John 12:34-36 34So the crowd answered him, “We ourselves have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever, and how can you say that it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35Then Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. And the one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light.”
The confusion of the crowd is evident in these verses. Like the religious leaders, the crowd was confused about Jesus and did not understand who he was. They had part of the right information but failed to overcome their presuppositions and put their faith in him. They had hoped Jesus to be the Messiah but were confused about the reference to the Son of Man being lifted up. They may have heard Jesus talk about himself as the Son of Man; at least the disciples had.
The confusion seemed to come in their interpretation of the Christ being forever and then what Jesus said about being lifted up. The crowd does not mention any specific passage from the Law, which typically meant the Torah or Pentateuch. The crowd may have had in mind a passage from the Prophets like Isaiah 9:7, which is a strong messianic passage that refers to the eternal kingdom of the coming one. Other passages from the Writings refer to the eternal reign of David’s house, like Psalm 72:17 and 89:35-37. The crowd could not reconcile the idea that the Messiah would die. If that was the case, how did Jesus fit into all this?
Jesus responded to their question with another timeless truth that connected his situation and the response the people needed to make. His response did not directly answer their question, but as readers, we can reflect back on other sayings in John’s Gospel that help us see the connections. The word light (phōs) is repeated five times in verses 35-36. Jesus already told the people of Jerusalem that he is the Light of the world (8:12; 9:5). The reference to light in verse 35 is to the revelation he brought to people. As the teacher of truth and embodiment of divinity, his time on earth was limited and was soon coming to an end. The cross would seemingly snuff out the light, but the light of Jesus would outlast the darkness of death.
Jesus was inviting the people to believe in him while they had him right in front of them. Walk (peripateite) is commonly used in the New Testament for how a person lives. There is an implied connection in this verse between faith and obedience, the two foci of how God wants us to respond to him. Walking in the light is used in a parallel way with believing in the light. The world is a dark place, with darkness representing lostness due to corruption, sin, despair, and hopelessness. There is a strong contrast between light and darkness in John’s Gospel (1:4–9; 3:19–21; 8:12). John wrote in 1 John 1:7 about walking in the light and staying away from sin. People flounder in darkness because they choose to follow their own ideas, interpretations, and worldviews. Without the light of Jesus, people become enslaved to the power of sin that feeds a selfishness that subtly infiltrates all aspects of their lives, resulting in many heartaches, problems, and controversies. They can also fool themselves into thinking that their light is bright and that they have no problems. Yet, the objective truth of the gospel indicates their emptiness.
The answer to the hopeless wandering in the dark is to accept the light revealed in Jesus. The crowd faced a crucial decision point. They had Jesus right in front of them. Things would not get easier when he was dead on the cross or no longer present. They had the opportunity right then to put their faith in him. Although obviously, Jesus is not present in a physical way with us today, he still comes through the Holy Spirit, who brings conviction of sin and the need to live in righteousness (16:8). When the light of the Spirit shines in our lives, we must respond, lest we end up like this crowd stuck wandering aimlessly around in the darkness of unbelief. The timeless invitation comes to us, believe in the light.
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