The Gospel According to John (American Standard Version, 1901) · 23 of 37 · tr. American Standard Version (1901)
12:29-13:2
[12:29] The multitude therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it had thundered: others said, An angel hath spoken to him.
[12:30] Jesus answered and said, This voice hath not come for my sake, but for your sakes.
[12:31] Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
[12:32] And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.
[12:33] But this he said, signifying by what manner of death he should die.
[12:34] The multitude therefore answered him, We have heard out of the law that the Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?
[12:35] Jesus therefore said unto them, Yet a little while is the light among you. Walk while ye have the light, that darkness overtake you not: and he that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
[12:36] While ye have the light, believe on the light, that ye may become sons of light. These things spake Jesus, and he departed and hid himself from them.
[12:37] But though he had done so many signs before them, yet they believed not on him:
[12:38] that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
[12:39] For this cause they could not believe, for that Isaiah said again,
[12:40] He hath blinded their eyes, and he hardened their heart; Lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, And should turn, And I should heal them.
[12:41] These things said Isaiah, because he saw his glory; and he spake of him.
[12:42] Nevertheless even of the rulers many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
[12:43] for they loved the glory that is of men more than the glory that is of God.
[12:44] And Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.
[12:45] And he that beholdeth me beholdeth him that sent me.
[12:46] I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me may not abide in the darkness.
[12:47] And if any man hear my sayings, and keep them not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
[12:48] He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day.
[12:49] For I spake not from myself; but the Father that sent me, he hath given me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
[12:50] And I know that his commandment is life eternal; the things therefore which I speak, even as the Father hath said unto me, so I speak.
[13:1] Now before the feast of the passover, Jesus knowing that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
[13:2] And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,
Malevolent planetary rulers or demiurgic powers that govern the material world and obstruct the soul's ascent.
The 'prince of this world' who is to be 'cast out' functions as a malevolent ruler governing the material realm and obstructing the divine mission, closely parallel to the Gnostic archon figure.
Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
The passage is structured around the opposition of light and darkness, the world and the divine, the prince of this world and the Father, presenting two fundamental cosmic registers.
The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.
Light is the dominant revelatory metaphor: 'I am come a light into the world,' 'Walk while ye have the light,' 'believe on the light, that ye may become sons of light'—illumination as divine revelation and the means of escape from darkness.
Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.
'Now is the judgment of this world' and 'the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day' frame a final cosmic verdict in which the wicked are sentenced and the prince is cast out.
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
'He that beholdeth me beholdeth him that sent me'—direct knowledge of the transcendent God is available through perceiving Jesus, bypassing all other mediation.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
'But this he said, signifying by what manner of death he should die'—the outer meaning of the words conceals an inner referent that the audience must interpret.
The doctrine that the divine or a spiritual principle takes on a specific, bounded material or bodily form — descending from an unconditioned state into individual, corporeal existence — as a discrete act rather than a diffuse pervading presence. The Christian Word made flesh, the Hindu avatara, the Egyptian pharaoh as living Horus, the Vajrayana tulku. Distinct from divine_immanence (the general claim that the divine pervades all of creation diffusely, not a specific embodiment-event) and separation_from_source (the felt exile FROM origin, the opposite motion) in describing a specific, individuated descent INTO a particular body or form.
Jesus speaks of being 'lifted up from the earth' and 'departing out of this world unto the Father,' framing his earthly existence as a discrete descent from the unconditioned divine state into bounded corporeal form.
The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.
Jesus speaks the Father's commandment as the mediating Word between the transcendent God and the world: 'I spake not from myself; but the Father that sent me, he hath given me a commandment, what I should say,' and 'the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day.'
Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.
'I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself'—the crucifixion (apparent defeat and death) is simultaneously the mechanism of universal salvation, using reversal to destabilize ordinary understanding.
The phenomenon where spiritual messengers or healers are rejected by their own community due to familiarity or lack of awe.
The passage explicitly narrates the rejection: 'though he had done so many signs before them, yet they believed not on him,' and the rulers who believed but did not confess for fear of the synagogue.
Critique of outward religious observance that lacks inner transformation; form without substance.
'For they loved the glory that is of men more than the glory that is of God'—a direct critique of those who maintain outward religious observance while lacking genuine inner faith, valuing social appearance over divine truth.
The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.
Jesus knows 'that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father,' describing a directed return from the material world to the divine origin.