John 11:7-10 NASB95
Then after this, He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” [8] The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?” [9] Jesus answered, “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. [10] But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
Psalm 139:12 TPT
There is no such thing as darkness with you. The night, to you, is as bright as the day; there’s no difference between the two.
Psalm 36:5 TPT
But you, O Lord, your mercy-seat love is limitless, reaching higher than the highest heavens. Your great faithfulness is infinite, stretching over the whole Earth.
Psalm 36:9 NASB95
For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.
John 11 starts out by telling us that a family Jesus was close to were in a crisis situation. Lazarus and his siblings Mary and Martha were close friends of Jesus, and He loved them very much. Lazarus had become sick and was close to death, and his sisters sent a messenger to inform Jesus so that Jesus could come and heal him. Jesus informed His disciples that the sickness was not going to result in death but instead result in the glory of God. You would think, having said that, Jesus intended to leave immediately to heal Lazarus but instead chose to stay where he was for two more days. After the two days of waiting, Jesus informed the disciples that they were going to go to Judea. Recently when Jesus was in Judea, the Jews tried to stone Him, and so the disciples were trying to warn Jesus to not go back to Judea. It was just too risky, they felt, not just for Jesus but also for them. Jesus then tells His disciples that Lazarus had fallen asleep and that He was going to go and awaken him. Of course, in light of hearing that and being afraid to go back to Judea, the disciples said to Jesus, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Jesus then said, “Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sake that I was not there so that you may believe; but let us go to him.”
I’m sure that this whole scenario up to this point caused great bewilderment in the messenger the sisters sent and certainly in the hearts and minds of the disciples. For one, why didn’t Jesus just go the moment He heard that Lazarus was so sick? Why did He wait two days? Secondly, why would He want to go back to a place where people had just tried to kill Him? Thirdly, why would He say that Lazarus was asleep and then the next moment say that Lazarus was actually dead? In the midst of all this, Jesus seemed to be un-frazzled, unhurried, without anxiety, totally at peace and completely comfortable in what He was saying and doing. (It is amazing to me how often Christians try to challenge other Christians to come clean and admit they are really freaking out on the inside about something because it would not be normal for them to not be freaking out, or angry, or depressed, or anxious, etc. It’s as if we’ve lost sight of what normality actually is for a Christian. Christ likeness from the inside out is normality. If our total humanity is actually in union with the resurrected Jesus shouldn’t we believe that Christians can feel what Jesus feels, and think what Jesus is thinking?)
Jesus’s explanation for His mindset and approach in this situation in verses 9 – 10 is astonishing. The Son of Man walked in the Spirit and thus exhibited the mind of the Spirit in how He saw everything and in every decision He made. To walk in the Spirit is to live in the realm of heaven while walking on Earth.
Basically, Jesus told them that when you operate from Earth’s report, it’s like being able to see, and therefore not stumble, because everything is clear in the natural, but when you walk in the Spirit, you won’t even stumble when everything seems dark around you because, in God’s light, we see light and everything. When we live from heaven and heavens report, there is no darkness. Jesus is the light in us, and from His light, we get to see everything the way He sees it. When you don’t live from Christ, you will find yourself stumbling around in the darkness, but when you LIVE FROM Christ and His light, the life you live will bewilder those around you .