Lent Day Thirty Seven
“What are you hearing today?”
John 12:27–36 The Passion Translation
27 “Even though I am torn within, and my soul is in turmoil, I will not ask the Father to rescue me from this hour of trial. For I have come to fulfill my purpose —to offer myself to God.
28 So, Father, bring glory to your name!” Then suddenly a booming voice was heard from the sky, “I have glorified my name! And I will glorify it through you again!”
29 The audible voice of God startled the crowd standing nearby. Some thought it was only thunder, yet others said, “An angel just spoke to him!”
30 Then Jesus told them, “The voice you heard was not for my benefit, but for yours—to help you believe.
31 From this moment on, everything in this world is about to change, for the ruler of this dark world will be overthrown.
32 And I will do this when I am lifted up off the ground and when I draw the hearts of people to gather them to me.”
33 He said this to indicate that he would die by being lifted up on the cross.
34 People from the crowd spoke up and said, “Die? How could the Anointed One die? The Word of God says that the Anointed One will live with us forever, but you just said that the Son of Man must be lifted up from the earth. And who is this Son of Man anyway?”
35 Jesus replied, “You will have the light shining with you for only a little while longer. While you still have me, walk in the light, so that the darkness doesn’t overtake you. For when you walk in the dark you have no idea where you’re going.
36 So believe and cling to the light while I am with you, so that you will become children of light.” After saying this, Jesus then entered into the crowd and hid himself from them.
A friend of mine was showing around a potential housemate when he asked him what he did for eating. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘we either sit at the dining table or eat in front of the TV.’
‘No, central heating!’
How important our voice is, not least how it is heard by others. God’s voice is audibly heard by the crowd and is one of only three times we hear it in the gospels. But here it is not clearly heard by all. Some even thought it was the weather playing tricks.
What strikes me most about God’s audible voice is that it is the same powerful voice that spoke the world and the universe into being. It also comes with the most famous first words ever spoken: ‘Let there be light.’ (Gen 1:3)
In my home I can say ‘Alexa, lights on’ and my smart bulbs will come on all at once, but here the voice of God is lighting up not just one room but the whole universe!
Physicists tell us light is made up of photon particles which travel 300,000 km per second and are completely unstoppable. They are moving all the time across the whole of space and pushing back the darkness wherever it finds it. Emerson and Cox say when God speaks his Word it is like ‘a genesis of light and love powerfully shot out of the mouth’ that goes out into the whole of creation.
And yet in its immensity is intimacy.
In Jerusalem, God’s audible voice speaks ‘light’ again. This time for his glory to be revealed through his son as he prepares to defeat the darkness of sin on the cross.
It’s why elsewhere Jesus can declare himself to be ‘the light of the world.’ He knows he is at the centre of all creation and that it is only through himself that everything can hold together in perfect harmony. That’s quite something!
I have wondered if I might have been one of those who only heard thunder that day, but it is a Lenten reminder to be still and to try and tune into what the Lord might be saying to me today. We might not all hear his audible voice, but God is always speaking to us through his Spirit. That’s because we now have the same immense and intimate light living in us. I pray others too might encounter this same ray of hope that sees all darkness pushed back by the unstoppable light-life – Jesus.
Andrew Stewart-Darling
Andrew Stewart-Darling has spent nearly thirty years in pastoral ministry with Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland and the Church of England whilst simultaneously pursuing a successful career in marketing and advertising. Andrew and his family now live in Guildford.