Wednesday in the Word...John 12:37-43...A trip to see Isaiah

Today's Wednesday in the Word covers John chapter 12 and verses 37 through 43, which read,

Verse 37 -  But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. 

This is a clue that our belief in Jesus as the Son of God is not just Him performing just the right miracle at the right time to switch some lever inside of us that indicates that now we have enough to believe that He is who He says He is.  Jesus did so many miracles that they were searching for those who He hadn't healed!

Another element of Jesus is His teaching and the crowd's response to it.  Mark 1:22 says,

They were astonished at His teaching because, unlike the scribes, He was teaching them as one having authority.

So we have Jesus teaching like none other and performing miracles with 1000's of eyewitnesses and yet...some were not believing in Him.  How can this be?  Usually this type of "matter of fact" reporting is tied to something prophesied before that it would be this way and so John takes us to the book of Isaiah.

Verse 38 - This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah has a lot to say about the coming Messiah.  In chapter 7 and verse 14, he prophesied that the coming Messiah would be born of a virgin, He would be a son and His name would be Immanuel, meaning "God is with us."  Isaiah also told us of the one who would come before the Messiah, a voice crying in the wilderness, to prepare His way and Jesus attributes this to John the Baptist.  

John uses verse 1 of chapter 53 of Isaiah, typically called the Suffering Servant chapter to show that this disbelief was prophesied too.  The whole of chapter 53 gives a detailed account of Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and ascension.  

What is interesting is that New Testament John is quoting Old Testament Isaiah while Old Testament Isaiah is quoting even older Old Testament Moses of the book of Exodus.  Israel sang a song to God in praise to His deliverance of them from the hand of the Egyptians.  The "arm of the Lord" was revealed to those who believed in the God of Moses who showed His mighty power through the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea.  Exodus chapter 3 and verse 16b says,

They will be as still as a stone because of Your powerful arm until Your people pass by, LORD, until the people whom You purchased pass by.

If the people of Jesus' day are not believing in Him then they are the people "as still as stone" like the Egyptians and those who will believe in Him are those He has purchased like the people who were obedient to God's commands and saw His powerful arm.  Some will believe and some will not.  Who is in charge of this?  John goes on to say,...

Verses 39-41 - For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.”  These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. 

If God blinds our eyes and hardens our hearts so that we cannot see, perceive, be converted and healed then how does it happen?  If all I have to do is see one more miracle or be convinced by a touching story that warms my heart then I am the source of my conversion and healing.  We are not the source of the salvation that we receive.  Salvation from the Lord comes from Him opening up what was blinded by Him and soften what was harden by Him.  Isaiah is speaking from his own experience that he sees the Lord because God allowed it to happen.  Jesus could keep teaching and doing miracles for eternity but unless God intervenes, no saving faith will materialize.  

I think a reference to Isaiah's experience in chapter 6 is important here.  Isaiah "saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and His robe filled the temple."  How did this happen?  Was Isaiah transported to heaven and back again?  Did Isaiah have a super powered telescope to see what was going on up there?  No, I believe God opened his eyes to see what he could not see.  Later one of the angels took a hot coal from the altar and touched it to Isaiah's lips and said, "Now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed and your sin is atoned for."  Who is doing the action here?  God is directing it.  Isaiah does have a repentant heart as a response to seeing God, "woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips" and follows up with obedience to God's call after salvation, "Here I am.  Send me." but the eyes opened and the heart purified are actions of God alone.  Isaiah is giving the appropriate response to seeing and being touched by God.

Verses 42, 43 - Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.

Praise the Lord that some believed, even some of the rulers.  They believed but they did not confess.  They believed what Jesus said and did to be true but they did not confess Him, saying openly that they were one with Him.  The Pharisees, like the Pharoah of the Exodus, still had hard hearts even in the face of multiple miracles.  Their focus was still upon themselves.  They loved themselves more than they loved God.  They could not see God.  Their eyes were squarely on their world of the synagogue and the approval of men.

The Apostle Paul put the transformation this way in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 19 through 21.  Underline and bold are mine for emphasis.

Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is their shame.  They are focused on earthly things, but our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself. 

"Heavenly Father, we continue to pray for You to open eyes and soften hearts so that Your flock will be gathered to Your voice.  May more workers be sent into Your harvest who speak boldly of Your good news of being justified by You, sanctified by You, and glorified by You.  Those of us who see, may we respond as Isaiah did with repentance and obedience to Your call.  Amen."

Pastor Adam