepts that are disconnected, and anything that we cannot box up and make it absolute. This is why absolute presentations are so comforting to human beings. It’s why many of us so readily adopted Mormonism – Mormonism provides a lot of certainty, a lot of

The Impact of Tradition on Understanding Scripture

concrete answers to the unknown. Let me say one word to prove this: kolob. Right?

Well this is what had happened to the Jews surrounding Jesus. They had been taught elements from the law by Man and they believed them as they were taught – can you hear the teachings echoed through their history?

“Our promised Messiah will come and liberate us! (True) He will sit on the throne of Israel and we will never be made captive again (true, if allowed)! This MESSAIH will never die!” The hyperbole would take hold on their hearts and after centuries be as strong a chain around their minds as the first vision is to Mormons and the Trinity is to most Christians. The traditions of Man, providing answers, trumping other possibilities. Sadly, what these Jews also allowed to happen, was the tradition that their Messiah would never die caused them to overlook other passages of scripture like Isaiah 53:1-12.

The Danger of Holding to Tradition

Another warning to us – keep the mind operative and willing to consider all facets of scripture. The human need for certainty is so very strong that we will (without even thinking) see what we want to see and totally discount (subconsciously) anything that challenges our established notions. I am convinced that it is incumbent on true Children of God to be willing to constantly seek and constantly be at least willing to reconsider all they have been taught (LISTEN) NOT to destroy the truths that we have, but to build upon them and possibly rearrange them (if led and necessary). To refuse is to be prisoner to tradition and to never allow yourself to mature and grow.

Admittedly, this approach to God and Christianity is scary for most and utterly terrifying for others. Which is why traditions – faulty as they may be – proliferate and remain = fear. Now a healthy dose of fear is beneficial to reason and so I am not suggesting we do not incorporate elements of fear into our process of discovering and discerning truth. I mean we would all do well, in my opinion, to fear lies, to fear the effects of false belief in our lives, and to fear distancing ourselves in the least from God and His Son. He is the Rock, upon Him we stand. But as the Rock we know that He is immoveable, He is THE constant where there exists no shifts; He is eternally reliable. Once He has a place in our lives, once we have been broken over His immovable unchanging presence He will not move.

Examining Beliefs in the Light of Scripture

So we have a foundation whereupon we work from. Everything else that orbits around Him, everything that uses His name to get us to act, everything hypothecation about Him, about His person, about His doctrines are up for scrutiny, are to be examined, and if need be, challenged. And if need be discarded for concepts that revolve much closer to the Rock and what we know of Him.

So right here, the Jews tells Jesus, THE PROMISED MESSIAH that they have been taught about for 1500 years, who is standing right in front of them: “Our view of the Son of Man, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, is that he will live forever. Yet you “sayest,” YOU speak of the Son of Man being lifted up? “Who is this Son of man?” . . . “You certainly couldn’t be speaking of the same Son of Man?” We don’t know if they were speaking from the heart and really wanted to know who Jesus was speaking of OR if they were being obstinate and sarcastic toward Him. What we do know, however, is how Jesus responds. And because of His response I am personally of the opinion that they were challenging and/or mocking Jesus.

Why? Listen to how He replies:

35 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.

The Genius of Jesus' Response

Jesus did not reply directly to their question or logic. They seem to have been offended by the mention of his death, and so He never answers or justifies the fact that the Son of Man was in fact, going to experience death. By carefully examining His words, however, I believe we can see the genius of Jesus at work. Because of the way they had been instructed they had an improper view of the Messiah – it seems that most of the Nation of Israel did. So instead of debating them on this sticking

Jesus as the Light

Point, instead of trying to battle the traditions of 1500 years right there on the spot – after all – His time was coming to an end – He, in my opinion, attempts to help them see His true, most basic identity (what identity? It might surprise you – light.

And so He says:

“Yet a little while (or, for only a short period of time) 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.”

“You have a chance for not much longer to see, my friends, to walk with light illuminating your path. Take advantage of the light while I am with you, open your eyes, because if you don’t darkness will fall upon you and those who walk in darkness does not know where he is going.”

To me He is saying, “Inquire, my friends. The light is here. Walk – pursue the light, seek it (and you will find). If you don’t the dark will envelop you, and if this is the case you will not have any idea of your direction.”

The Presence of Light

It was true then, it is true today. “The light is here, shining, present and illuminating those who seek it, (the Holy Spirit cries) “those who pursue it, who want to find and discover it. Don’t delay! Because if the darkness envelops you, you will have no idea of the direction of your life.”

“You will be standing on mushy ground, in the dark, rising and falling and having no idea when or where you will land.”

Now, it is thought that when Jesus called Himself the light that they probably knew what he was talking about. There are a number of references in the Old Testament to light – many of them considered allusions to the promised Messiah.

Consider Isaiah 9:2 as an example, which says:

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”

So, identifying himself as the light, Jesus continues, saying:

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.

Implications of the Light

The line “while ye have the light,” implies a couple of things to them. First, it implies that He is the light, tying Him to a possible notion they may have that He was admitting that He was the Messiah. The second thing about the phrase is it reveals that He was going to depart, that He was going to be taken away first by death and then by ascension.

In this way, we do find a response on His part to their question. It comes by way of an admonishment rather than a clarification of their delusion. Jesus always declared the truth one way or another and this is just another example of it. So while not addressing the death of the Son of Man issue directly He revealed to them that He was the light, and then He says “believe in the light.”

Now, I want to speak to this approach that Jesus uses to these unbelievers – specifically, the fact that He calls Himself the light (instead of the promised Messiah) and tells them to believe in the light.

It is really a radical phrase when we think about it. Did you catch it? I mean Jesus takes the LIBERTY of telling them to believe “in the LIGHT.” Note that He doesn’t tell them to believe in Him – “on Jesus;” nor does He tell them to believe that He is the Son of Man. He says:

“While ye have light (Me, he infers) “believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.”

I’m not really sure we can properly address all that is being said here. But let’s try and simmer it all down to an understandable presentation. We know from the beginning of John’s gospel that He refers to Jesus as the light.

In John 1:9 he wrote of the Lord:

“That (He) was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”

So we know that Jesus has and does shine into the hearts of all to give them spiritual insight, therefore we are all without excuse.

In John 3:19 John says:

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

From this John tells us that

The Light of the World

Jesus is LIGHT that came into this world, shining the light (and I would suggest this illumination is from God the consuming fire) and it is therefore a light that exposes evil deeds, that pushes the dark back, that reveals. In John 8:12 John has Jesus say:

“I am the light of the world: (the Greek word means I am the LIGHT of the entire UNIVERSE folks, heaven and earth! And then Jesus adds) “he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have ‘the light of life.’”

In John 9:5 Jesus said something interesting. He said,

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Does this mean when He leaves the presence of the world He is not the light of the world. Yes and no. Going to what I call heavy Greek this is what we know about this line:

It is written with an “indefinite relative clause and a “present active subjunctive” which is best understood as Him saying, "Whenever I am in the world," referring to visitations prior in the Old Testament and to His incarnation. The Latin Vulgate translation alters this. The Light of God is always the light of the world – pre-incarnation, incarnation and post.

However, what He is referring to here is limited to His physically being in the world as an incarnate being. So when He first says, As long as I am in the world, it refers to Him always being the light of the world whenever He has made a visit. But when He says, after saying, “as long I am in the world,” and then adds, “I am the light of the world,” he is speaking only as long as He is physically in the world. We know this because of the absence of the definite article. So in this line we would best read the words to be saying:

"I am light to the world, whenever I am in the world." I think this observation from the Greek helps make obvious what Jesus says to these Jews here in John 12.

God as Light

Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians 4:4 this:

“The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

It is of course of great interest that John says in 1st John 1:5:

“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

What we are able to put together from this, in part and in my opinion, is that God, who is light, and who is love, and who is fire, came down and or was made flesh and manifested Himself (who is otherwise invisible to human-kind) in and through His only begotten Son, the Christ-child Jesus. His purpose, in addition to redeeming the world? To reveal the invisible God (that is light, and love, and fire) to a dark, cold world.

Children of Light

Here Jesus tells these listeners:

“While ye have light believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.”

When we were talking about hell and the biblical descriptions of it, and the lake of fire and the descriptions and location of it, we noted that hell is frequently described as being DARK or absolutely void of light. And then we noted that the Lake of Fire was the opposite – a place (located in the very presence of the Angels and Lamb of God) that was nothing but light.

By taking these descriptions we can clearly see two facts as they apply to believers and followers of Jesus, that AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT, we would have no place in a place of utter darkness – how could we? If a child of Light went to hell he or she would illuminate it, right? So we know that since light (or children of light) have no place in the dark there will be no true children of light in hell.

Simultaneously, we can also see that as “children of light,” we will have no difficulty abiding in the light of the Lamb. In other words, by following Christ and therefore becoming children of light, we are assured of a safe escape from hell and a comfortable residence amidst His very presence.

Paul says in Ephesians 5:8:

“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.”

Walking as Children of Light

Those who “were sometimes darkness,” but now are “light of the Lord,” that we therefore walk “as children of light.” Stay with me.

The world is dark – this world and its operations. Children of light, by definition don’t operate by its edicts and commands. We respond and react and pursue the ways and means of light, not the ways and means of the world. I am always perplexed by “Christians” who operate by the world's standards, whether those standards follow the Marxist “Might make right” model or the abundance of Capitalist models out there . . . or the opportunist models, or even the political models, I get ENTIRELY perplexed when people who claim Jesus as their king continue to adopt and reflect worldly models by which they live and operate. The children of this world operate by such models – or truly succeed by them – but not the children of Light, as scripture refers to believers.

The Parable of the Unjust Steward

In Luke 16 we find the most interesting parable – known as the parable of the unjust steward. In it, Jesus tells of a man who works for a lord (lowercase l) who was a rich man – in this case a businessman. And the rich businessman discovers that the steward is not doing his job so he fires him. And so in the parable, the steward says to himself, “What am I going to do?” I’ve lost this job, I can’t do manual labor, and I am too proud to beg? So the steward calls all the people who owed the master a debt and said, How much do you owe? And the debtor would say, 100 pounds and the Steward would say, “I’ll tell you what, pay four pounds,” and in so doing was able to make a bunch of friends and associates by his favors to them.

Then in verse eight Jesus says: “And the lord (not a capital Lord but a boss) commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely . . .” I am not going to take the time to explain the purpose and meaning of the parable. Obviously, it is odd and would take some time. But the reason I mention it here is that while the unjust steward did something that was beneficial to himself and his survival – a move that was commended by his former business master as being wise, it’s how the Lord Jesus ends the parable because He says in the face of the story: “for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”

Isn’t that wild? I mean right here Jesus Himself makes an observation through a comparative . . . there is a wisdom that the children of this world are privy to, that appeal to its methods and their understanding of these methods that make them “wiser” than the children of light. In other words, while the children of darkness will thrive through cunning and wise worldly strategy, the children of light (by comparison) are going to be considered truly . . . less wise . . . which by definition would be perhaps more “foolish?”

Fools for Christ's Sake

For reasons like this, it’s highly paradoxical to hear of Christians who operate in this world through the darker (but more accepted and successful) “strategies” of the world. Children of Light. The concept brings to mind Romans 8:16-17, which says: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

Could part of the suffering joint-heirs with Christ experience is that we choose to avoid being wise in the things of the world, and are therefore considered fools?

Could this be why Paul wrote of the apostles, who gave up the former world entirely, in 1st Corinthians 4:10: “We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honorable, but we are despised.”

It kind of comes with the territory of being Christian, doesn’t it – the title of fool? I mean, from the body of scripture, we know that Christians believe in a King who died on a cross – and asked that God would forgive those who killed Him. That we do not live or operate by the machinations or models of this world. That we are willing to suffer for His name's sake rather than enjoy the pleasures of sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace. for a season?

The Foolishness of Faith

It's pretty easy to see the idiocy of the faithful Christian ethos if this is all there is to human existence, right? If there’s nothing more, then the ideas of Capitalists, Communists, or criminals are far wiser than that of the Christian. And since we cannot prove there’s more, Christians truly could be considered the most foolish of all men. But with this title, we move forward in the foolishness of faith, as Children of Light, trusting that there is not only an after-life but one based on models of earthly foolishness.

Jesus's Departure and the Crowd's Disbelief

The rest of verse 36 says:

“These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.”

From this, I would continue to suggest that this crowd was somewhat antagonistic toward His person. From Luke, we know that from here He went to Bethany where He would often pass the nights. John adds:

37 But though he had done so many miracles before them (collectively, not necessarily at this point in time), yet they believed not on him:

And in making this point, John refers to a prophecy spoken of by Isaiah. So for clarity's sake, let me read all these verses together – from verse 37 through verse 41, and then we’ll end our time together discussing them.

Fulfillment of Isaiah's Prophecy

Verse 37-41

37 But though he had done so many miracles before them (collectively, not necessarily at this point in time), yet they believed not on him:
38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, “Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,

40 “He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

41 These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.

Wow. In fact . . . it is “such a wow” that we will cover their meaning . . . next week – there’s just too much to explain without going well overboard.