John 12:36Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Penetrating their hearts, He knew that inwardly they had hardened themselves against Him, although they said nothing. He knew that they were seething and ready to kill Him. He did not wait until they came to the deed itself, but hid Himself to calm their hatred.

See how the Evangelist also indicated this. He immediately added, "Although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him."

They have escaped the shadows of the Law and the darkness of figures. They have come to the Light hidden within them, but now shining forth. They have become sons of the Light, that is, of Christ.

"That you may become sons of the Light," He says, that is, My sons. Although the Evangelist says at the beginning of the Gospel that some were born of God (Jn 1:13), here he calls them sons of the Light, that is, of Christ.

Let Arius and Eunomius be ashamed. For here also it is shown that the Father and the Son have one operation.

Why did the Lord hide Himself from them? They did not now take up stones against Him, nor did they utter any blasphemy, as they had before. Why, then, did He hide Himself?

Although they said nothing, He penetrated their hearts and saw that their rage was increasing. Therefore He hid Himself, to calm their hatred.

He hides Himself and does not allow them to be stirred up to anger. Instead He gives them time to think again, so that they might do what is better.

He withdraws with a providential purpose when His Passion was near. He thereby shows that His being put to death by the Jews was not desired by Him, yet He voluntarily delivered Himself to suffering.

He gave Himself as a ransom for our life, accepted death, which is rightly likened to sorrow, and turned sorrow into joy.

In answer to this, Jesus Christ affirms the truth that He must depart from men and deprive them of His visible presence. From this He draws moral instruction.

He is the Light of the world (Jn 1:4). While this Light acts among men not only invisibly but visibly, this is the most favorable time for them to be enlightened by Him, to believe in Him, and to become sons of light.

They must hasten to make use of this time, while the Light remains among them. Otherwise the darkness of prejudices and every kind of error will afterward embrace them still more, and wandering in that darkness will be their lot (1 Jn 2:11).

An Eastern city is always filthy. Refuse is thrown into the streets. There are no pavements. Stray dogs are the only collectors of uncleanness. Animals and people jostle together in narrow streets and passages.

Therefore, although by the duty of His ministry the Savior often had to visit Jerusalem and preach to great crowds, gathered for the annual feasts from every region and country, He withdrew beyond the city gates whenever possible.

He did this partly for safety, partly because of poverty, partly because He loved that blessed house in Bethany, and partly because He felt greater peace and joy in His soul when He walked on the grass growing on the mountains than on the hard stones of the city.

For Him, the highest blessedness was communion with the heavenly Father beneath the shade of the olive trees. There, far from human noise and troubling sights, He could peacefully enjoy the wondrous beauty of the setting sun and the wholesome freshness of the evening dew.

One must go toward the goal while it is light. The darkness of night will come, when objects cannot be seen. If it overtakes one on the road, one must walk by touch, and the goal will not be visible.

The figurative speech is clear; cf. Jn 11:9-10 and parallels. The light is Christ, the herald of truth that enlightens men (Jn 1:4 and parallels), Who now remains among the Jews only for a short time.

To walk in the light means to attain salvation by faith in Christ and to enter His Kingdom. Darkness is what is opposed to truth: falsehood and spiritual obscuring; cf. Rom 1:21.

One darkened spiritually wanders in darkness and does not see the saving goal of life (1 Jn 2:11).

Therefore they must believe in Christ, the Light, while this Light is shining. That is, while His earthly life among the Jews still continues for a little while, so that they may become sons of light, enlightened by the truth.

This Light will soon set for them. Then they will wander through life like travelers on a dark night.

How exactly this prophetic word of the Lord has been fulfilled over the Jews, from the day on which the Lord spoke it even to this day.

After the Lord's Ascension, the Jewish people heard the apostolic word of salvation by faith in the crucified Messiah. Yet, having blinded itself by unbelief in the Messiah Who had lived among it, the nation as a whole refused faith in the apostolic word.

That word was received by some of them. Yet the people, as a nation and as a distinct whole, did not believe in the ascended Christ.

Since then the Jewish people, apart from certain individual exceptions, has wandered in the wilderness of the world. It is like a traveler in an unknown place, overtaken by a dark night, without a spiritual goal and without a guide.

"He departed and hid Himself." Probably He went to the Mount of Olives or to Bethany, where He spent the nights at that time, teaching in the temple by day; cf. Lk 21:37.

This seems to have been the Lord's last discourse to the people in the temple. The final words of this discourse breathe not threat, as on former days, but tender care, fatherly exhortation, compassion, and love.

While the Teacher of truth, the Messiah, is among you, believe in Him, that you may become sons of light and truth.

Thus, when the people heard the Savior's words about His ascent into heaven by the way of the Cross, they did not know what to think.

Either Jesus is the Messiah, and then He must remain on earth as king forever, or, if He must suffer, who is He? The poor son of Joseph! Poor people!

"For a little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, that you may become sons of light."

In these words love speaks, grieving over the condition of those to whom it speaks. It calls itself light and presents itself as a mother. Children, it says, make use of this blessed time while I am with you.

Without Me it is dark for you. Learn from the Light, Christ. Be toward Him as children are toward a mother. Treasure His instruction. Without it there is misery, with it blessedness.

There are similar expressions in Lk 16:18 and 1 Thess 5:5. The true Light enlightens every man coming into the world (Jn 1:9).

Christ the Light is not now seen by bodily eyes as He was seen when He lived on earth. Yet He shines even now. "The darkness is passing away, and the true Light is already shining" (1 Jn 2:8).

Until what time will the light of grace shine? For me and for you, until the time of our death. For the whole earthly world, until the time of its universal transformation.

Then either men will be transferred into the realm of fuller illumination, or the Light will be hidden from them.

How, then, can we fail to value the time while the Light is with us? We must believe in the Light. We must turn His luminous thoughts and rules into life.

"Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor 6:2). "Believe while you have the Light." It says, while. Therefore there is no reason to deceive ourselves with dreams that beyond the grave we can amend ourselves.

The decree of God is unchanging. Earthly life is appointed so that we may be formed into sons of light.

If during it we remain sons of darkness, then eternal darkness is our portion beyond the grave.

"Having said this, Jesus departed and hid Himself from them." We read completely similar notices in Saint Matthew: "And leaving them, He went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there" (Mt 21:17).

Saint Luke says, "By day He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet" (Lk 21:37).

Therefore it is in vain that some wish to see in John's words a notice that the Savior ceased giving public instruction to the people. This is especially vain because the other Evangelists present many teachings of the Savior after His entrance into Jerusalem.

Only with the lamp of faith can he enter through the Door and follow the Shepherd into eternal life; cf. the study of chapter 10.

But returning to the first meaning of the Lord's words, as applied to the Jews who heard them, we must not overlook that the darkness of malice was coming.

In that terrible time, even the disciples close to the Lord were seized by the terror of doubt; cf. Lk 24, the words of Cleopas: "But we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel."

Therefore, for those surrounding the Lord, it was extremely important to believe in the Light while the Light was among them. Once they became sons of light, the coming trials of their souls were fleeting and dispersed like smoke before the glorious Resurrection of the Lord.

For those who did not believe in the Light, the sorrowful lot remained: to become sons of darkness and, by their malice, to take part in the coming works of the prince of darkness, when authority was temporarily granted to him.

"Walk while you have the light." "Believe in the light." "Let not darkness overtake you." "That you may become sons of light." Such were the last words spoken by the Lord to the people and to the Jews before His Passion.

"These things Jesus spoke, and departed and hid Himself from them." This was the Lord's final testament to the whole people.

But the Lord's following words in this chapter, verses 44-50, are addressed only to the disciples. In the following chapters He explains still higher mysteries to them, for they were entrusted with enlightening the world by the preaching of the Cross.

The Lord hides Himself from the Jews because He sees the deep hardening of their soul, their malice, and their thirst for murder, as John Chrysostom says. Which of them the Lord later brought to be "cut to the heart" (Acts 2:37-41) was known only to Him.