John 11:7-10 – Moving in tandem with the Lord

When Jesus suggests to His disciples that they should return to Judea again, they were of course taken by surprise. The reason they left Judea was because the Jews there tried to stone Him. Could Christ be testing their resolve? So in unison they exclaimed in unbelief, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?” This seems like how the Lord would often deal with us. He would often lead us through tough situations of life where our natural self would recoil. But as we obey and follow Him through those tough and rough moments, we somehow find ourselves being sharpened, refined and honed. The fear of being stoned by the enemy was still very much on the mind of the disciples. They did not think it was necessary nor wise to return. It seemed foolhardy to them to even think about it, let alone suggest such a step. Here is a principle, for us who desire to obey the Lord, to consider: much as we naturally would shrink from tough decisions in life in following the Lord’s direction, we must never forget that He knows best. Our Master and Lord knows infinitely much more why a certain road is better for us to become the person He wants us to be.  

In John 11:9-10, Jesus then answered them saying, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” These verses seem complicated but let us try to unravel the Lord’s logic. Remember He was seeking to address their fear. They were apprehensive just thinking of returning to Judea. To them it was like walking into the throes of death.  So firmly, Jesus asked, “Are there not twelve hours in the day?” He was saying to them that every day has a fixed duration. A day is not over until the hours used to measure that duration complete its course. The night will only come when the hours assigned for the period, called day, are over. By that, the Lord was suggesting that He had been given a work to do, and He was bent on completing it. The enemy could have no means of taking His life till He had completed His work. He was assuring His disciples that His death could not take place before the Father’s appointed time.  Here is a principle for us to mull over: God has a fixed period for a person to do His life’s work, nothing can shorten it. No calamity nor accident nor disease can shorten that duration when our God given assignments in life are not done. None of us can ever make the sun to go down an hour earlier. Even so neither can our life be shortened by an hour that God had ordained.

Verse 9 also tells us that when we have daylight to guide us in our walk, we will not be stumbled easily. Why? It’s because we will be able to see any obstacle before us and so can avoid it. Herein is another principle: when we walk in the light of God’s revelation we will not be stumbled easily. To walk in the light of God’s revelation is to walk with His ever abiding presence, to walk in accordance with His Word and to walk in communion with Him. Remember, His Word will be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. In Lazarus situation, why Christ was not in a hurry to go to Bethany was because He was taking the direction from the guiding light of the Father. He was walking in the fullness of God’s purpose and plan. In verse 10 we see a warning to His followers. While it was addressed to the disciples immediately then, it addresses us specifically now. It reveals to us that Christ is the true light. It reminds us that if we choose not to walk with Him, falling and failing will be inevitable because we won’t have God’s guiding light.

What can we take away from these verses? We must trust God and not let fear of danger or unpleasant consequences prevent us from fulfilling the assignment God has given us. Our responsibility is to move in tandem with God’s direction. As we go about the path God had ordained for us, we can be assured that no power of the enemy can ever shorten our life until our divinely appointed task is done, and that God’s assigned moment has arrived.