to have faith (in · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
on
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
me
ἐμέemé
G1691
me
should
μείνῃ.meinē
G3306
to stay (in a given place · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
not
μὴmē
G3361
(adverb) not · particle — negative
abide
μένωménō
G3306
to stay (in a given place
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
darkness
σκοτίᾳskotia
G4653
dimness · noun — dative singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the l…
Psalms 36:9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
Isaiah 42:7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
John 12:35-36 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that…
Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins…
John 1:4-5 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 12:44–end
We have here the honour Christ not assumed, but asserted, to himself, in the account he gave of his mission and his errand into the world. Probably this discourse was not at the same time with that before (for them he departed, Joh 12:36), but some time after, when he made another public appearance; and, as this evangelist records it, it was Christ's farewell sermon to the Jews, and his last public discourse; all that follows was private with his disciples. Now observe how our Lord Jesus delivered this parting word: he cried and said. Doth not wisdom cry (Pro 8:1), cry without? Pro 1:20. The raising of his voice and crying intimate, 1. His boldness in speaking. Though they had not courage op…
Jesus cried--in a loud tone, and with peculiar solemnity. (Compare Joh 7:37).
and said, He that believeth on me, &c.--This seems to be a supplementary record of some weighty proclamations, for which there had been found no natural place before, and introduced here as a sort of summary and winding up of His whole testimony.
Next: John Chapter 13
Adam Clarke on John 12:46
I am come a light into the world - Probably referring to what his forerunner had said, Joh 1:5. Before the coming of this Savior, this sun of righteousness, into the world, all was darkness: at his rising the darkness is dispersed; but it only profits those whose eyes are open to receive the rays of this sun of righteousness. See on Joh 1:5 (note); Joh 3:19 (note); Joh 8:12 (note); Joh 9:5 (note).
John Gill on John 12:46
I am come a light into the world,.... And even as the light of it, being the sun of righteousness, that was to arise, and now was risen, to enlighten men with the light of the living; see John 3:19;
that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness; God's elect themselves, whilst in a state of unregeneracy and unbelief, are in darkness; when Christ shines in upon them, and infuses the light of faith into them, they are no longer in darkness; the darkness is past, at least in a great measure, and the true light shines; in which they see light, see glory and grace of Christ, and the invisible realities of another world: nor do they continue in the darkness of sin, ignorance, and unb…
The Church Fathers
(Tr. liv. 4) Whereby it is evident, that He found all in darkness. In which darkness if they wish not to remain, they must believe in the light which is come into the world. He says in one place to His disciples, Ye are the light of the world; but He did not say to them, Ye are come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on you should not abide in darkness. All saints are lights, but they are so by faith, because they are enlightened by Him, from Whom to withdraw is darkness.
"I am come a light into the world." For since the Father is called by this name everywhere both in the Old Testament and in the New, Christ useth the same name also; therefore Paul also calleth Him, "Brightness" (Heb. i. 3), having learnt to do so from this source. And He showeth here His close relationship with the Father, and that there is no separation between them, if so be that He saith that faith on Him is not on Him, but passeth on to the Father. And He called Himself "light," because He delivereth from error, and dissolveth mental darkness.
When the Savior of the world came, he made the true light shine. But they did not want to gaze on it, nor were they willing to walk by the radiance of his teaching. Consequently, darkness overtook them and demanded a penalty for the wickedness that had preoccupied them. And this [darkness] might be said to have reasonably blinded and hardened them. And, just as it follows that the one who has chosen to walk in the light also knows where he is going, so it follows that the one who has not chosen to walk in the light walks in darkness and travels wretchedly along the road of the blind.… For just as the visible sun shoots out its bright beams in order to enlighten those who have ailing eyes, so also does the spiritual Sun, the Light that has no setting or evening, come to the world and through his divine and ineffable miracles cast the brilliant gleam of his deity far and wide.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Faith · Through it is: Spiritual light — Through it is: Spiritual light
Light · Illustrative of: Christ the source of all wisdom — Illustrative of: Christ the source of all wisdom
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John 12:42-46
42. Nevertheless, many of the rulers believed on him, but on account of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be cast out of the synagogue. 43. For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. 44. And Jesus stood, and said, He who believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him who sent me; 45. And he who seeth me seeth him that sent me. 46. I am come into the world as a light, that whosoever believeth on me may not remain in darkness.
Nevertheless, many even of the rulers believed on Him. The murmuring and fierceness of the Jews, in rejecting Christ, having risen to such a height of insolence, it might have been thought that all the people, with…
Jesus makes a final appeal for belief. These verses summarize chs 1–12. Jesus was sent by the Father, the sole source of his ministry. Jesus is the light shining in darkness to bring salvation and eternal life to all who believe in him.