John 11:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."

NIV: It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light."

NASB: But if anyone walks during the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.'

CSB: But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him."

NLT: But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.'

KJV: But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

NKJV: But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

Here Jesus contrasts the idea of those who walk according to the knowledge of God—"walk[ing] in the day"—with those who ignore or rebel against God. His disciples are concerned because Jesus intends to travel back into Judea, close to the religious leaders who want Him dead (John 11:7–8). What they do not know is that Jesus means to resurrect Lazarus, providing yet another sign of His divine power (John 11:1–4, 41–44).

In the prior verse, Jesus spoke of the need to "walk in the day," since that light allowed a person to travel safely. Here, Jesus contrasts this with walking in the night. The lack of light presents danger—a person cannot see the path, or obstacles, or other hazards. This follows a common metaphor used in the Bible, where light represents the will and knowledge of God.

In short, Jesus is reminding His disciples that following God is always the "safest" course of action, even when the world sees it as foolish or dangerous. That's not to say that following God's will keeps Christians from all possible harm. Quite the opposite; obedience to Christ can result in persecution and death (John 16:1–2). Rather, it means that God is in control, and our most beneficial choice is to follow His lead. He'll provide as much protection as His will requires.

John 11:1–16 sets up the most spectacular of Jesus' earthly miracles: the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus is given word that Lazarus is sick but delays several days before leaving to see the family. As it turns out, by the time this message gets to Jesus, Lazarus has already died. The disciples assume Jesus won't go back to Judea, since local religious leaders want to kill Him. When Jesus plans to head into dangerous territory, His followers are frightened and pessimistic. The following passage will show Jesus arriving four days after Lazarus had passed away.

Jesus has left the vicinity of Jerusalem to avoid hostile religious leaders. While gone, He receives word that a good friend, Lazarus, is sick. In fact, Lazarus has died by the time this message reaches Jesus. He purposefully waits a few days before returning to Bethany, arriving four days after Lazarus' burial. In front of Lazarus' mourning sisters—who Jesus weeps with—and an assembled crowd, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead in a stirring and spectacular miracle. This is the seventh of John's seven ''signs'' of Jesus' divine power. In response, religious leaders coordinate in their effort to have Jesus murdered.

After giving sight to a man born blind (John 9), Jesus sparred with religious leaders on at least two occasions (John 10). After another failed arrest attempt, Jesus left the area and went out where Jerusalem's politics had little influence. In this chapter, He returns to resurrect a recently-departed friend, Lazarus. That results in a renewed commitment from Jerusalem's religious leaders to have Jesus murdered. As the crucifixion draws near, Jesus will stage His triumphal entry in chapter 12, and then begin His final teachings to the disciples.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.