John 11:9

Jesus answered: Are there not twelve hours of the day? in which, namely, to walk is good and safe; whence he says: If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. This light is Christ: above …

1485 Our Lord dispels this fear by strengthening them. The Evangelist says, Jesus answered, his disciples, Are there not twelve hours in the day? First, we see something about the time; secondly, what time is suited for walking; thirdly, what time is not. 1486 To …

Some understand the day to be the time preceding the Passion, the night to be the Passion. In this sense, while it is day, would mean, before My Passion; Ye will not stumble before My Passion, because the Jews will not persecute you; but when the night, i. e. My Passion, cometh, then shall ye be beset with darkness and difficulties.

The Lord encourages them and says: "Just as one who sees the light does not stumble, but the one who walks at night stumbles, so too the one who does good and walks in deeds of light will not suffer any misfortune, while the one …

If any man walk in the day he stumbleth not - As if he had said, So there is such a space, a determined time, which God has allotted me. During that time I stumble not, amidst all the snares that are laid for me.

Christ, wherever he went, walked in the day, and so shall we, if we follow his steps. [2.] He shows the pain and peril a man is in who walks not according to this rule (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

(1.) Here is the notice which Christ gave his disciples of his purpose to go into Judea towards Jerusalem. His disciples were the men of his counsel, and to them he saith (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

Jesus answered, are there not twelve hours in the day?....

The conference is so very free and familiar as to make out what Christ saith, I have called you friends. Two things he discourses about--his own danger and Lazarus's death.

Twelve hours - The Jews divided the day from sunrise to sunset into twelve equal parts. A similar illustration our Saviour uses in Joh 9:4-5. See the notes at that place. If any man walk - If any man travels. The illustration here is taken from a traveler. The conversation was respecting a journey into Judea, and our Lord, as was his custom, took the illustration from the case before him. He stumbleth not - He is able, having light, to make his journey safely. He sees the obstacles or dangers and can avoid them.

We should notice, in this passage, how mysterious are the ways in which Christ sometimes leads His people. We are told that when He talked of going back to Judea, His disciples were perplexed. It was the very place where the Jews had lately tried to stone their Master—to return there was to plunge into the midst of danger. These timid Galileans could not see the necessity or prudence of such a step. "Are You going there again?" they cried. Things such as these are often going on around us.

We should notice, in this passage, how mysterious are the ways in which Christ sometimes leads His people. We are told that when He talked of going back to Judea, His disciples were perplexed. It was the very place where the Jews had lately tried to stone their Master—to return there was to plunge into the midst of danger. These timid Galileans could not see the necessity or prudence of such a step. "Are You going there again?" they cried. Things such as these are often going on around us. The servants of Christ are often placed in circumstances just as puzzling and perplexing as those of the disciples. They are led in ways of which they cannot see the purpose and object; they are called to fill positions from which they naturally shrink, and which they would never have chosen for themselves. Thousands in every age are continually learning this by their own experience. The path they are obliged to walk in is not the path of their own choice. At present they cannot see its usefulness or wisdom. At times like these a Christian must call into exercise his faith and patience. He must believe that his Master knows best by what road His servant ought to travel, and that He is leading him, by the right way, to a city of habitation. He may rest assured that the circumstances in which be is placed are precisely those which are most likely to promote his graces and to check his besetting sins. He need not doubt that what he cannot see now, he will understand hereafter. He will find one day that there was wisdom in every step of his journey, though flesh and blood could not see it at the time. If the twelve disciples had not been taken back into Judea, they would not have seen the glorious miracle of Bethany.

Are there not twelve hours in the day? - The Jews, as well as most other nations, divided the day, from sun-rising to sun-setting, into twelve equal parts; but these parts, or hours, were longer or shorter, according to the different seasons of the year. See the note on Joh 1:39. Our Lord alludes to the case of a traveler, who has to walk the whole day: the day points out the time of life - the night that of death. He has already used the same mode of speech, Joh 9:4: I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh when no man can work. Here he refers to what the apostles had just said - The Jews were but just now going to stone thee. Are there not, said he, twelve hours in the day? I have not traveled these twelve hours yet - my last hour is not yet come; and the Jews, with all their malice and hatred, shall not be able to bring it a moment sooner than God has purposed. I am immortal till my work is done; and this, that I am now going to Bethany to perform, is a part of it. When all is completed, then their hour, and that of the power of darkness, shall commence. See Luk 22:53. If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not - A traveler should use the day to walk in, and not the night. During the day he has the sun, the light of this world: he sees his way, and does not stumble: but, if he walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in it, Joh 11:10; i.e. there is no sun above the horizon. The words εν αυτῳ, Joh 11:10, refer not to the man, but to the world, the sun, its light, not being above the horizon. Life is the time to fulfill the will of God, and to prepare for glory. Jesus is the light of the world; he that walks in his Spirit, and by his direction, cannot stumble - cannot fall into sin, nor be surprised by an unexpected death. […]