Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27 “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
34 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”
35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. 36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
My Understanding: The song the Lord Jesus put in my mind this morning is a song about our walk with Jesus Christ on a daily basis, and how that walk should be lived out in our daily lives and experiences. So, as I was reading this passage of scripture, the word “walk,” jumped out at me, as I believe the Lord would have me to focus this morning on what it means to walk in the light vs. what it means to walk in the darkness, and how the two do not and should not mix with each other.
In the context of this passage of scripture, Jesus is talking about his death yet to come. We are living in the period of time post his death, burial and resurrection, so the passage must be interpreted, in order to be applied to us today, within the context in which it was written as well as in the context of where we are now in history. So, when Jesus was speaking about a kernel of wheat falling into the ground and dying so that it can produce many seeds, he was speaking about his own death and how he must die so that many could come to him through faith in him and could live. Yet, he was also speaking of how we, as his followers, must follow him in death and we must die to sin and to our old lives so that we can be fruit-bearing disciples of his in leading others to know Jesus Christ, too.
He continued with this theme of the necessity of dying when he said that the man who loves his life in this present world will lose it for eternity, yet the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Then, he said that whoever serves him must follow him so that wherever he is, we are there also. What this means is that we cannot love the things of this world, the sinful pleasures the world has to offer, worldly wealth and possessions, fame, and/or our reputations, etc. These cannot be what we live for and die for. We must be willing to give it all to Jesus Christ and to surrender all to him. If we live our lives for gaining the things this world has to offer, including gaining the world’s approval of us, then we have missed the mark. This is not why we were created. We were created to love, honor and obey our Lord Jesus Christ and to do what he tells us in his word to do.
After Jesus talked about his death that was coming and how he must die, because that is why he came into the world - same applies to us in that we must die to sin and glorify God with our lives – then he talked about a time of judgment coming into the world and that the prince of this world (Satan) would be driven out. When Jesus died on the cross, he took upon himself the sins of the world and he paid the price for our sins. When he rose from the dead, he conquered Satan and sin so that we could be free, not only from the ultimate penalty of sin (eternal punishment in hell), but so we could be free from the control of sin over our lives. God judged sin on the cross and Jesus paid the penalty for that sin. Now, through faith in Jesus Christ via our own deaths to sin and via glorifying God by following Jesus Christ with our lives, we can be free from the power of sin over our lives.
Yet, there is a time of judgment that is going to come upon the earth, because of man’s sin, that was prophesied about in both the Old and New Testaments, and that is the judgment on the earth at the end of time in which there will be a period of time known as the time of tribulation to come on the earth, which will be followed by the final judgment on mankind in which some will face an eternity without God in hell while others will face eternity with God forever and will be forever with the Lord wherever he is. I believe that time is very near. During that time of tribulation evil will reign and Satan, the beast and the false prophet will be given authority to rule over all the earth and to kill the saints of God, yet he who endures in faith and perseverance to the end will be saved. True faith in Jesus endures. At the end of this time of tribulation, God will judge Satan, the false prophet and the beast and after Jesus’ 1000 year reign on the earth, Satan will meet his doom once and for all time.
Jesus went on to tell them how he, the light, would be with them only a little longer, because he was going to be taken from the earth via his death. On that basis, he encouraged them to walk in the light they had with them before darkness would overtake them. Yet, we know that Jesus was only dead three days and then he was resurrected and appeared to many of his followers, so he was with them again, and then he ascended to heaven and he sent his Holy Spirit to dwell within us, and so he has been with us in the person of his Holy Spirit, within those who are his true followers, ever since.
So, his comments about following the light while you have it go far beyond him speaking merely of a short period of time in which he was taken from them, but I believe he was also speaking of the time of tribulation to come upon the earth when evil will reign supreme and the light of the gospel will be suppressed. There will be saints of God on the earth during that time, so the Holy Spirit will still be present in the lives of his followers, yet when evil rules, darkness will reign on the earth and it will be much harder then to see the light and to follow the light, so that, I believe, is the reason he encouraged his followers to follow the light while they still had it, so that darkness would not overtake them when darkness rules the earth. That time is very near.
Jesus said for them to “walk” in the light. He also said that the man who “walks” in the dark does not know where he is going. And, then he encouraged his listeners to put their trust in the light so that they might become sons of light. So, he was speaking of himself as the light, and so we must walk in him. To walk means more than to physically put one foot in front of another and to walk in a particular direction. Our walk that Jesus is referring to is the way in which we conduct our lives. We must live our daily lives in such a way that our lives are in complete concert with who Jesus was when he walked the earth and who he is presently within us as our Lord and Savior – God the Son – the same yesterday, today and forever. We must live our lives pleasing to God in all ways and should do the things Jesus did and should speak as he spoke. We must live to please God, not to please ourselves. We must live with eternity’s values in view, not with worldly pleasures in view. We must forsake sin and the sinful pleasures of this world, and we must find out what pleases our Lord and allow his Holy Spirit within us to work in us and through us for his pleasure and will.
If we do not walk in the light, then we walk in darkness. Our eyes are blinded to the truth of the gospel, our hearts are deadened, so we cannot see with spiritual eyes and we cannot understand spiritual truths with our hearts, and we do not turn from sin (repent) so that God may heal us (see v. 40). Jesus came to give us light so that we should not walk in darkness. Those who hear his words and yet do not accept his words into their daily lives by how they walk, i.e. those who do not keep (obey) his words, will be judged and will be condemned at the last day. Yet those who walk in the light by accepting the Lord’s word into their lives and by obeying his truth will find eternal life with God forever. Make sure today that you are walking in the light God has given you so that you will not be overtaken by the darkness now and in the days to come when darkness reigns on the earth.
Walking with Jesus / An Original Work / May 4, 2011
When you walk with Jesus only,
And you spend your days with Him,
He becomes your dearest friend,
And your desire’s to be with Him.
Sitting with him at his table,
As He breaks the bread with you,
Oh, what sweet and blessed communion,
As He comes and sups with you.
Living for Him, oh, what glory,
Walking daily in His truth;
Leading others to adore Him
Is what He desires of you.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
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