seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 12:37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This 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?”
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and I would heal them.”
and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God.
44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. 49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
In yesterday's lesson, Jesus asked God to "Glorify" Himself, and God actually spoke. Some heard thunder, others hear angels, some believed, and some didn't, but the point is, Jesus asked God to Speak and God did! We all know about the angelic beings when Jesus was born. We are taught that God spoke on the day Jesus was Baptized, but the preachers just don't talk about this event very often. I don't have a clue why that would be. It's a really cool story, and this is the aftermath. Jesus talked to God, God spoke back, and this is the rest.According to the commentary, this was the last time Jesus will speak to the general public before being arrested, beaten, and murdered on the cross.
John reports, verses 42 & 43, that some of the Pharisees did indeed Believe. They just could not let it be known or they would be thrown out of the Temple. They needed the Temple. It's all they had. They needed the adoration of those who came to offer their sacrifices. They needed to be brave and wear the rope into the holy of holies, because it gave them purpose. If the others knew they Believed the son of a carpenter from Nazareth, they would lose everything they had grown up with. They would lose their jobs! They would lose their respect! They would lose their purpose. They just couldn't.
Some, who Believed, must have felt honor bound not to tell others, so they believed they could work from within the Temple to keep God's people safe from the unbelievers.
Look at verse 40. It's a quote from the Prophet Isaiah. Some people are just destined to be unbelievers. No matter what Jesus, or John the Baptist, or John the son of Zebedee, or Mark the thorn kid, or Matthew the tax collector, or Luke the doc, said, they will never believe. Some will go their whole life without believing and at the last few minutes they will get it. Some will never ever get it. Some will get it while they are still a child, others will go their whole life defending their ignorance.
I've been thinking about Balaam's donkey this morning. What if, when Jesus was speaking this last time, what if, the animals all started talking to their owners and then bowed to Jesus. I wonder, would that have the same affect as the thunder or angelic voice they all heard yesterday? I'm not second-guessing God because I know He really only wants the ones who chose Him, but it's a thought. Wouldn't seeing a flock of sheep all bowing to one man, make an impact? Maybe not so much, after all, it took Balaam a short minute to realize the donkey was actually speaking human language, not just breying.
No one got left behind in this event. All those who were eventually going to choose to Believe, still eventually believed, and life just went on for those who would never let salvation sink into their thick skulls. God knew who would be affected by this speech. God can read the future. He knew what we were going to do before we got to the womb. The fact the donkeys, sheep, and puppies didn't all bow to the speaker, didn't stop anyone from Believing. In fact... if the animals had indeed bowed, someone would have yelled "Look He's a Demon!".
Jesus knew. So He only said what God told Him to say. Anything else, one more parable, one more healing, one more word, would not have worked any better. God had this all laid out, down to the very last message Jesus would leave with the public before His arrest, beating, and murder.
Jesus stuck to the script.
