Scripture: John 12:37-43 (ESV)
Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 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?” Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “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.” Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 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; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
This morning I was driving home from dropping my children off at school and a ute (pickup truck for our American friends), started backing out of his parking spot on the main street of the down I was driving through. The problem was that he was parked at a 45 degree angle, and so as he was reversing, he could not see that I was approaching. Thankfully my car sensors realised the danger and started blaring at me that all of a sudden there was an obstacle I was about to meet accidentally. Everyone was fine, the lane next to me was empty, I swerved out of the way in time and nothing bad happened. But imagine if I missed the signs, if I ignored the alarms and just kept merrily driving forward. That is what some people in our passage did. The missed all the signs, and so they missed out on Jesus.
John tells us that despite all the miraculous signs Jesus performed, many still didn’t believe. This part of John’s Gospel marks the end of the “Book of Signs”. In this part of the book, John has been showing us all the incredible miracles Jesus did, that pointed to his true identity. He healed the blind, he fed the hungry, he even raised the dead, but for many people, it just wasn’t enough. They had eyes, but they couldn’t see, they ears, but they couldn’t hear. It’s a sobering thought, isn’t it? All the evidence was there, right in front of them, and yet they still refused to believe. Why was that?
Well John quotes Isaiah to explain what’s happening. Isaiah had prophesied about this kind of hard-heartedness. He prophesied that when the Messiah came, that people’s eyes would be blinded and their hearts are hardened. As powerful as the miracles and signs were, people’s hearts were too resistant to receive them. They were so set in their ways, so wrapped up in their expectations of what the Messiah should be, that they couldn’t see Jesus for who he really was.
But in this passage there is another group who in some ways are even more hopeless than those who outright rejected Jesus. These are those who did believe, but they kept it quiet because they were afraid. Afraid of what the Pharisees would think, afraid of losing their status in the synagogue, afraid of what it might cost them. John tells us that “they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” That is a pretty damning assessment of what it is like when we are too scared to tell others about our faith.
How often have I been guilty of loving the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God?
Something to consider.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, please forgive me for the times when I have either rejected you, denied you or hidden my faith from others around me. Help me to value the glory that comes from God more than that which comes from man. Amen.
Spiritual Challenge: Think of one way you can speak up about your faith today. Then commit to doing it.
Share this post