These are the final words the Gospel narrator has Jesus say to the public. Scholars don’t agree as to where they fit, or when they were said. Some even believe they are the narrator’s words but more or less accurately sum up what Jesus had said. The two best positions, I believe, are that they really belong with Jesus’ departure in verse-36 but are separated from Jesus’ other final words by the Gospel narrator’s commentary on how Jesus affected his hearers. The other position held by scholars that I believe also has merit is that these are Jesus’ words (John 12:44-50), but they were spoken at various times during his ministry, and the Gospel narrator chose them to sum up what Jesus preached publicly. They characterize believers (John 12:44-45), sum up the end of unbelievers (John 12:45-47) and impart the tenet around which both believers and unbelievers revolve (John 12:48-50).[1]
We are told that Jesus cried out (John 12:44), so these are not words he spoke to his disciples privately. They were spoken in public and loud enough for a multitude of people to hear. Jesus claimed that those who believe him, don’t merely believe his words, but they believe the words of the Father who sent Jesus. Moreover, he that sees Jesus, that is, sees him in the sense that the believer considers what Jesus says and does, that one considers not Jesus but the Father who sent him (John 12:45). Finally, Jesus characterizes himself by saying he is a light who has come into the world (viz. John 1:14; 6:38), and those, whom the Father draws to that light (John 6:44), will not live in darkness (John 12:45), because they will be taught by God (John 6:45).
On the other hand, those, who have heard Jesus but reject his claims, will not be judged by Jesus for not believing him. Why? because they are already judged. Mankind has been judged since the rebellion in Eden, and all men are the children of that rebellion (cp. Genesis 3:22-24). Jesus came to save them, not to judge them again (John 12:47). Men already live in darkness, meaning they are spiritually dead (cp. Ephesians 2:1-3). Unbelievers don’t have eternal life, because they reject Jesus, the giver of life (cp. John 1:4-5).
In other words, a man’s own decision to reject Jesus and what he says (John 12:48) has already judged the man. If Jesus says: “I am the Light of the world, and the light is rejected, then the Light judges the man by allowing him to remain in the dark—dead in sin (cp. Ephesians 2:1). If Jesus says I am come that they might have life (John 10:10), but life is rejected, then that one, who rejects Jesus and what he says, will remain spiritually dead, not resurrected to new life—eternal life. Moreover, they will never see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3), which they had hoped the Messiah would establish once he came.
All men who hear Jesus, whether he is a believer or not, hear not only Jesus’ words, but they hear the Father who sent Jesus with a message to give to the world (John 12:49). It is a message of life, not death. The world lives in darkness, and Jesus had come as the Light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5; cp. Matthew 4:16; Luke 1:79; John 1:5; 12:35, 46). This is a message of life, not death (John 12:50), and in Jesus, the one sent by God, was life (John 1:4), and trusting in him brings eternal life to the believer (John 5:24). It is spiritual life, which offers light (John 1:4-5) and that light allows one to perceive and participate in the Kingdom of God (John 3:3).
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[1] Based upon the interpretation of the Pulpit Commentary.
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