John 12:37-43

A PERPETUAL PROPHECY

Text 12:37-43

37

But though he had done so many signs before them, yet they believed not on him:

38

that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?

39

For this cause they could not believe, for that Isaiah said again,

40

He hath blinded their eyes, and he hardened their heart; Lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, And should turn, and I should heal them.

41

These things said Isaiah, because he saw his glory; and he spake of him.

42

Nevertheless even of the rulers many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:

43

for they loved the glory that is of men more than the glory that is of God.

Queries

a.

Did the people believe in order that the prophecy of Isaiah might be fulfilled (John 12:37)?

b.

Was it impossible for the people to believe (John 12:39)?

c.

Did God deliberately blind their eyes (John 12:40)?

Paraphrase

Although Jesus had been doing and was continuing to do a great multitude of miraculous signs in the presence of these Jews, they refused to believe in Him and the word of Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled, which he spoke, saying, Lord who has believed our message? And to whom has the saving power of the Lord been revealed and who has understood and accepted this salvation? And Isaiah, prophesying in another place, gives the reason they were unable to come to belief, saying, God has allowed their eyes to be blinded and their hearts hardened when they refused to see with their eyes and perceive with their hearts and turn in repentance and God was unable to heal their wickedness. These words Isaiah prophecied when he saw the Messianic glory, in the temple, and spoke of Him. Nevertheless many of the rulers believed in Him but they would not publicly confess their belief because they were afraid the Pharisees would have them excommunicated from the synagogue. These rulers desired the approval of men more than they desired the approval of God.

Summary

Isaiah is quoted as a commentary on the unbelief manifested by the Jews who were beholding the miracles of Jesus. The half-hearted belief of many of the rulers is recorded by John.

Comment

The writer of the fourth gospel, John, now makes a parenthetical statement and quotes Isaiah (Isaiah 53:1 and John 6:9-10) who prophecied God's foreknowledge of the unbelief of the Jews in the Messiah. John is not saying, nor did Isaiah intend to prophesy, that God predestines that men will disbelieve whether they want to or not. That is, God created every man with a free will to exercise in the matter of belief or unbelief and God will not overrule that free will and force a man to believe or disbelieve. Here, in the prophecy of Isaiah, we stand once again in the presence of the omniscient foreknowledge of Almighty God and are made aware again of our infinite limitations.

In John 12:37 the Greek participle pepoiekotos (had been doing) is in the perfect tense indicating that Jesus had been doing many signs and was continuing to do many signs in the presence of the Jews of Judea and Jerusalem. But the multitudes still refused to believe in Him in spite of the miraculous signs He gave them.

And so in John 12:38-41 John quotes Isaiah, to show not only that God foreknew this unbelief, but the cause for an unbelief so stubborn that it resists even divine manifestations of miraculous signs. Isaiah's prophecy states that unbelief, as an effect, may also be the cause of further increase in unbelief.

John 12:38 is a quotation of Isaiah's cry unto the Lord (Isaiah 53:1) of the almost total lack of belief in Jehovah's prophetic message of the coming Messianic gospel. Isaiah denounced the sins of the people in his day and prophecied the downfall and captivity of the nation. But by and large his message was a prophetic message of hope, strength and a glorious destiny for the faithful remnant through whom would come the Messiah and His kingdom. But in the midst of his prophetic message concerning the Servant of the Lord (the Messiah), Isaiah cried out, Who has believed our messagewho has been able to see and believe in the prophesied Saviour of the Lord? In Isaiah's day only a very small remnant believed. Yes, even in spite of many miraculous signs to substantiate that Isaiah's message was from God, many multitudes refused to believe. So, when John beheld the unbelief of the Jews, in spite of the many miracles of Jesus, he claims the prophecy of Isaiah to have reached another stage in its fulfillment. Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled in his own day, in the days when Jesus was manifested in the flesh and when Jesus was being preached by the apostles (cf. Acts 28:26-28).

And now, after a statement of the fact of unbelief, John again quotes Isaiah to comment upon the effect of unbelief which in itself becomes in turn cause for increased unbelief.

First let us establish that men disbelieve because they will to do so, not because it is impossible for them to do otherwise. To declare that some are predestined to be irresistibly saved and others predestined to be lost when the gospel of Christ commands, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,and If any man would come after me. and Whosoever will may come. is absurd, to say the least!

Man is a free moral agent. Even in Eden man was given freedom to choose to obey or disobey. God makes known His covenant requirements and then man responds. The holiness of God and His message of salvation is of such a character, coupled with the nature of the will with which God created man, that the more man believes and obeys God, the easier it becomes to believe and obey. And, on the other hand, the more a man rejects and disobeys God, the easier it also becomes to reject and disobey. So it depends upon the way man responds to the message of God as to the effect the message may have upon him (cf. John 3:19-21; John 7:17).

The Jews of Isaiah's day responded to his message of repentance, punishment by captivity, and a future kingdom of spiritual salvation by scoffing unbelief. They wilfully and deliberately rejected the demands of God (speaking through Isaiah) because they took pleasure in unrighteousness. They haughtily resisted the promised spiritual blessings of God for their self-righteousness, military alliances, material possessions, and indulgent pleasures. Their unbelief comes first of all because they harden their own heart against Isaiah's message. Then, the message, because it shows evil for what it really is and demands purity, humility, obedience, etc., causes men to love it more or hate it more as their faith increases or their unbelief increases. Furthermore, man's will, the spiritual force within him for good or evil, is a force that increases in power the more it is exercised in either directionfor good or for evil.

So in the hardening of man's heart all factors (man's will, God's message, the deceitfulness of sin) are involved. It is advisable that Romans, chapter 1 and 2, and II Thessalonians, chapter 2, be read in connection with the truth that men and God both are involved in the hardening of man's heart (cf. also Exodus 7:3; Exodus 8:32; Exodus 9:12; Romans 9:17; Hebrews 3:8; Hebrews 3:13-15; Hebrews 4:7).

In John 12:39-40, then, John is pointing out first the effect of the materialistic, self-righteous, self-indulgent rejection of Jesus upon the hearts of the Jews. They had blinded their own eyes and hardened their own heart against the message of a spiritual kingdom and a spiritual salvation which Jesus preached (just as their fathers did in Isaiah's day). And with the nature of God and His message such as it was, coupled with their continued willful rejection in the face of continued evidence and appeals we see that God gave them up to the lusts of their heart and hardened their hearts. God was unable to save them because they would not allow Him to save them (cf. Isaiah 1:10-20; Isaiah 59:1-2; John 5:40-44).

Who is the him of John 12:41? John evidently means to say that Isaiah saw Christ. Isaiah said of his own vision, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple (Isaiah 6:1). John, then, is affirming that Jesus is one and the same as the Jehovah God whom Isaiah saw in the temple. This passage is conclusive proof that the apostles did not hold Jesus to be a lesser deity, but proclaimed Him equal with the Jehovah of the Old Testament.

In passing it is also worthy of note concerning John 12:38, that the conservative view that Isaiah is the author of Isaiah 53:1-12 is correct. John, who knew more about the Old Testament than the higher critics, does not even say, It is written in the book of Isaiah, but John says, the word of Isaiah the prophet. which he spake. For John, a Jew, who lived in the first century and had tremendous advantages over the higher critics of the twentieth century in availability of textual material, there was only one Isaiah and that Isaiah wrote the entire book of Isaiah. The liberal, modernistic critics may divide the book of Isaiah into two or three parts all they want, but for John there is only one book and Isaiah wrote it all.

John 12:42-43 (along with John 18:15-16) indicate to us that John was well known and trusted among the rulers and priests. Some may have confided to him that they believed Jesus but would not dare to publicly confess it for fear of excommunication. These verses show again that so much of unbelief is moral and not intellectual. These rulers could see (as did Nicodemus) that Jesus was sent from God Himself for One who did miracles must be a Teacher come from God. But because of cowardice and selfish love for the honor and approval of men, they rejected the approval of God and willfully seared over their own consciences! Westcott says, ... the conviction found no expression in life. such ineffective intellectual faith (so to speak) is really the climax of unbelief (cf. John 9:1-41).

Thus the prophecy Isaiah made by the Spirit of God concerning the hardening of unbelief became a perpetual prophecy. In all generations of mankind when men have hardened their hearts by willful rejection of the spiritual nature and demands of God's revelation they have fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah. It has always been true, further, that when men refuse to have God in their knowledge, then God gives them up to the lusts of their hearts. unto vile passions. unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting (Romans 1:1-32). And the more a man refuses, the more calloused and hardened his heart and the more vain he becomes in his reasoning and his senseless heart is darkened and, while professing to be wise, he becomes a fool!

In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (cf. Colossians 2:3) and when man loves the honor and wisdom of men more than the honor and wisdom of God he turns his back on an everlasting, sumptuous, soul-satisfying feast in order to eat husks with the swine.

Quiz

1.

Where are the two excerpts from the prophet Isaiah located in his book?

2.

Why did Isaiah cry, Who hath believed our report. etc.?

3.

Are men predestined to belief and unbelief? Prove your answer.

4.

How does the gospel harden the heart of some men?

5.

Name five Scripture references that have to do with hardening the heart.

6.

How many authors are there to the book of Isaiah?

7.

Did the rulers mentioned in John 12:42 believe in Jesus or disbelieve?