The disciples say to him, Rabbi, [even but] now the Jews sought to stone thee, and goest thou thither again?
The disciples hear "Let us go to Judea again" and think of the stones men had lifted against Him there. Their question weighs the road by its danger; He weighs it by His Father's will.
They address Him with the ordinary Jewish title for a teacher.
A title of respect among the Jews, meaning "master, teacher." It was applied to the Lord, though often translated "master."... Jesus forbade the disciples to be called Rabbi, for one was their Master, even Christ.
Behind their question lies a suspicion that He has forgotten something.
He who was God, and loved as no man ever did, stayed two days where He was. Then He calmly said to the disciples: Let us go to Judea again. They wonder. Did He not know better than they how murderous the hatred of the Jews was? Had He forgotten their repeated attempts to stone Him? Why then did He propose to go there again? He was here to do the will of His Father; and here was a work to do for His glory.
Their surprise came from what they had already watched Him do.
They had seen Him calm a great storm, overthrow the power of demons, and even break the power of death. But when men tried to murder Him, He used no power at all. He simply escaped out of their hands and withdrew beyond the Jordan River. They felt that He was safe there and that they were safe with Him. And when He proposed to return to Judea they thought it a very foolish thing to do, and asked in surprise why He was going back.
Neither His own love nor other men's threats set His timetable.
His disciples, in the timidity of unbelief, bring in their human fears, and would talk Him out of returning to Judea; there is a lion in the way! ... The precious, tender love of His human heart could not move Him towards Judea until He had the Lord's word in His ear. And now no fear of Jewish hatred or of Satan's opposition will hold Him back from going. The will of Him who sent Him had fallen on His opened ear, and that is enough.
Two natural reactions to the news, and the Lord followed neither.
Human love, thinking only of relieving the sick one, would have set off at once for Bethany. Human prudence, thinking only of self, would never have gone at all — as the disciples' question shows. The Lord, rising above both human love and human prudence, acts according to divine love moved by divine wisdom.
What surprised them was not the delay but the destination.
The disciples do not understand the motives that governed the Lord. They wonder, not so much at His delay, but at His decision to return to the land where the Jews had so recently sought to stone Him. They were looking at circumstances and speaking by the light of natural prudence. The Lord was walking in the light of the Father's will, and so there were no stumbling steps in His path. We at times, looking only at circumstances, stumble and stray: our way is uncertain and dark. It is only as we spread all our difficulties before the Lord, looking only to Him, and seeking to walk according to His will, that we shall walk in the light.
A word from God is what turns a dangerous road into a lit one.
Suppose He had gone off two days earlier — He would have been walking in the night, because He had no word for it. That was an impossibility with Him! When He went, He had the word, He walked in the light, and never stumbled. This is what I long for in my own heart, and for all believers — this nearness to the Lord. May we walk so close to Him that, when we have to go somewhere, we put our hand in His and do not take the wrong street. There is always a right street and a wrong one in every journey.
- Fear speaks first. The disciples answer His plan with the last thing they saw — stones — and call the trip back to Judea foolish.
- Fear counts risks. Self-protection would never have gone. Human love would have rushed off days earlier. He did neither.
- The word decides. He waited until He had His Father's word, and once He had it, no hatred could hold Him back.
- The word gives light. His steps never stumbled, because He walked in the Father's will. The disciples read only the circumstances, and walked in the dark.
- Light leads to glory. He went to Judea to do a work for the glory of God — the very thing their fear could not see.
Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walk in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world;
The disciples heard "let us go to Judea again" and thought only of the stones waiting there. Jesus answers with a picture from ordinary life: a working day of set length, lit while it lasts. The question is what that daylight stands for, and why it puts the danger to one side.
The image is not about sunlight but about direction. When we know God's will, it is daytime, and whoever walks in it does not stumble.
If it was the will of the Father, it was day. Jesus was not only sent by the living Father; He also lived because of Him. So for the disciple He is the light and the food and the motive. The known will and word of God is the light of day; to be without it is to walk in the night, and stumbling is the sure consequence.
He had already stayed two days after hearing Lazarus was ill. The same principle that held Him back now sent Him forward — and it silenced two opposite pressures.
And so, just as He would not be moved by the precious, tender love of His human heart to go toward Judea until He had the Lord's word in His ear, so on the other hand He will not be held back from returning there by any fear of Jewish hatred or Satanic opposition. The will of Him who sent Him had fallen upon His opened ear, and that is enough.
Writers reading this section see it as a window into how He lived at every point, not one isolated decision.
His every step, His every act, His every word had direct reference to the claims of the Father's glory. Deep personal affection did not take Him to Bethany, and no personal fear could keep Him away. In all He did, and in all He did not do, He found His motive in the glory of God.
What is "the day"? And notice the wording: the one who walks in it sees the light — he is never said to own it.
"The day" was the time of Jesus' presence in this world as the Light of the world. When the time of service is ended, our departure is equally clear.
There is this distinction. The one who walks in the day has the light of the world. The one walking in the night has no light in himself: it is night, and all is total darkness. It is never said that we have light in ourselves. We have no light in ourselves; but the one who has the light walks in the light — as the believer does — in the Light of this world, Christ.
The One answering their fear was Himself the light He pointed to.
He not only saw the light, He was the Light of the world — not merely a child of light, but the Fountain of light. His disciples, however, are slow to hear. They neither recognise the voice of the Son of God nor see the path of the light of life. They judge that death for Himself, rather than life for others, lay ahead.
Twelve hours is a fixed span. While the hours run, no enemy can cut the work short. One writer applies that to Paul, and to God's people ever since.
So long as He had a work for Paul to do, no one could injure him or frustrate His purpose. And so it has been throughout the whole history of the church, and will be: afflicted, but not hemmed in; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. Her confidence through it all is the same as her Lord's: there are twelve hours in the day, and if she walks in the light of His will, no one can injure her or make her stumble.
The test is not whether a road looks safe, but whether we have His word for taking it.
Apply them to Christ, and to our own path too. He saw the light, and He walked in it. Suppose He had gone two days earlier — He would have been walking in the night, because He had no word for it. That was impossible for Him! When He went, He had the word, He walked in the light, and never stumbled. This is what I long for in my own heart, and for all believers: this nearness to the Lord. May we walk so close to Him that if we have to go to a certain place, we can put our hand in His and not go by the wrong street. There is always a right street and a wrong one in every journey.
Another writer takes the same words to a hard road that leads home.
"Are there not twelve hours in the day?" were the words of Jesus. He had to suffer, and so may we; but is it the way there — the way to the home my affections are set on? This settles every question and delivers from ten thousand sorrows. The strength of God holds me up in it; the love of God carries me through.
- Day means will. Daylight here is the known will and word of God; to act without it is to walk at night, and stumbling follows.
- Word before movement. Love did not send Him to Bethany early, and fear did not keep Him away — He waited until He had the word, then went.
- Light outside us. We are never said to have light in ourselves; the believer walks in Christ, the Light of this world.
- Hours are counted. The day has a fixed measure. While the work lasts, no enemy can shorten it — Christ's confidence becomes His people's.
- Right street. The practical outcome is nearness: hand in His, so we take the right street and not the wrong one.
but if any one walk in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.
The disciples had just warned Jesus that going back to Judea meant stoning. His reply moved the danger onto different ground: not what men might do, but whether a person walks in the day or in the night. This verse is the dark half of that picture — what happens to anyone who moves without light.
The "day" in the Lord's answer is not a stretch of hours. It is a condition. One writer ties it to the Father's will, and warns what happens to anyone who acts without it.
If it was the will of the Father, it was day. Jesus was not only sent by the living Father; He also lived because of Him. In the same way, for the disciple He is the light and the food and the motive. The known will and word of God is the light of day; to be without it is to walk in the night, and stumbling is the sure consequence. If Christ is before us, the light will be in us, and we do not stumble. May we always heed His word!
The phrase "the light is not in him" could sound as if some people carry an inner lamp and others do not. One writer says no one owns light at all. The light is a Person, and having Him is the only difference between the two walkers.
Here is the distinction. The one who walks in the day has the light of the world. But the one who walks in the night has no light in himself. It is night, and all is in complete darkness. It is never said that we have light in ourselves. We have no light in ourselves. But the one who has the light walks in the light — and this is the believer — in the Light of this World, Christ, the living One who obeys God's will, as the Image of His Person. That was the state of the Jews after they rejected Him. They went on in darkness, though they thought they were walking and tried to walk. They had no light in them. The disciples were different: they had the light with them.
The Lord had already waited two days after hearing that Lazarus was ill. One writer reads that delay through this verse.
What do verses 9, 10 mean? Apply them to Christ, and to our own path too. He saw the light, and He walked in it. Suppose He had gone off two days before — He would have been walking in the night, because He had not the word for it. That was an impossibility with Him! When He went, He had the word, He walked in the light, and never stumbled. This is what I long for in my own heart, and for all believers: this nearness to the Lord. May we walk so close to Him that when we have to go somewhere, we put our hand in His and so do not take the wrong street.
The disciples were not being reckless. They were being sensible. One writer shows where that kind of common sense still leaves us.
The disciples did not understand the motives that governed the Lord. They wonder at His delay, but even more at His decision to return to the land where the Jews had just tried to stone Him. They were looking at circumstances and speaking according to the light of natural prudence. The Lord was walking in the light of the Father's will, and so there were no stumbling steps in His path. At times we look only at circumstances. Then we stumble and stray, and our way is uncertain and dark. We shall walk in the light only as we spread all our difficulties before the Lord, look to Him alone, and seek to walk according to His will.
One writer turns the warning into an example.
A man must have light to guide him. If he walks on without light from heaven, he is sure to stumble. Christ walked in the day. We see what that means, lived out in full perfection in Him. That is how the Shepherd goes before the sheep! He walks in heavenly light. He teaches us to walk in the same path, but He walks in it first Himself.
- Day. The day is not a span of time but the known will and word of God; while you have that, it is day, whatever the danger looks like.
- Borrowed. No one carries light inside himself. The walker in the night is dark because Christ is not with him — the disciples had the light with them.
- Word. Christ waited two days because He had no word to go. When the word came, He walked into the place of stoning and never stumbled.
- Prudence. Reading circumstances is not the same as seeing light. Plain caution left the disciples in the dark, while the Lord walked in His Father's will.
- Shepherd. He does not send us down the lit path — He walks it first, then teaches us to walk it after Him.