When you are doing this reading of two chapters a day, do you ever read something and think, “What on earth does that mean?!”, but then, move on in order to check the box on the reading plan and get on with your day?
I have.🙋 🤦
I am glad to say that I stopped myself from doing that this past week on a verse that I thought,
“Whaaat? Why did Jesus say that?”
So, I thought I would share what I learned when I took the time to investigate.
I know we are past these chapters, but I thought I would share anyway in case the verses confused you as well.
In chapter 9 of John, the disciples are assuming that the man born blind was that way because either he or his parents sinned. Jesus says it was neither, “but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (9:4-5)
I could have moved on in the reading.....I understood most of that....but...I did wonder why Jesus said, “the night is coming when no one can work”. What does that mean?
Reading several commentaries most were in agreement that “night” means death. So I can read the above sentence as “I must work the works of God (the Father) while I am alive here. My death is coming soon, where I will not be doing this work. (Remember his words on the cross, “It is finished”. He did everything he was supposed to do, fulfill prophesy and “the works of God” that God wanted Him to do.)
I am so glad I took the time to learn about this figurative language because Jesus used these terms the very next day in our reading!!
Saturday we read how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Before he headed to Bethany in the region of Judea he stayed a couple days longer “beyond the Jordan”. The closer Jesus would get to Jerusalem the greater danger he was facing from those that wanted him out of the picture. The disciples knew this and reminded him of the danger. Jesus responded, “Are there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But, if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
Ok, this was another time that I scratched my head thinking, what type of response is that to the disciples expressing concern for His life?
Well, since Jesus is using the same terms, day and night as he did earlier, I took the meanings used earlier, “living” and “dead” and applied them to His response. It’s like Jesus is saying, "I have a set amount of hours to work here. Nothing is going to happen to me until I get all that work done. I have nothing to fear (no stumbling), I am still in those “12 hours” of work time." Since there was a set time Jesus would be betrayed, he knew he would not be harmed until then. There would be a day, when his work was done but not that was not the day. He did not need to worry about being killed prematurely.
With this understanding, I came to really like the answer Jesus gave. He didn’t give an answer in first person which we would only apply to him. He gave his answer in a way that it can apply to us as well! We don’t need to worry for our life while we are doing the work set before us by God. He knows when our work is done. We just need to remember that while we live our daily life with Jesus directing us, we will not stumble! Until the day our work is done and God brings us to him, we don’t need to worry!
I love that!!! I hope that helps you if you were confused on those verses.
Bottom line, don't worry about your life if you have Jesus as your light and his light is in you! You have work to do (12 hours-a set time) until He brings you home. He knows what day that is so you don't have to worry about it!
That may sound too simplistic, but, hey, Jesus said it, not me. 😉
