On Line Bible Study - For the Week August 27-September 2, 2012

Lesson 551

John 12:44-50

Jesus has gone into hiding (John 12:36), so the text we are considering today seems out of place - he is 'crying out' but there is no one there to hear him - except his Father.  Father Raymond Brown suggests this passage, wherever it might have been originally in the gospel (if indeed it wasn't right where we find it now!) is an apt summary of the ministry of Jesus.

Whoever believes in me, cries Jesus, believes not in me but in Him who sent me...

Does this harken back to an earlier text in John 8:58 - Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am!  This "I am" statement puts Jesus on an equal footing with the One speaking to Moses (see Exodus 3:14).

In language typical for John, Jesus uses the image of light and darkness.  His authority is not his own, but the authority given him by God - and we don't have to like it or agree with it.  But "Light" is "Light", and whether the darkness likes it or not is irrelevant.

I use an iPhone, and one of the 'apps' most frequently used on my phone is the Flashlight app.  Darkness is all about me - in a corner when I am trying to find the electrical outlet; on an appliance where the words are written with the same color as the background; when I have to step outside at night for just a moment; when I am trying to find something that has slipped between the seats in the car.

At the conclusion of this chapter, the very next words we read are these:

It was just before the Passover Festival.  Jesus knew that the hour had come ... The juxtaposition of darkness and light is going to be intense and profound in what comes next.

Our consideration of the Gospel of John concludes with this study.  From here we are heading into the supper, agony, arrest, death and resurrection of Jesus.  We are going to take the four gospels together, acknowledging that John's rendition of the 'last supper' is much more extensive than Mark, Matthew and Luke (the Synoptics).  Our "scholar" providing commentary assistance for this phase of our study is going to continue to be Raymond Brown.  I'll be using his book: The Death of the Messiah.

May Light guide your path and give you hope ...