John 12:37-38 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
Even though Jesus had done many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in Him. John has shown us the many signs that Jesus performed that should have caused them to believe in Him: turning water into wine, healing the nobleman’s son, healing the paralytic, feeding the 5,000, walking on water, healing the man born blind, and raising Lazarus. Yet many did not believe in Him.
Isaiah 53 The Suffering Sin Bearing Servant, despised, rejected by mankind-man of suffering for our transgressions like a lamb to the slaughter-cut off from the land of the living His death. RESULT: My Servant will justify many.
Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Isaiah here anticipates/prophecies the rejection of the Messiah, and many would not believe our message.
So, John, using this quote from Isaiah, wants us to know that what is taking place here was prophesied 700 years earlier and is being fulfilled now.
John 12:39-41 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
Isaiah 6:1-12 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” 4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” 9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ***” Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.” ***11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered: “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The land is utterly desolate, 12 The Lord has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
Isaiah 6:13 But yet a tenth will be in it, And will return and be for consuming, As a terebinth tree or as an oak, Whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.” (Full Circle)
In quoting from Isaiah 6, He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts: John tells us that their unbelief was because God was judging those who refused to see His truth and turn to Him. God would strengthen them in their decision, either for Jesus or against Him. (Pharoah) In light of this principle, they could not believe.
Triumphal Entry: Luke 19:41-44 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Not one of these people was fated to be incapable of believing; that’s made plain in verse 42. Yet, at the same time, many, even among the leaders, believed in him.
So, John is not saying that the blinding of their eyes or the hardening of their hearts takes place against the will of these people. These people choose evil. It was their own deliberate, conscious choice.
Isaiah 6:1-3 I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
Vs 41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
The Prophet Isaiah saw the Lord. Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus before His incarnation, and he knew Jesus was God. He stepped out of that glory for us!
John 12:42-43 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God.
Many believed in Jesus, but they believed it secretly. They saw the signs and heard the truth of His teaching, yet because they were afraid of what others would think about or do to them, they would not openly declare (confess) their allegiance to or trust in Jesus.
Vs 43: They loved human praise more than praise from God. I wonder if that means when we are secret or quiet about our faith, fearful about what others may think, we are not saying the same thing: we love human praise more than praise from God.
John 12:26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
Matthew 10:32-33 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
Being a secret disciple of Jesus is a contradiction because “either the secrecy will kill the discipleship, or the discipleship will kill the secrecy.”
John 12:44-45 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. John 10:30-John 14:9
John 12:46-50 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. 47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; **HOLD**the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. 49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
These are Jesus’s last words in John’s gospel to the multitude/public. In this last message, Jesus emphasized the themes of all His previous preaching in John.
It included a reminder of His teaching and the power of His words, a challenge to decide, a warning to those who decided against Him (condemned), and a promise to those who chose for Him (eternal life).
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