John 12:37-43
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.
What is being said? Belief without the work of God, is impossible.
Prove it.
Gifts from God, through these teachings?
Glory to Him!
Why do some believe and some don’t?
Why did most of the Jews cast judgement to crucify the one they were waiting for?
These are the questions brought forth in today’s passages.
We see that with the start of today’s study in verse 37
37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,
Has Jesus made himself know?
22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.
Changing Water into Wine (John 2:1-11): At a wedding in Cana, Jesus miraculously turns six large stone waterpots of water into high-quality wine. This signifies the joyous replacement of Jewish purification rituals with the New Covenant.
Healing the Royal Official's Son (John 4:46-54): Jesus heals a nobleman’s son who is near death in Capernaum, simply by speaking the word from several miles away in Cana, demonstrating His mastery over distance.
Healing the Man at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-15): Jesus commands an invalid who had been paralyzed for \(38\) years to pick up his mat and walk. The man is instantly healed, showcasing Jesus' authority over time and the Sabbath.
Feeding the 5,000 (John 6:1-14): Jesus multiplies a small boy's lunch of five barley loaves and two fish to feed a massive crowd, revealing Himself as the "Bread of Life".
Walking on the Water (John 6:16-21): During a severe storm, Jesus startles His disciples by walking on the Sea of Galilee, showing His ultimate control over the forces of nature.
Healing the Man Born Blind (John 9:1-41): Jesus gives sight to a man who was blind from birth by applying mud to his eyes and having him wash in the Pool of Siloam, sparking a major debate among the religious leaders.
Raising Lazarus from the Dead (John 11:1-44): Jesus resurrects His friend Lazarus in Bethany four days after he was buried. This ultimate sign points directly to Jesus’ power over death.
Yet despite all of this, we get.
21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!”
but on the other hand we read.
Matthew 4:18-22
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
And the very author of the book we call Matthew, Levi the tax collector who’s named changed to Matthew we read this.
27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
What do we have here, some are wiser than others?
Some have better eyes than others?
Some have better ears than others?
Some just had better teachers than others. You mean better teachers than Jesus?
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
Not all who heard Jesus believed and He is the greatest teacher ever!
Maybe some just have more insight than others because of how they were raised.
That can’t be it...because who yelled crucify Him?
13 Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,
21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!”
So what gives?
Why do some believe and some don’t?
The hard core truth...the work of God brings belief.
Not the work of man.
Let’s look at these next verses to see this.
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.
Where does John get this from the prophet Isaiah?
Two places
Isaiah 53:1 & Isaiah 6:1-10
First in 53
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
This verse is the start to a detailed prophecy of the coming Messiah that is now here before them!
John is basically saying “a hey go read the given scriptures about the Messiah to come”
A secondly Isaiah 6:1-10
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!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for 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 burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
9 And he said, “Go, and say to 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 blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
What do we see here?
I man face to face with the glory of God.
5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for 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!”
And what does he realize?
I’m am nothing, compared to the holiness of God.
I’m impure, unholy, sinful, woe is me!
Isaiah see’s he is lost, he is without, he is nothing.
Humility shown by the action of Isaiah.
These are the verses the author John is referencing.
So, lets dive into this a bit, now that we have some context.
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?”
John is quoting the prophet of old to gain traction with his audience. Traction to try and break their prideful stubborn hearts.
Traction to break the Jews and us, as Gentiles.
Traction in the form of a question.
“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
First this shows the guilt of the Jews.
They were given the very Word concerning Jesus and still didn’t believe.
And secondly and more broadly...
Have we taken all that God has given as truth and done or not done what He’s said?
Nope!
“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us”
I’ve/we’ve believed some things but not all things.
The Jews believed God was going to send a Messiah, but they didn’t believe in the Messiah God did send. It didn’t fit their way of thinking.
Same with non-Jews or Gentiles, us.
I believe it’s wrong to sin I just alway don’t agree with God’s definition of sin?
What about questioning the fruit the was forbidden to eat? Did God really say?
We’ve all not believed in some form or fashion.
What about “to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
Is anyone guiltless in the revelation of God?
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
go over these verses
discuss the guilt of man in not believing what is known and not believing what is seen
Guilty, this is the works of man.
This work of man leads to separation, leads to being lost, leads to being dead.
And God told us this before hand but did we believe (read verse below)?
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
We’ve all ate, we’re all dead.
Do you believe this?
Outside of Christ we’re all dead. Not one less dead or one more dead. Dead is dead.
This is the point of
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?”
No one has believed and all have seen the arm of the Lord.
We’re all equally guilty.
This is the work of man.
And this is the turning point.
Who’s work do we trust in?
Who’s work do we believe in.
Continued belief in your works for life leads to our next verses.
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.
Discuss the folly of the Pharisee’s.
Did they believe in God?
Were did they miss the mark or sin concerning salvation?
Works of righteousness over faith/belief in Him.
They trusted in their tradition, heritage, so called righteous works over the One they were supposed to put their trust in.
Miracle after miracle, teaching after teaching of the truth of God’s word, truly loving others over and over and their result “we must put and end to this by killing Him”
Continued sin in the form of trusting in themselves over trusting in God and this brought upon a hardening of the heart.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
A man lame, suddenly walks and carries his mat. This is bad, we must kill.
A man born blind, immediatley see. This is bad, we must kill.
A man dead for four days and stinketh, raised to life. This is bad we must kill him again and the one who raised him.
This is a debased mind folks.
This is a heart that yes is ultimately born into sin and is hard but yet grown to be harder.
Harder by rejection of more and more truth.
God doesn’t just one day pull out a non-hardened heart and put a hardened heart in there.
No it’s already hard, He just lets it get harder and harder and harder to the point it’s hardened like concrete.
Let it never be!
If you’re here today playing the game of ya I hear Him but I’ll answer Him later. You’re playing a dangerous game.
None of us want to be turned over to a debased mind, a hardened heart of concrete.
One without the truth of God, one with I have my truth and you have your truth.
One were there is no right or wrong, one that whatever serves me best is truth.
Let it never be!
This is the work of man, hard by unbelief, hard by sin, dead.
And if dead, we can’t grow closer to Him without Him.
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
The hard core truth...the work of God brings belief.
Not the work of man.
Let me ask you, does this bother you or bring relief?
Some say why try then, if God is in ultimate control over my salvation?
Simply because He tells you to, He tells you to do good and to love, do you belief in His ways?
Some say well I’ve got to do my part too, you’ve already done enough, your ways hung a guiltless man on a cross.
Some worry that loved ones aren’t saved and they must do something to stop that.
First of all Jesus tells us not to worry and that He has us.
Second of all, what is worry? A disbelief in God. We’re basically saying, I don’t think you quite have everything here and I must intercede to make things right.
You want to make things right, trust in Him and do what He says. Let God be God.
Are we concerned with loved ones salvation? Absolutely! But what are we called to do?
Plant seeds of truth, water those seeds of truth but ultimately we go to God and ask for growth!
I can’t make a seed grow anymore than you can. We all know, some grow and some don’t.
Does that mean we stop planting? No.
Again...
The hard core truth...the work of God brings belief.
Not the work of man.
Let me ask you, does this bother you or bring relief?
This should not bother you, it should bring relief.
Do you really want to trust in your works?
Do you really want to stand before the throne of God and list your ways why you believed better or believed more than others?
That somehow you figured it out while some didn’t.
All the while, forgetting how God blessed you with your birthplace, your birth time in history, how long you lived or didn’t live.
Who in history you were born with, the family you had or didn’t have, the important people that God brought before you during your specific lifetime.
I’m telling you right now and I hope you dearly hear this. We don’t ever want to stand before the throne of God and point to ourselves as being something more than.
No, let it never be. We don’t stand before the throne of God, we kneel in complete humility and point only to One as being more.
Well that ain’t fair, some see and some don’t.
You’re right, what is fair and what is just is that we all deserve death.
Who are we to tell God who He can and can’t give to?
15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’
This is not our wheel house.
We are not called to judge God’s goodness.
As far as it is to us, all are saved, all are called to be planted, and all are called to be watered.
Ultimately this is about a heart of humbleness and gratitude.
Thanksgiving in eyes opened.
We are called to love Him, trust Him, and follow Him.
Has He not showed He is trustworthy, true, and loving?
Then why challenge His ways?
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.
Man’s glory or God’s glory.
Who do we put our hope and faith in?
I hope and pray that we all see the truth that is clearly shown time and time again.
Man’s= goodness judged as wrong, wrong judged as good. Depravity, destruction, and death.
God’s
John 10:10b
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Have faith in Him and Him alone!
