The Gospel of John: John 12.27-36

Read and meditate on John 12.27-36.
Jesus experienced what we should experience in the presence of God’s glory – a sense of anticipation and exhilaration, lifting and emboldening us to live and die for the Lord, and an impression of the heaviness, the weightiness, and the sacrifice such an experience of God’s glory entails.

                                                                 ^27“Now trouble on
My soul weighs heavy; what then shall I say?
‘Oh Father, from this hour save Me, I pray’?
But for this purpose I have come to this same
hour. ²⁸So, Father, glorify Your Name.”
Then came a voice from heaven, saying, “I
have glorified, and I will glorify
My Name again.” ²⁹The people, therefore, who
stood by and heard the voice, remarked unto
each other that it thundered. Others said,
“An angel has conversed with Him instead.”
³⁰But Jesus answered, “Not because of Me
has this voice come, but for your sake. ³¹For see,
the judgment of the world is come, and now
the ruler of this world will be cast out.
³²And I, if I am lifted up, will draw
all things unto Myself.” ³³Because He saw
the death that He would suffer, He said this.
³⁴The people answered, “But the Law insists
that Christ remains forever, yet You say,
‘The Son of Man must lifted be.’” And they
continued, “Who then is this Son of Man?”
³⁵Then Jesus said to them, “I say again,
a little longer shall the light with you
abide. Walk while you have the light, lest you
be overcome by darkness. He who in
the darkness walks is lost. ³⁶Believe then in
the light, and you shall be the sons of light.”
He said these things and left, and from their sight
was hidden.
- John 12.27-36

Reflect
1. This section ends with the phrase “and was hidden from them.” It’s not just that Jesus was hidden from them, but the mystery of His hour as well. What was preventing these people from understanding and embracing what Jesus said in these verses? Does that same hindrance block people today from seeing Him? Does it block you at times? Explain. Complete this prayer: Lord, Your truth is hidden from many people, even from some folks I know, but You have sent me, like Jesus was sent, to…

2.  Christians sometimes want something more than the Scriptures to guide them in their walk with and work for the Lord. Some seek a sign, or claim to hear a voice from heaven, or insist they just know in their spirit by some means or other what God wants them to do. They may experience something which they regard as guidance from the Lord, while, at the same time, they pay but scant attention to what God has revealed in His Word. The crowd around Jesus heard the sound of God’s voice, and seemed to be excited by that. But they could not or would not hear the Word of God Himself, as He urged them to walk in the light while they still had it. Where did that leave them at the end of the week? Peter says the written Word of God is more sure than even his own experience of the glory of God on the Mount of Transfiguration (2 Pet. 1.17-19). How can you make sure that the Scriptures are both the foundation and framework for your relationship with Christ? Lord, Your Word is living and powerful, and I want that life and power to be at work in me. So…

3.  Jesus announced that Satan, “the ruler of this world,” whom He had previously bound (Matt. 12.22-29), was now being finally cast out and deprived of his ability to blind the nations and peoples of the world. What are the implications of this for your growth in the Lord? For your witness for Jesus? Lord, I am free from the devil’s power because of You. Help me to live in that freedom, and to…

4.  The devil is cast out, but he’s still prowling around and dangerous. We must learn to recognize his ways and resist his allurements, so that we can walk always in the light, and not in the darkness. How would you explain this part of the Christian life to a new believer? What does this require of us? How can Christians help one another in this? Lord, keep me in the path of light, and help me to help others…

5. How can you know when the darkness is trying to “overtake you”? What can dispel that darkness? What does it mean for you to “walk” in and “believe in” the light of Christ? How can you increase the presence and power of that light in your daily life? Bring together into one prayer the prayers you composed for questions 1-4.

Summary
“[In the] form of a servant the fullness of true light was there. And when the form emptied itself, there was the light. Then he said, ‘Walk while you have the light.’ Even when he was in death, he was not in the shadow.… The true light of wisdom shone there as well. It illumined hell but was not shut up in hell.” Ambrose of Milan (333-397 AD)

Jesus, the Light of the world, shows us the way to follow Him along the path of God’s glory. It’s not always an easy path, and the darkness of sin and unbelief encroaches constantly. But if we hear the Word of God and walk in His light, we can bear the weight of any trial or challenge, and know the weight of glory in the midst of it. Meditate on 2 Corinthians 4.6. How do you practice what Paul describes here?

Closing Prayer
I have set the LORD always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope.
For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16.8-11

Psalm 16.8-11 (All to Christ: Jesus Paid It All)
You are ever with me, Lord; in You I shall not fall.
But rejoicing in Your Word, I abide within Your call.
    Make me know life’s way! Pleasures fill Your hand;
    Fill my life with joy each day! Before Your face I stand.

Soon Your glory I shall see, for as Jesus rose again,
You will come to gather me to my home with You in heav’n.
    Make me know life’s way! Pleasures fill Your hand;
    Fill my life with joy each day! Before Your face I stand.

T. M. Moore
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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.