God's Final Call
Notes
Transcript
37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,
38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.
42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;
43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.
45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.
46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.
50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
Context in John
This is the end of Jesus’s public ministry. From chapters 2-12 Jesus is performing signs and teaching and thousands — perhaps hundreds of thousands had the opportunity to see his miracles and hear his voice, but his public ministry now comes to a close.
The rest of John deals with private conversations between Jesus and his closest followers, the Apostles, and then his trial, death, and resurrection, concluding with a few appearances and conversations with his Apostles after his resurrection.
But this is the last opportunity that most of the Jews had to hear from Jesus personally.
This passage
Our passage is neatly divided into two sections: the commentary of the Apostle John on the response of Israel to their Messiah (v. 37-43), and one final summary message from Jesus to the crowds (v. 44-50).
These parts seem to be out of order though, don’t they?
Verse 36 told us that Jesus went away and hid himself from them after his teaching in the first part of this chapter. But then v. 44 seems to pick up where he left off in v. 36, after several verses of explanation regarding the Jewish response to their Messiah.
Let me suggest a couple of reasons why John might be placing these sections out of chronological order.
Ending the public ministry of Jesus with these words, rather than with the negative response of the Jews, keeps the focus on John’s purpose — he is calling us to believe in Jesus (John 20:30-31). By ending Jesus’s ministry with these words instead of with the rejection by the Jews, he is keeping our attention on the end goal, that we as his readers would not respond the same way as the Jews, but instead believe the words and works of Jesus and so have eternal life.
John’s teaching on the sovereignty of God in salvation in v. 37-43 is very heavy, and perhaps difficult for us to understand or accept. But he sandwiches that between calls to believe in Christ in v. 36 and v. 44, so he is reminding us to keep our eyes on both parts of this equation — God’s sovereignty and our responsibility. If we focus too much on either one of these things, we can easily get wrong ideas about God or about ourselves. We need both of these truths, and John packages them up nicely for us here.
So let’s look at these two sections in the order that John wrote them; and we’ll see these two points:
Israel’s rejection of their messiah
Jesus’s final message to the crowds - a call to believe
Israel’s Rejection of their Messiah (v. 37-43)
Israel’s Rejection of their Messiah (v. 37-43)
37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,
This is one of the saddest passages in John, which takes us back to John 1, where John tells us
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
Israel’s Pattern of Unbelief
Israel’s Pattern of Unbelief
The people’s failure to believe Jesus was not the first time they distrusted God and rejected his kindness to them. Here are four examples from Israel’s history that show a pattern of unbelief and rejection of God’s goodness:
1. Rejection of God’s Promise in the Desert (Numbers 13-14)
God had promised Abraham’s descendants a special land, the land of Canaan. After God rescued them from Egypt and gave them his laws, they sent spies into the Promised Land to check it out and bring a report. Because they believed the majority’s bad report instead of trusting God’s promise, an entire generation of Israelites missed out on the Promised Land.
11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?
22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.
2. Rejection of God as King (1 Samuel 8)
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
3. Rejection of David’s line (1 Kings 12)
16 And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents.
4. Rejection of the prophets (2 Kings 17)
13 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” 14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God.
Their Rejection of Jesus was the culmination of a long history of unbelief and rejection of God and his goodness (Acts 7)
51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered,
Isaiah’s Prophecy of the Messiah’s Rejection
Isaiah’s Prophecy of the Messiah’s Rejection
Yet none of this took God (or Jesus) by surprise. Not only was this the constant pattern of Israel’s history, but Israel’s rejection of the Messiah was foretold by God through the prophet Isaiah 700 years before it happened. This tells us that it was part of God’s plan.
John tells us this in v. 38-41
38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”
In v. 38, John is quoting Isaiah 53:1 word for word.
And notice the words “so that” at the beginning of v. 38 and the word “therefore” at the beginning of v. 39. This tells us that the purpose of Israel’s rejection of their Messiah was to fulfill God’s prophecy through Isaiah in ch. 53 of his prophecy. John says they could not believe, because God had prophesied through Isaiah that they would not.
And in v. 39-40, John connects another prophecy from Isaiah to ch. 53. This time, in v. 40, he’s quoting from Isaiah 6:10. Another difficult statement from Isaiah, indicating God’s blinding and hardening of the people of Israel.
John is pulling back the curtain a little and showing us a glimpse of the sovereignty of God in the course of history and in his plan of salvation. It is important for us to understand that God is absolutely sovereign over salvation, as he says elsewhere, “So then he [God] has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.” (Rom. 9:18) This removes all ground for boasting in our own intelligence or wisdom in choosing God and trusting in Christ, because we must recognize that the only reason we could believe is that God chose to give us faith. As he says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “By grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, so that no one may boast.” Salvation is ultimately and entirely the work of God, so no one has the right to boast for any reason. Salvation is of the Lord, and as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:31, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
But this understanding of God’s sovereignty in salvation does not exclude human responsibility.
Every person is responsible to trust in Christ - we are commanded to do so, and John doesn’t want us to miss this. That’s why we have this teaching of God’s sovereignty in the middle of two calls to believe in Jesus in v. 36 (“While you have the light, believe in the light...”) and in v. 44-50 (esp. v. 46, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness).
God is sovereign in salvation, and we are responsible to believe in Jesus. The Bible affirms both of these truths, and we must also.
Notice also what John says in v. 41. This is amazing.
41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.
Isaiah said these things (his prophecy in ch. 52-53 of the rejection and suffering of the Messiah) because he saw his glory and spoke of him (who is “him”? = Jesus). John says that Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus and was speaking about him. When did Isaiah see the glory of Jesus? Go back to Isaiah 6:1-3
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Isaiah says “I saw the Lord”
John says, that’s Jesus. When Isaiah saw the glorious Lord sitting on his throne, he was seeing Jesus. That’s amazing.
God’s Plan of Salvation for the World
God’s Plan of Salvation for the World
Now why would God plan and foretell that Israel as a whole would reject the Messiah and kill him?
Certainly we don’t understand all of God’s purposes and plans, but I want us to consider a few things here.
This is the only way
The only way that anyone at all could be saved was if Jesus Christ was rejected, suffered, and died for our sins. If Israel had not rejected him, he could not have suffered and died for our sins, and we would all be lost. God’s plan of salvation hinges on the rejection of the Messiah by his people. If the Jews had not rejected him, no one would be saved.
A remnant of Israel is saved
Though Israel as a whole rejected Jesus Christ, there were some who believed, and even to this day there are believing Jews. As Paul said in Romans 11, there is a remnant chosen by grace. Many Jews did trust in Christ and receive eternal life.
The fullness of the Gentiles is coming in
God’s Word also tells us that it is through Israel’s rejection of their Messiah that the gospel has come to the Gentiles so that we also might participate in the New Covenant and enjoy eternal life with God by faith in Jesus Christ. Paul told us in Romans 11:11, “through their trespass [rejection of the Messiah] salvation has come to the Gentiles.” Because Israel rejected the Messiah, we have the opportunity to be saved.
All Israel will be saved
And, at least as I understand the Scripture, that is not the final word on Israel either. They rejected their Messiah 2000 years ago, but the day is coming when Israel as a whole will embrace Jesus as the Messiah.
12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!
15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; 27 “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
These verses certainly seem to imply that the day is coming when Israel as a whole will turn to their Messiah Jesus and be saved, and that will be a glorious day.
The Praise of Man vs. the Glory of God
The Praise of Man vs. the Glory of God
John ends this section by telling us that there were in fact some that believed in Christ, though we are left wondering about the genuineness of their faith.
42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
John tells us that these people believed, but then he says that they loved human praise more than the glory of God. This makes me think that perhaps the belief described here is not genuine faith, since these people care more about what people think of them than what God thinks of them. That’s a very dangerous place to be. The fear of man is a deadly snare. The desire for human approval will almost always lead us away from God and into sin, so we must fight against this.
And this takes us back to the words of Jesus in John 5:44
44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
There Jesus implies that they cannot truly believe in him AND live for the praise of men. You can have one or the other.
So whether the faith described here in John 12 is genuine or not I can’t tell, though I’m inclined to say it wasn’t. Either way, this is not the kind of faith John is calling us to. He calls us to the kind of faith that boldly stands for Jesus.
And that’s how he ends this chapter and this whole section on Jesus’s public ministry.
Jesus’s Final Call to Believe (v. 44-50)
Jesus’s Final Call to Believe (v. 44-50)
There is not much new information in these final verses. Jesus repeats many of the same phrases or themes that he has said before in other parts of John’s Gospel.
But this is the last time.
This is the final opportunity that the crowds have to hear his voice and respond in faith. And this could be your last time too.
Jesus is the One who reveals the Father
44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.
To believe Jesus is to believe God; to see him is to see God. He reveals God to us, as Colossians 1:15 and Hebrews 1:3 tell us: Christ “is the image of the invisible God” and “He is the radiance of the glory of God.” Jesus is the one who reveals God to us, because he is both God and man.
Jesus is the Light who delivers from darkness
46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
Jesus urges his hearers to believe in him as the light so that they may not remain in darkness.
Jesus came the first time to save, but he will come again to judge
47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
Jesus’s mission in his first coming was to seek and to save the lost, to give his life a ransom for many, to meet our greatest need by suffering and dying on the cross in our place to forgive our sins and restore us to a right relationship with God. But he will return as judge, and the basis for judgment will be the message of Jesus and our response to him. If you receive his words - if you believe him, you will not be condemned but rather have eternal life.
Jesus speaks with the authority of God and offers eternal life
49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
What Jesus says, God says. So when he says that if we believe in him we will have eternal life, we can count on it, because that is God promising it to us.
This was the last time the crowds got to hear him speak. It was their last opportunity to hear his words and believe his message.
This might be your final opportunity too.
What will be your response to Jesus?
HYMN 480: GOD’S FINAL CALL
Someday you’ll hear God’s final call to you
To take his offer of salvation true.
This could be it, my friend, if you but knew:
God’s final call, God’s final call.
How can you live another day in sin,
Thinking someday with Christ you will begin?
O will you hear above the world’s loud din
God’s final call, God’s final call?
If you reject God’s final call of grace,
You’ll have no chance your footsteps to retrace.
All hope will then be gone, and doom you’ll face.
O hear his call! God’s final call.
You have heard once again today God’s call of grace through Christ. By God’s grace, there is a way to be forgiven of your sins and restored to a right relationship with God forever. And Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Come to him today! Listen to his voice! Turn to him and be saved and receive the free gift of eternal life he offers.
Do not reject him like Israel did.
And believers, let us heed the warning of Hebrews 3.
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Let us encourage one another to persevere in our faith and obedience to Christ to demonstrate that our faith is genuine.