Night and Day

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. "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." (John 11:9-10)

I want to unpack this much more than anytime previously.

The time system used back then was a technique of dividing the day into twelve equal parts called hours and the same was done for the night. Why did Jesus ask this seemingly redundant question?

He seems to be distinguishing or contrasting between actions in the daytime versus in the night.

What did He mean by the phrase, the light of this world?

What is significant about the light not being in a person? Note that even those who walk in the day do not have light in them. How is that significant?

Is Jesus referring to Himself as the light of this world or is he emphasizing the external focus of our perception of reality? Is the light of this world referring to our own inherent sense of what is real, what is right, what is true and just but our inability to see reality from heaven's perspective?

Implied in this statement is the preference for not stumbling. Stumbling is assumed here to be something we do not want to do. To prevent this one must make choices about when they are going to do their walking. There are better times than others to walk.

How does the reference to twelve hours play into this? There must be some important reason Jesus made this statement.

This whole section is dropped right into the midst of the story about the death and resurrection of Lazarus. What is supposed to be revealed encoded in this cryptic presentation?

Choosing to walk in the day takes advantage of existing light. But worldly light is external. Our light is only available when the sun is up but is available to everyone. If one fails to get their necessary things done in the daytime they will have much greater difficulty getting it done when the light has faded.

Seeing the light of this world reinforces the idea of the light not being internal.

This whole cryptic message was Jesus' response to the disciple's intense fears aroused about returning to Judea where the life of Jesus had just been threatened several times. As friends of Jesus they also felt threatened and their natural feelings of self-preservation were being aroused. They were also feeling protective of Jesus so His desire to return so quickly into dangerous territory was baffling to them.

Just previous to this it states that Jesus had left the place where the Jews wanted to stone Him and was staying beyond the Jordan where many were more readily believing in Him. The gospel work seemed to be flourishing in this place in contrast to the intense hostility and difficulties of changing people's minds in Judea. So returning to Judea while leaving a place where they were having so much more seeming success simply made no sense to His disciples. This is the context of this statement.