John 12:36 Commentary and Bible Study

He calls them to listen to him, and to respond to him, and to come to him – ever pleading with them. He doesn’t answer the question, but he appeals to them: ‘be children of light’. What are ‘children of light’? They are children who are ‘light bearers’ – their minds are open, they understand the Gospel, they see through the world, but they are children of God; they are like Christ; they will bear his light to a needy world, seeking out other lost sinners.Then we read, ‘These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.’ That could be slightly better translated, ‘and was hidden from them’, because it really describes his withdrawal of his public ministry from them. He is not on the run from them, running away, his life is not immediately imperilled. He withdraws himself from them, and that would be better reflected in a slight adjustment of the translation. So it appears that he speaks his last words; it ends his public ministry, and he appears to say no more public words except what was uttered on the cross of Calvary. He was hidden from them. And that is the end.