“After Jesus had said this, He departed and hid from them. 37 Although He had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in Him. 38 This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they might not look with their eyes, and understand with their heart and turn — and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said this because He saw his glory and spoke about Him. 42 Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God” John 12:37-43.
Here John pauses to tell you and me about the utter tragedy that we do not believe in Jesus despite the fact that He showers us daily with signs of His presence and love. Verse 37 is one of the saddest verses ever written — and it speaks about you and me: “37 Although He had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in Him” John 12:37. And more than 700 years before the birth of Jesus Isaiah prophesied in Chapter 53 of his book about our unbelief when he asked the Lord: “Lord, who has believed our message?” This makes me want to cry in shame and guilt!
God foresaw that we would not believe the Suffering Servant, crying out that “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way” Isaiah 53:6. Our stubborn, selfish, sin-filled lives account for the fact that “it was the will of the Lord to crush His Son, Jesus, with pain…andmake His life an offering for sin” Isaiah 53:10. And because of our stubborn and habitual choices, “God has blinded our eyes and hardened our heart, so that we might not look with our eyes, and understand with our heart and turn—and God would heal you” John 12:40 and Isaiah 6:1-10.
Centuries earlier Isaiah had seen the glory of God in a vision, but God warned him that we would not believe Jesus. And as Jesus said earlier in this Gospel, the reason why you and I do not believe is because “20 all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed” John 3:20.
Oh that we would take to hear these most tragic verses and go to God in prayer — to change.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner. I want more than anything to love the Light who is You, and to come to the Light who is You. And this I pray in your holy name, amen.
From the Bible:
“And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself”
Luke 10:27.
“We love because he first loved us” 1 John 4:19.
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” John 14:21.
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him”
1 John 3:1.
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