While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus proclaimed, and He went away and hid Himself from them.
Parallel translations
- WEB While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light.” Jesus said these things, and he departed and hid himself from them.
- KJV While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
- BSB While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of light.” After Jesus had spoken these things, He went away and was hidden from them.
- NKJV While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.
- NLT Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.” After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus calls people to believe in the light so they may become children of light, then withdraws and hides Himself. It marks a solemn turning point as His public appeals to the crowds come to an end.
Overview
To believe in the light is to be transformed into those who belong to it, sharing its character (cf. Eph 5:8). Jesus' departing and hiding signals the close of His open ministry to the crowds and the approach of His passion. The verse underscores that genuine faith unites a person to Christ and changes their very identity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Eph 5:8For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
- 1 Th 5:5You are all children of light, and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness,
- John 8:59Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple, having gone through the middle of them, and so passed by.
- Acts 13:47–48For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you as a light for the Gentiles, that you should bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.’”
- John 1:7The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him.
- Isa 60:1“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and Yahweh’s glory has risen on you.
- Luke 16:8“His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light.
- 1 Jn 2:9–11He who says he is in the light and hates his brother, is in the darkness even until now.
- 1 Th 5:8But let us, since we belong to the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
- Matt 21:17He left them, and went out of the city to Bethany, and camped there.
- John 11:54Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews, but departed from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim. He stayed there with his disciples.
- John 3:21But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”
- John 10:39–40They sought again to seize him, and he went out of their hand.
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 12:36 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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