John 12:44-50
“… I came into the world as light, so that everyone
who believes in me might not remain in darkness.”
John’s Gospel summarizes Jesus’ teachings - that He has come as the light of the world – to dispel darkness, not to judge, but to save it. To live in darkness is to refuse to become drawn into an intimacy with Jesus’ identity and a refusal to engage with the activity of the one has come to save the world. The dynamic of God’s love is that he comes to be fully engaged in saving the world – it isn’t a vicarious act of salvation but the direct involvement of the source of the true light – and such is the quality of this light that the darkness is very clear and stark, so clear and so stark that it brings judgment on those who live in it.
“…I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me
commanded me to say and speak.”
Jesus' commands came from God, therefore we would be wise to heed them. What He says, we must do. When we take a closer look at John 12:44-50, coupled with other texts to gather more perspective, we find an ironic and heartbreaking reality: the same God the Pharisees claimed to follow was the very same God they crucified.
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