Light

John 12.36b-end

While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’

After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. This was to fulfil the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

‘Lord, who has believed our message,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’
And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,
‘He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and understand with their heart and turn—
and I would heal them.’

Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him. Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.

Then Jesus cried aloud: ‘Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.’

Reflection

As I write this, the sky is overcast, a featureless gray. It brings to mind my time as a student in upstate New York. There, the clouds would move in over the valley and Cayuga Lake. And then they’d just stay. For months, it seemed. Then, the sun would break through, and everything would change. Everything seemed clearer, more vivid, more alive.

That’s what the light John tell us about is like. It changes everything. It changes us. But we can’t take its presence for granted. Instead, we have to seize the moment; we have to open our hearts and minds now—right now—to the great gift that has come to us in Jesus. If we don’t, we may lose the opportunity to be transformed. We may think we’ll be ready later, that there will be a more convenient time. If we believe these things, we’re fooling ourselves. There will be new distractions, additional claims on our time and loyalties. The time to let the light of the world into our lives is right now, this very moment. Because the clouds are moving in again.