The Final Appeal to Israel
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34 The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. 36 While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.
36 While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them. 37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. 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?”
39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 “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.”
41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. 42 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;
43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. 44 And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.
46 I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears My sayings 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 He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. 49 For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
50 I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”
The Lord’s Final Appeal To Israel
For over three years, Christ Jesus presented Himself to the people of Israel as the Messiah and proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom. He had substantiated Him claims by teaching with power and authority unrivaled by anyone before Him. One of the things that amazed the crowds of listeners was the fact that He spoke as One having authority. His miracles and signs were works that no one else had ever done. In spite of the wonderful signs and wonders that Jesus gave in His earthly ministry, He faced hostility, hatred, unbelief, and rejection by many, particularly from Israel’s religious leaders. We now know that the unbelief and rejection of Him, will soon reach its zenith at the cross of Calvary.
As the hour of His suffering approached, being filled with a sense of urgency when He knew that He was about to be taken away, our Lord issues a warning and a call to the Jewish nation of unbelievers, saying...
35 So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.
Opportunities come and go and are often time sensitive. Time is limited. Today is the day of salvation…Right Now is the time to come to the Light!
The day of His public ministry was almost over. The window of opportunity was closing for the people of Israel to hear the gospel from Jesus Himself.
“You need to hear My message,” Jesus is saying, “for you are in the darkness, and you don’t know where your going.” The darkness of night was coming in which evil powers would hold sway over people. The man who walks in the dark is an unbeliever who stumbles through life without knowing what life is all about and where he is headed.
Well...Jesus referenced Himself as the Light of the world. Their privilege was to trust in the Light and become sons of Light.
In a little while, He would be gone and the people to whom He came would be plunged back into darkness.
Paul affirms this in ...
14 But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ.15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart;16 but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
36 While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.
In the days before electric lights, travel after dark became difficult and uncertain, at best. In a spiritual sense, those who fail to heed Jesus warning were like travelers caught in the pitch darkness of night, without the capacity to clearly see. The only way for them to avoid being lost in spiritual darkness was, while they still had the Light, to believe in the Light. The glorious promise to those who do is that they will become sons of the Light, and radiate the light of God’s glory in Christ into a d
ark world.
When sinners persistently reject Christ, God can ultimately remove His grace and judge them.
Those who reject Jesus, never embracing Him in saving faith, will surely face God’s vengeance, wrath, and judgment in eternal punishment.
John says, these things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.
The sun of opportunity had set, God’s patience was at an end.
Back in Chapter 8 Jesus words, “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come” were about to be realized.
His withdrawal from the people, is acting out the judicial warning He has just pronounced!
Those who had earlier pronounced glad Hosanna's with the coming of Jesus, riding a donkey’s colt into Jerusalem, were already having a change of heart.
37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him.
Jesus had spent three years preaching the message of salvation from God the Father, throughout the tiny Roman province of Judea.
Despite the mountain of evidence, the Jewish people had concluded that Jesus was NOT the Messiah and should be executed as an imposter.
All the signs that Jesus gave were not enough to persuade people of the truth of Christ.
John goes on to explain Israel’s unbelief, one divine and the other human. Taken together, they illustrate the interface between divine sovereignty and human responsibility.
Israel’s unbelief and rejection of Jesus Christ was NOT outside of God’s plan but had a purpose…the next verse explains...
38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
Though the gospel be preached to the masses, only a few will truly and faithfully believe and surrender to the truth.
It is a sobering reality that those who persistently harden their hearts against God may find themselves hardened by Him.
39 For this cause they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,40 “He has blinded their eyes, and He hardened their heart; lest they see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them.”
These men chose evil. It was their choice to reject God. Those who persistently harden their hearts against God may find themselves hardened by Him. This is why is is crucial that one “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. God hardened the hearts of those who refused to believe in Jesus so that they could not believe.
Even with all the signs, they were not enough to persuade the people of the truth of Christ. Remember, no one can come to believe, except the Spirit draws him. What was required for faith then is the same thing that is required for faith now....namely…the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who accompanies the Word of God to remove the scales from our eyes and to unstop our ears that we might believe.
In His sovereign grace, God has brought good out of the Israels rejection of Him.It is “By Israel’s transgression,” Paul said, “that salvation has come to the Gentiles.”
How could Isaiah speak these things?
41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.
Isaiah could speak on these things because of what he had seen.
It was Isaiah who saw the preincarnate Logos (the Word), whom God would send into the world to redeem us.
In his heavenly vision, he saw the Adonai (the Christ) high and exalted on the throne in His “glory” before He was even born into flesh.
In spite of Israel’s unbelief, the situation was not hopeless. God always has a remnant. Some were given the gift of faith! John states here that despite of their massive unbelief....
42 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; 43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.
In the midst of a Christ rejecting nation, in the midst of a people so corrupt, there are some who possessed a faith. But their faith was inadequate because they refused to confess Him, for fears of the Pharisees. They were afraid of being cut off from Jewish religious and social life.
for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. Their faith proved to be superficial. They loved their self-exalting religion and their prestigious position in the synagogue and the Sanhedrin so much that they refused Christ. Such love for the world proved they did not love God.
Jesus as we were told back in verse 36 has already withdrawn. When and where Jesus spoke these words in verses 44-50 is not indicated. John includes them here to summarize Christ’s public ministry to Israel, which had ended. We find in them the several consequences of both belief and unbelief.
44 And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me.
It is impossible to believe in the Father apart from believing in His Son Jesus.
No one can have the Son but reject the Father, and neither can one have the Father but reject the Son.
The Father and Son are one, and they have the same plan. Jesus was sent to accomplish Their joint mission. From all eternity, it was the plan of God to create a world and to redeem that world by sending God the Son there as His appointed missionary.
Jesus continued....
45 He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. 46 I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.
Jesus came as Light…where there is Light, darkness can not comprehend it.
Those who believe in become “sons of Light.” Those who believe are “rescued…from the domain of darkness and transferred…to the kingdom of His beloved Son.
47 “And if anyone hears My sayings, 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 “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.
John Jesus the Missionary
We know from the rest of Scripture that Jesus’ purpose during His first coming was not to sit in judgment but to make atonement for His people. However, we know that when He comes again, He will judge (see John 5:22, 27–30; Matt. 25:31–32). At that time, those who have heard His message and have failed to respond to it will incur a harsher judgment (Luke 12:47–48).
Jesus’ words determine people’s eternal destinies, because He speaks for His Father.
49 For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. 50 I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”
Jesus assumed a submissive role during the incarnation, even though He is fully equal in nature to the Father.
Throughout Jesus’s ministry, He made it clear that He did not speak on His own accord or as self-appointed.
He had all authority given to Him by the Father, to preach exactly as His Father had commanded Him, which are unchangeable and absolute. And that’s what He spoke!
Israel had received many blessings as God’s chosen nation.
But when the Messiah came out of their own people, they rejected Him. They ignored the warnings of the consequences of unbelief, and refused to accept His call to believe.
Ultimately, God hardened them, and those who were unwilling to believe became unable to believe.
Israel had been entrusted with such a great privilege and was accountable for their rejection of the Messiah.
Therefore, Jesus pronounced the nation’s judgment in His chilling words...
35 “Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
Only a generation later, Israel’s doom would fall at the hands of the Romans.
Destruction would come to Jerusalem and the temple, and the people would be scattered and troubled under divine discipline even to now.
But wait, there’s more...that is not how the story ends!
Gods love for will once again be proven, for one day, He will redeem the remnant of His chosen people...
26 and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,“The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.”