Then Jesus said,
“If I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself.”
He said this to signify what sort of death he should die.
The multitude answered Him,
‘We have heard that the Christ abides forever, so why are you saying,
The Son of man must be lifted up?
Who is the Son of man?’
Jesus said to them,
“The light is going to be with you for only a little while longer. Walk while you have light, so that the darkness does not overtake you.
While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
After speaking these things Jesus left them and hid Himself from them.
Even though He had performed many signs and miracles among them, they still did not believe in Him. This was a fulfillment of the words of the prophet Isaiah who said,
‘Who has believed our testimony? Who has had the mighty works of God revealed to him?’
This was the reason they could not believe. As Isaiah said,
‘He has blinded their eyes, and he has hardened their hearts.’
Some of the Pharisees believed in Jesus but were afraid to confess it publicly because they feared that they would be expelled from the synagogue.
They loved the glory that came from man more than they loved the glory that came from God.
Jesus cried out and said,
“He who believes in me does not believe in me only, but also in the one who has sent me. I am come as light into the world so that whoever believes in me will not live in darkness.
If any man hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him, for I came not to judge the world but to save the world. The person who rejects me and does not receive my sayings, he has something that judges him. The word that I speak will judge him in the last day.
For I did not speak from myself; but the Father who sent me told me what to say and what to speak. I know that his commandment is life eternal. The words that I speak are the words he has told me to speak.”
