Walking in the Light or Stumbling in the Dark

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WALKING IN THE LIGHT

OR

STUMBLING IN THE DARK

John 11:1-10

11:1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it."  5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. 7 Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."  8 "But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. 10 It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light." 

NIV

Two things going on at this beginning of the narrative regarding Jesus, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, who live in the town of Bethany. As we stood on the Mount of Olives, we were within a just a little less than a half of mile where Bethany was, at the time of Jesus. Although Jerusalem is in plain view from the Mount of Olives, we cannot be sure if it can be seen from Bethany, yet it is very close to Jerusalem where the Jews who tried to kill Jesus were living. This is why his disciples were concerned about returning to Judea. Because of the close proximity of Bethany to Jerusalem and it is plainly in view of the Mount of Olives, it is quite possible that those in Jerusalem would have been able to see Jesus and his troop of followers walking around the Mount of Olives near Bethany. Then we have the reason for Jesus going there, the sickness of his friend Lazarus and the concern of Mary and Martha whom Jesus loved. We can see his omniscient in knowing the sickness of Lazarus will not end in death. His foreknowledge was either due to his omniscient or it was revealed to him by the Spirit, yet he knew and told his disciples. He could have left that part a secret and just raised Lazarus when he got there, but no, he wanted his disciples to know the truth ahead of time so they would have more proof of his divinity, and the whole reason for Lazarus being sick was to bring glory to Jesus. The second thing going on here is in the words of Jesus to his disciples in response to their warning about going back to Judea. Some might try to make something about the remarks about twelve hours of daylight, indicating the exact time of the year, the summer solstice, but that is not the point Jesus was making. We can see our way when we walk in the light, but we can surely stumble when we walk in the dark. Was Jesus simply just talking about being able to see in order to get to Bethany if they only walk during the day and rest at night? Could they not know the location even by the light of the moon? It is never absolute dark when the moon is present. Maybe it was a new moon and very little light was visible. We can see we cannot apply his words to the actual sunlight and nighttime. He is making reference to walking in the light verses in the darkness, walking in his light, knowing, living by the truth, then stumbling around in the darkness due to ignorance of the truth. Jesus is always teaching, everything he says is a teaching moment, even when he was on the cross, every word from his mouth teaches a divine, eternal truth. He wastes no time on trivia, he speaks only of the eternal truths of God. Maybe we should take a lesson from him. How much effort do we spend on trivial matters, talking about trivial matters? Sure, we have to live in the world and discuss the things of work, as well as our shopping needs, and paying bills, household matters, fixing that which is broken, even weeding the garden. But, the trivia stuff, oh we might be meddling if we name all the worldly trivia that is meaningless from the perspective of eternity. However, we would also be remiss if we did not consider naming a few of those trivial matters, such as sporting teams or specifics about a certain player, or being overly concerned about securing future financial security. It seems the radio ads are full of retirement, investment strategy firms. Money is a big topic. There is a two-hour daily program of a man who always says he is about us keeping more of our money. How much time can we spend on money or sports or the weather for that matter? That is not to say we should ignore it all, but is it trivia or is it eternal matters. How much time do we spend in the matters of God, in our bible, in the study of scripture, in learning? How much time do we spend in the presence of Jesus, so we can become like him, thus reflecting him to the world? It is just a question. Maybe we have an incorrect perspective on these issues. Maybe we are being too judgmental about those who seem to be invested in the ways of the world. What people choose for entertainment or leisure time, or concerns should not matter. What we know is Jesus was only concerned about the eternal matters of God, and if we say we want to be more like Jesus, well then the truth should be clear, as we walk in the light, so we would not stumble in the dark.