In-Depth Studies, New Testament

Straight Talk, Light and Truth… Rodna Epley

John 11:16 So Thomas, called the (Didymus) Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

The disciples didn’t want to go back to Judea because they didn’t want to die along with Lazarus (hence Thomas’ sarcastic comment in John 11:16). The Jews had just recently tried to stone Jesus there. But Jesus wasn’t worried because He could see perfectly all the way to the end of God’s glory being revealed when Lazarus would rise from the dead. He was called to go to Lazarus by the Father and nothing could stop that from taking place. Jesus didn’t need to know everything He would encounter along the way, although He probably did know beforehand. He only needed to see God’s glory being revealed at the end of it all. Jesus could see by the light of the glory, which is the Father who was always with Him.

The Father is what made Jesus the light of the world as long as He was in the world. Jesus gave us this same light to walk in as long as we are in the world, because He gave us the Father’s glory, the same glory Jesus had before the world was. Jesus restored us to our Father by making us One in Him (in Christ).

John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

The “light of life” is the Father of glory. It’s that “in Christ” position. It means His glory is awakened in us and we are the light of the world. This opens our eyes upon receiving, which even His glory causes us to receive so we don’t have to work at it. It’s already ours. We simply open our eyes by receiving this knowledge of His glory that makes us One with our Father and gives us His sight.

John 8:32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”