What you talkin' 'bout, Jesus?

Hey everyone.
I have noticed through my study of John, that sometimes when Jesus is asked a question, his response doesn't seem to answer the question.  I, sometimes, don't really understand his answer, so I expect that his hearers may have been a little confused as well.  But because I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and I trust him, I believe that his answer is not only correct, but that it is the best possible answer to the question. The confusion is not his problem, its mine.  I then have to do my research so that I can understand what Jesus meant by his answer.

Here is an example of what I am talking about.  At the end of John 10, the Jews had tried to seize him in order to kill him, but Jesus had eluded them.  Jesus and his disciples left the area and went to where John the Baptist had been baptizing earlier.  Then in John 11 a messenger comes to Jesus with a message that his dear friend Lazarus was sick.  Knowing that Lazarus was sick, Jesus still waited two days before returning.  Then suddenly two days later, Jesus says to his disciples, "Let's go back to Judea."  The disciples fearing for their lives, said, "But Rabbi, a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?"  I can't blame them for their response.  Who wants to walk into a place where the people want to kill your leader, and maybe you.

Jesus response is, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight?  Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world's light.  It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light." (John 11:9-10)  My immediate response to this would have been something along the lines of, "What?  What kind of answer is that, Jesus?"  It doesn't seem to answer the fundamental question that is on the mind of the disciples, which is, "Hey, don't you understand that they are trying to kill you?"

Judea was about the last place that the disciples wanted to go.  When Jesus says in verse 11 that Lazarus had fallen asleep the disciples respond, "if he sleeps, he will get better."  They didn't really want to understand that Jesus meant that he was dead, I think that they were hoping that Lazarus would just get better and they would not have to go.  Their dread is evident in Thomas's response in verse 16, "Let us go, that we may die with him."

So, any way, what did Jesus mean by his answer?  I read several online commentaries with a few different ideas about what Jesus meant by this statement.  In the end, I think Jesus meant something like this (Hughes paraphrase): "I am the light.  You guys are with me, so you have nothing to fear.  It is when you are walking around without me that you will stumble around and get hurt. I am not afraid of those guys and you don't need to be afraid of them either." Jesus was, as always, correct.  They followed him, but in this adventure, only Jesus got hurt.  They all came through it relatively unscathed.  They would later, lay their lives down for Jesus and consider it worth it, but for now, they were frightened and Jesus is telling them that they don't need to be.

It's a good lesson for us as well.  If we stay in Jesus and walk in his light, we have nothing to fear.  I will admit that I do sometimes give in to fear of this scary world we live in, but I shouldn't because if I am walking in His light, I have no reason to fear.

Tom