What Is the Analogy Jesus Is Using in John 11:9,10

Question: John 11:9-10 is confusing and I would appreciate it if you could help me understand it. I have read several commentaries which say that Jesus was referring to his allotted time to work. In his answer to the disciples, the commentaries say, he explains that there is a time set out for him to work and his time to die hadn’t come.

This explanation makes sense given his use of the analogy of the twelve hours of the day and his explanation that during those hours men do not stumble. Therefore, he had no reason to fear going back to Judea as it was not his time to die yet, but still his time to work. However, verse 10 does not seem to fit within this explanation provided by the commentaries.

The commentaries say that verse ten is relating how when Jesus’ time is up he will die because his enemies will be a stumbling block in his path. I don’t think this explanation quite makes sense as stumbling blocks were usually used in the Bible to refer to men making a moral slip of some sort. Moreover, this explanation does not seem to consider how verse ten says this will happen because “there is no light in him”. That part of the verse does not seem to fit at all with the explanation found in the commentaries for verse 9. As these two verses are part of the same analogy, I believe they should work together.

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, ⁷ and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” ⁸ “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. ¹⁰ It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light (Greek, no light in them). (John 11:5-10)

Answer: I think the two verses are following the same analogy. When you walk in daylight you don’t stumble (literally, you can see where you are stepping), but when you walk in the darkness you stumble (literally, you can’t see where you are stepping). That’s the analogy. But there are different kinds of light and darkness. Jesus’ daytime or light is walking in the will of God, while those walking at “night” are walking is spiritual darkness, walking outside of God’s guidance.

“Stumbling” in that sense does speak of a moral slip. As Jesus ministers during the daylight of God’s plan for him, there is safety. It’s okay to go visit Lazarus’ family despite the threats from the Jews. But when the nighttime of God’s plan comes for him, there will be danger of the utmost. God’s will does inevitably lead to Jesus’ death. He will not be stumbling at that time. He will be following God’s will. Night is when his hour has come (John 17:1), to use another analogy.

You have noticed that Jesus says the light is not “in” the one who stumbles, suggesting, as one commentary has put it, “the meaning has slid from the literal to the figurative” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges). The stumbling Jesus is talking about is a spiritual kind of stumbling that will not happen to him, Jesus, because he will always follow God’s direction. But for those who are opposing him, they are walking in darkness and stumbling with disobedience.