I turned on the light switch and nothing happened.
It was 5 a.m., very dark outside, and I was in the garage, getting ready to run on my treadmill before going to work.
As I realized the lightbulb in the ceiling needed replacing, I made a terrible decision.
I’d run in the dark.
Ten minutes into my run, I found myself on the cement floor. When I’d tried to increase the speed on the control panel, I wobbled enough to get tossed off the treadmill.
I learned a painful lesson that day—a lesson that came with five years of lower back pain.
Don’t run in the dark.
It sounds like such an easy piece of advice to follow, right? Yet how many times have we wanted to run off on our own way instead of walk in the light—especially when that light illuminates only part of our path?
Jesus’ disciples may have felt like that when he announced that they would be traveling to Judea, a place that had become dangerous for Jesus (John 11).
Jesus, Why?
“Jesus, why? The last time we were in Judea, people tried to kill you!”
The disciples were also confused because Jesus said they were going there so that he could wake up Lazarus, his good friend who was ill.
“Jesus, why? Shouldn’t we let him sleep so he will get better?”
The conversation became even more challenging as Jesus plainly explained that Lazarus was dead—and that he was actually glad that he hadn’t been there before the death of the one he loved.
“Jesus, why? Why didn’t you go when you first heard Lazarus was ill? Why go now when he’s already dead?!”
So much didn’t make sense!
Thomas was so befuddled that he encouraged the others to follow Jesus to Judea “so that we can all die with him.”
Once they reached the home of Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary, two days later, there were more questions.
“Jesus, why? Why didn’t you come when we asked you to?”
Even when Jesus requested that the burial stone of Lazarus’s tomb to be removed, Martha still didn’t understand.
“Jesus, why? He’s been dead four days! Don’t you know that death stinks?”
But then Jesus called Lazarus to life—and it all made sense.
What Jesus did—and how he did it—had been for their good. Out of their grief and sorrow arose faith and joy. John tells us that when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, it was the turning point for many, who then put their faith in Jesus. They had new grounds for believing.
Jesus Is the Light
Perhaps Jesus’ disciples now understood his earlier explanation concerning their many questions: “Anyone who walks in daylight doesn’t stumble because there’s plenty of light from the sun. Walking at night, he might very well stumble because he can’t see where he’s going.”
In other words, Jesus says that when we follow him, we are walking in the light.
“Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12
No matter where Jesus leads, it will be for our ultimate good and the good of the kingdom. Along the way, we may become frustrated and confused, like the disciples, because the path is so dimly lit—we can’t see all of what is ahead. We’re afraid, we’re hurting, we’re ready to give up—but then the path brightens just enough to let us know we’re on the right one.
Walking in Light and Faith
Walking in the light means walking in faith. We’re not given light to see WHAT is there; we’re given light to see WHO is there.
Walking in light means that no matter what comes our way, we can trust that Jesus will transform our grief and sorrow into faith and joy, as we allow him to do so.
Following Jesus is always an adventure, full of surprises and detours. It’s an adventure that we either travel in fear and mistrust or follow in faith, knowing that Jesus is with us through it all, working to bring good for us and his kingdom.
Walking in the light, however, doesn’t mean we won’t grieve. When Jesus sees the tears of Mary and the others, he, too, weeps. Even though Jesus knows that in a moment, the dead would be alive, he grieves—with Mary, Martha–and with us. We will always grieve in this world, but because of Jesus, we don’t have to grieve as if we have no hope.
And one day, the troubles of this world will pass away. At that time there will be no more darkness to trip us up. There will be no more grief or sorrows for us to experience or for Jesus to bear with us. Instead, we’ll live forever in a new on-earth-as-it-is-in-heaven world that is illuminated not by the sun but only by the son and his magnificent light (Revelation 22:5).