John 12: 37-43
NIV 37Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38This 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?" 39For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 40"He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them." 41Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him. 42Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved praise from men more than praise from God
The Message 36 -40Jesus said all this, and then went into hiding. All these God-signs he had given them and they still didn't get it, still wouldn't trust him. This proved that the prophet Isaiah was right: God, who believed what we preached? Who recognized God's arm, outstretched and ready to act? First they wouldn't believe, then they couldn't—again, just as Isaiah said: Their eyes are blinded, their hearts are hardened, So that they wouldn't see with their eyes and perceive with their hearts, And turn to me, God, so I could heal them. 41Isaiah said these things after he got a glimpse of God's cascading brightness that would pour through the Messiah. 42 -43On the other hand, a considerable number from the ranks of the leaders did believe. But because of the Pharisees, they didn't come out in the open with it. They were afraid of getting kicked out of the meeting place. When push came to shove they cared more for human approval than for God's glory.
I think a couple of things need to happen right off the bat here… first in verse 37 we see the word they. Soooooooooooo, who are “they.” We can find this info earlier in the passage, vs 20 – some Greeks; 22 – Andrew & Philip; 29 – the crowd that was standing there, this could have contained some or all of the disciples, Pharisees, healed people, sick people, etc. I am always amazed at how close to home scripture from 2000 years ago hits! The crowd’s disbelief may seem irrational, but then often that is the case because unbelief is irrational. They had seen the signs and wonders Jesus had performed and still they didn’t believe he was the Messiah. How many of us have seen God’s hand move and still have trouble trusting? I guess we could also ask how many times has God done something around us that we didn’t see at all?
John then takes us back to Isaiah. The writers of the New Testament often do this simply because the Old Testament was as common and well know to them as ice cream at Dairy Queen or hamburgers at McDonald’s is to us. The crowd would have been familiar with this passage of scripture, even the Greeks, by the time of Christ the Old Testament had been translated into Greek for some time. At first glance this may look like Isaiah is saying, “God made the people not believe, to have closed eyes and hard hearts.” But if we read it that way we miss what was happening in during Isaiah’s time. John doesn’t give a lesson on Isaiah here because Jesus’ listeners wouldn’t have needed it. But we are not first century Jews, most of us do not have the back ground they would have had. Therefore, we must look at Isaiah’s heart. Isaiah had preached, preached then preached again to the people of his day getting no response. He had put everything he had into delivering the word God had given to him. The people refused to listen and Isaiah’s heart was broken then he makes this statement which John quotes. Isaiah might as well have said, “For all the good I’ve done I might as well have never said a word. Instead of making people better my message seems to have made them worse, you’d think God had meant them not to believe.” The words of Isaiah are the words of a person who is bewildered by the fact people aren’t turning to God! They were NOT meant to be taken literal. We can understand this phrase of scripture NOT to mean that God planned for certain people to not believe but that the opportunity to have faith, if ignored, neglected, or refused, becomes unbelief, pure and simple.
In verse 41 it says Isaiah beheld Jesus glory. John is referring to Isaiah’s experience in the temple where it is important to see some of the original language. This is a quote from John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible. “The Jewish targum renders it “I saw the glory of Jehovah” and in Isaiah 6:5 it is “mine eyes have seen the King” Jehovah Zebaot, the Lord of hosts; which the Chaldee paraphrase renders “mine eyes have seen the glory of the Shekinah, the King of the world, the Lord of hosts.” There is no way I can say it better!! Jesus is the shekinah, Isaiah say it then, we can see it now!
Now John moves back to very practical things. In the Message we see 42 -43On the other hand, a considerable number from the ranks of the leaders did believe. But because of the Pharisees, they didn't come out in the open with it. They were afraid of getting kicked out of the meeting place. When push came to shove they cared more for human approval than for God's glory. I don’t know how much more commentary I can do here, I’m not sure I can say it any plainer! Yet we must not begin to apply this passage to quickly to our own situation. First, we must say, “what did the original readers see here?” John’s gospel was written late in the first century. He was an old man, everybody else he had hung out with was dead. He saw the people who came out of the woodwork after the crucifixion then he saw those who believed at Pentecost. He had been through the first persecution of the Christians by the Jews then the Romans. It was currently a time of relative peace in the Christian community. Those original readers would have looked at this and said, “I need to remember those who looked for man’s approval, they are now dead and gone. What really matters? Coming out of the closet and proclaiming Christ is what will last… is what has lasted. Man’s approval is worth nothing, there’s not even a temple left!” These first century readers would have totally understood how fleeting people pleasing really is. Now, we begin to look at ourselves and how this passage speaks to us. In this day and age where everything is to be separate can we still proclaim the gospel? Of course we can! We can love like Christ, when we are asked why we have hope it’s perfectly acceptable to say “because I have a relationship with God” and explain that. I’ve never had success “preaching at” anyone outside of the church. Loving the needy, the hurting, being there for those around us is always what has attracted others to Christ then enabled me to proclaim His great love to and for them. A great man of faith in the 12th century by the name of Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel and if you must use words.” My dear friends come out in the open with your belief in Christ by a life of love, actions of service and when you speak those beautiful words of truth, your proclamation of Christ will have power. We don’t have to be afraid ever, even if they kill the body, throw us out of the building, feed us to the lions, whatever, proclaiming Christ, in word and deed, now and forever will be worth it. No fear!
Resources: An Exposition of the Four Gospels by Herschel Hobbs; Beacon Bible Commentary – John by Joseph H. Mayfield; The Gospel of John by William Barclay; and Matthew Henry’s Commentary.
