Johannes 12:36

Svenska Bibel

Tron på ljuset, medan I haven ljuset, så att I bliven ljusets barn.» Detta talade Jesus och gick sedan bort och dolde sig för dem.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

believe: John 1:7, John 3:21, Isaiah 60:1, Acts 13:47, Acts 13:48

the children: Luke 16:8, Ephesians 5:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:5, 1 Thessalonians 5:8, 1 John 2:9-11

and departed: John 8:59, John 10:39, John 10:40, John 11:54, Matthew 21:17

Reciprocal: 2 Chronicles 14:7 - while the land Psalms 56:13 - the light Isaiah 2:5 - come ye Isaiah 55:6 - Seek Malachi 4:2 - the Sun Matthew 5:14 - the light Mark 8:13 - General Mark 11:19 - General Luke 13:35 - Ye shall not Luke 18:37 - they Luke 19:42 - in this John 1:5 - General John 7:33 - Yet John 9:5 - long John 12:35 - Walk John 12:46 - am John 13:33 - yet Acts 26:18 - and to 1 John 1:5 - that God 3 John 1:4 - walk

Gill's Notes on the Bible

While ye have light, believe in the light,.... Receive the Messiah, and credit the Gospel revelation; this is an explanation of the exhortation in the preceding verse:

that ye may be the children of the light; that is, that they might appear to be such who are enlightened persons; and such are truly so, who are made light in the Lord, or who are enlightened by the Spirit of God to see their own sinfulness, impotency, and unrighteousness, and their need of Christ, and his righteousness and strength, and of salvation by him; and who are made meet, by the grace of God, to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; and which is made manifest by believing in Christ, and walking on in him, as they have received him, and by walking honestly, as in the daytime, and circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, for such walk as children of the light.

These things spake Jesus, and departed; from those Jews, as being unworthy of any further conversation with him; and from Jerusalem, very likely to Bethany, whither he frequently retired, especially at night, during the few days before the passover:

and did hide himself from them: for his safety, for he knew that they were irritated by what he said, and would seek to lay hold upon him, and deliver him to the sanhedrim; and whereas his hour was not yet fully come, there were a few more sands in the glass to run, he provided for his security, by absconding from them; and this was an emblem of his wholly removing from them, and leaving them, and their house, desolate; and it is very likely that from this time forward they saw him no more as ministering the word unto them; and also of his taking his Gospel from them in a little time, and of his hiding the things of it from them, which respected himself, and salvation by him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

While ye have light - This implied two things:

1.That he was the light, or was the Messiah.

2.That he was soon to be taken away by death.

In this manner he answered their question - not directly, but in a way to convey the truth to their minds, and at the same time to administer to them a useful admonition. Jesus never aroused the prejudices of men unnecessarily, yet he never shrank from declaring to them the truth in some way, however unpalatable it might be.

Believe in the light - That is, in the Messiah, who is the light of the world.

That ye may be the children ... - That ye may be the friends and followers of the Messiah. See the notes at Matthew 1:1. Compare John 8:12; Ephesians 5:8; “Now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light.”

Did hide himself from them - John 8:59. He went out to Bethany, where he commonly passed the night, Luke 21:37.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 36. Children of light — Let the light, the truth of Christ, so dwell in and work by you that ye may be all light in the Lord: that as truly as a child is the produce of his own parent, and partakes of his nature, so ye may be children of the light, having nothing in you but truth and righteousness.

Did hide himself from them. — Either by rendering himself invisible, or by suddenly mingling with the crowd, so that they could not perceive him. See John 8:59. Probably it means no more than that he withdrew from them, and went to Bethany, as was his custom a little before his crucifixion; and concealed himself there during the night, and taught publicly every day in the temple. It was in the night season that they endeavoured to seize upon him, in the absence of the multitude.