John 11:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Thus He says: while the "day" is still passing, that is, while the time of the Passion has not yet come, you will not stumble. You will encounter neither persecution from the Jews nor any other misfortune.

But when the "night" comes, that is, My Passion, then in confusion you will gather in one little house for fear of the Jews. From that time you will experience sorrows and pains, and many vexations and hardships.

When I, the Light, no longer dwell with you bodily, the night of sorrows will surround you.

Thus He indicates here that the time has not yet come to tear Me away from the Jews. Though they are impious, everything must still be done for their healing.

It is not fitting to subject them to punishment now, whereby the grace of God would withdraw from them like the sun. But as daylight does not cease until the twelve-hour span is fulfilled, so My illumination does not cease before the appointed time.

I remain with the Jews until the Crucifixion, sending them, as light, the understanding of the knowledge of God.

Since the Jews, He says, are in the darkness of unbelief and have stumbled over Me as over a stone, I must now go to them and illumine them, so that they may cease their God-opposing frenzy.

Or it may be understood thus. Since the disciples were forbidding Christ to meet with the Jews, not for their own sake but certainly out of pity for Him, He encourages them by a parable. He will never suffer anything against His will.

If the one who walks by day does not stumble, can He who sends light to all suffer any harm against His will? Or can He who reveals to all the hidden depths of wicked men Himself fall into them through ignorance?

Or He says this not of Himself, but of the disciples. They will suffer no danger while they are with Him who illumines all things, and who not only knows Himself but reveals to others the hidden designs of the wicked.

Therefore, by revealing the future to them beforehand in certain hints and enlightening them, He does not allow them to fall into stumbling when future events take place.

Even when Judas fell, Matthias at once came into his place, so that the number twelve was preserved. Therefore our Lord did not choose twelve disciples by chance, but to show that He Himself is the Day in a spiritual sense.

Let the hours be illumined by the light of the day, so that through the preaching of the hours the world may believe in the day. "Therefore follow Me," says the Lord, "if you do not wish to stumble."

Thus, when men decided to advise God, disciples the Teacher, slaves the Lord, and the sick the Physician, He rebuked them and said, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble" (Jn 11:9-10).

"Follow Me, if you do not wish to stumble. Do not give Me counsel, for it is for you to receive counsel from Me." To what, then, does this refer: "Are there not twelve hours in the day?"

To show that He is the day, He chose twelve disciples. One must remember that in antiquity day and night were each divided into twelve hours, independently of one another.

At every season of the year, even during short winter days, the day consisted of twelve hours. Their length differed from the hours of the night, except at the equinoxes.

Therefore both in the Gospel text and in blessed Augustine, the reference is not to twelve hours of the full day and night, but precisely to daylight without night.

"If," He says, "I am the day, and you are the hours, do the hours give counsel to the day? The hours follow the day, not the day the hours."

If they were the hours, what of Judas? Was he numbered among the twelve hours? If he was an hour of the day, he had light. If he had light, how did he betray the day to death?

But under this word the Lord foresaw not Judas himself, but his successor. After Judas fell away, Matthias took his place, and the number twelve was preserved (see Acts 1:26).

Thus the Lord did not choose twelve disciples merely so, but to show that in a spiritual sense He is the day.

Let the hours follow the day. Let the hours preach the day. Let the hours be filled with light from the day. Let the hours be filled with radiance from the day.

Through the preaching of the hours, let the world believe in the day. This is what He said in brief: "Follow Me, if you do not wish to stumble."

Throughout all this time, one may paraphrase the Lord's speech, we can go and make our journey without the least danger. The journey could be dangerous for us only if we prolonged it beyond the twelve daylight hours, when night comes and the daylight is no longer on the horizon.

But this will not be necessary, because, if they wish, they can reach the goal of their journey, Bethany, before sunset.

In the spiritual sense the Lord's answer means this. The time of our earthly life is determined by the highest divine will. As long as this appointed time continues, we may go without fear on the path appointed for us, that is, fulfill the works to which we are called.

We are safe, for the divine will guards us from every danger, as the sunlight guards those who walk by day. We would have to fear dangers only if night overtook us in our work.

That would happen if, arbitrarily and self-willedly, contrary to the will of God, we presumed to continue our activity longer than appointed. Then we would stumble, as people stumble at night when they do not see the daylight.

The application of this answer to the present circumstances is clear. The Jews cannot take from Me a single minute of the time foreordained for Me to fulfill My work. Therefore there is nothing to fear. I am still working by day, in the time foreordained for Me.

It would be untimely for Me to act if, as you advise Me, I failed to fulfill what has been appointed for Me. It would be so if I did not go now to Judea, avoiding danger, and did not receive what I must receive by God's decree.

Therefore let us work while our day lasts. Let us go into Judea.

In outward form and content, this whole saying resembles the one with which the Lord prefaced the healing of the man born blind (Jn 9:4). The difference is that there, in the evening, He says that one must not lose time for action.

Here, in the morning, He says that one must not self-willedly strive to act outside the foreordained time, contrary to God's will. Compare Theophylact and others.

Given the situation, danger for the Teacher was also danger for the disciples. The enemies of Jesus were no friends to His sincere followers. From Thomas's words (Jn 11:16), it is clear that, because of the Sanhedrin's bloodthirstiness, the disciples feared for their own lives also.

Christ Jesus says to them: "Are there not twelve hours in the day? ... Whoever walks at night stumbles." Whoever walks by day does not fear stumbling, for daylight shines. So the Son of Man knows the will of the heavenly Father and acts freely in the heavenly radiance.

How, in such light, could He not do the works of Him who sent Him? Jn 9:4. Let the disciples remain at peace. With Him they are safe.

It is different with those who go out to labor without being called from above. They wander at night, in darkness. The enemies of Jesus do not understand what they are doing.

Even if they wished, they cannot either hasten or prolong the time of the Son of Man's death. They are pitiable, because in darkness they prepare misfortunes for themselves.