Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                 Chapter Twelve

                                                                                                                                              Verses 34-41

The people who heard Jesus prophesy that He would be lifted up did not understand Him. They understood the Old Testament prophecy that the Messiah would endure forever to mean that He would liberate their nation from foreign control, and He would rule the world forever. Psalm 72:17. They missed the Old Testament prophecies of Isaiah and David that their Messiah would suffer for them to provide a spiritual liberation for them. Psalm 22:1-31; Isaiah 53:1-12; Isaiah 55:1-7. When they asked Jesus who the Son of man was, they really meant what would He do.

Jesus replied to them with a spiritual message. Jesus referred to His former claim that He is the "Light of the world." John 8:12. The Jews should have understood that God attached a spiritual meaning to the word "light" even from the beginning when He said "Let there be light." Genesis 1:3. Light, which symbolizes a spiritual revelation, dispels darkness, which symbolizes evil. If the Jews had paid close attention to the symbolic meaning of God's Word, they would have realized that God often used the word "light" to mean a spiritual awakening that would dispel the "darkness" in their lives. Psalm 27:1; Psalm 36:9; Psalm 97:10-11; Psalm 119:105. Jesus told them that as the Light of God, He would only be with them for a "little while." The Jews believed that their Messiah would come to them in physical form and be with them forever. But Jesus informed them that He, their Messiah, would not be with them forever to give them only physical and political liberation. Jesus taught them that while He was with them, they should believe that He could dispel their spiritual darkness with the light of His salvation, and He could make them the spiritual children of God which means He could save them by His grace.

Jesus then departed from these Jews and hid Himself until the time for His sacrifice should come.

But even though Jesus had done so many miracles that they had seen, and even though He had repeatedly claimed to be God and their Messiah, most of the Jews could not believe that Jesus came to be their spiritual Savior instead of their political savior. But in their unbelief, they fulfilled a prophecy of Isaiah who wrote that most of the Jews would harden their hearts and refuse to believe that their Messiah would come to be their spiritual Savior. Isaiah 6:9-13.