May 29, 2023
Time is Running Short
“We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” John 9:4-5 (NASB)
During hurricanes in Florida, we often resort to generators to power our homes. Some are more powerful than others. Some are only enough to run small devices. Without them at night it makes it difficult to get around. In daylight it is much easier to get around. Darkness makes a lot of activity cease when it arrives. In these passages, Jesus wanted the disciples to know He would only be around for a certain time. During this time, He was including them in the Father’s work which needed to be completed before the darkness came.
“We must work the works of Him who sent Me…” Note the usage of the word, “we.” This plural pronoun was used purposely by Jesus to include His disciples. These men were trained to do the Father’s work. Jesus didn’t want the disciples just to see Him perform miracles and later leave earth. It would leave them with no tangible experience. He wanted them to experience the working of God personally; hands-on if you will. When personally experiencing the workings of God, they would be more engaged and have an attachment to the experience. Then they would be able to write about it clearly in the future. If you think about Jesus’ brilliancy, you note that when it is hands-on, it is much different than just talking about it. This way it becomes real and personal. “As long as it is day…” refers to the time left for the disciples before Jesus left. This was the timetable the Father gave Jesus on His mission. Practically today, each man and woman have a job each day. Go to work, do the job and come home. Do a good job while you are there. Jesus would likewise complete His work, and then go to His home too. “This clause gives the note of urgency upon us all.”[1] In roughly two months Jesus would die. Then there would be a period when night came, “when no one can work.” “The night, however, was to be an extremely difficult time when the disciples and Jesus were separated in the trauma of the cross, and at that time all seemed to be lost— “when no one can work” (9:4).”[2] “It is also necessary in this type of context to avoid a term for work which would mean only physical labour. Thus the final clause of the verse may be translated “then no one will be able to do anything.”[3] But the time had not yet come. Jesus was still in the world as He told the disciples, “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” Jesus did not say, “I am a light.” He said, “I am the Light of the world.” “Jesus as God’s Son is always the Light of the World (1:4, 10; 8:12), but here the reference is limited to his manifestation “in the world.”[4] He wasn’t a prophet, a rabbi, or even a priest. He said, “I am the Light of the world.”
We too have a limited amount of time here on earth. We all have a mission as Christians. It’s to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Time is winding down. We see it our world today. So let us get out and “do the work who sent Me as long as it is day.” Night is coming and it will be too late if we don’t. Leave no one behind.
[1] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Jn 9:4.
[2] Gerald L. Borchert, John 1–11, vol. 25A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 314.
[3] Barclay Moon Newman and Eugene Albert Nida, A Handbook on the Gospel of John, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1993), 301.
[4] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Jn 9:5.