Augustine of Hippo

WHY DON’T PEOPLE BELIEVE? — John 12:37-50

unbelief, Uncategorized

INTRODUCTION;

It is now only a few days before the crucifixion and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 36 tells us that Jesus hid from the multitudes in order to spend some concentrated time with His disciples before His death.  In this passage of Scripture, John 12:37-50, the apostle John gives a summary of the public ministry of the Lord Jesus to the nation of Israel, and then he gives Jesus’ response to the nation.

I.  JOHN’S EVALUATION OF THEIR UNBELIEF (verses 37-41)

John has three things to say about the Jew’s rejection of Jesus.  First, it was illogical, considering all the miracles Jesus had performed to prove He was the Son of God.  There are two aspects of Jesus’ miracles that John emphasizes.  In verse 37, John uses the words “so many miracles”.  Not only were there many miracles but there were also many kinds of miracles, some of which were repeated.  For example, there was the feeding of the 3000 and the feeding of the 5000.  There was also the raising of Jairus’s daughter as well as the raising of Lazarus from the dead.  The large number and the great variety of miracles demonstrated Christ’s power and gave the people many opportunities to observe and examine them.

Jesus performed His miracles “before them”.  Most of His miracles were not done from a distance or in secret, but right in front of their very eyes.  To reject these miracles was to deny the obvious.  The apostle John expresses amazement that, though the Lord Jesus performed so many mighty works, the Jewish people as a nation did not believe in Him.  As John mentioned before, their unbelief was not caused by any lack of evidence.  The people did not want to believe.   They refused to believe.

Secondly, their unbelief was predicted.  In verse 38, John quotes Isaiah 53:1 when he says, “Lord, who has believed our report?  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”  There is a question over who is speaking in this quote:  “who has believed our message?”.  To say that it refers to Isaiah and the other prophets doesn’t fit with verse 2, nor with Isaiah 52:15 or chapter 54 of Isaiah.  I would like to suggest that the speaker in verse 1 is the nation of Israel — the future nation of Israel which will have come to believe in Jesus Christ.  This new Israel that is to come is looking back to the time of Christ and asking, “Who believed the message we received then?  How many recognized the “arm” or the power of God in the miracles of Christ?”  The obvious answer is “not many”, not many at all.  The form of this question is an emphatic way of saying that the message was rejected.

Thirdly, in verses 39-41, John declares that their unbelief was decreed by God.  In verse 39, he says, “For this cause, they could not believe.”  Then John quotes the words of the prophet Isaiah, saying, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart; lest they see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them.”   Let’s not misunderstand the words of John and the prophet Isaiah.  The people are not being condemned against their will, or before they have an opportunity to choose for themselves.  John is writing here about a cause-and-effect relationship and God is not the cause of their spiritual condition.  They are the cause.  What they persist in doing, they will become.  It doesn’t say that they can’t repent or that God won’t forgive them if they do so.   God has not put an obstacle in their path.  They have stubbornly put an obstacle in God’s path and God is allowing them to have their way and experience the consequences of their disobedience.

The word “hardened”, in verse 40, comes from the Greek word for “callus”.  I’m sure we’ve all had calluses on our hands or feet before, haven’t we?  Wherever there is a callus, the skin is not as sensitive to touch or pain because that hard callus covers the nerves underneath it.  That same process can happen spiritually.  The more a person rejects the Gospel message, the harder it becomes for him or her to receive it.

One of the early church fathers, Augustine of Hippo, commented on this passage of Scripture.  He said, “If I be asked why they could not believe, I answer without hesitation, ‘because they would not; because God foresaw their evil will, and he announced it beforehand by the prophet.’ ”

Pastor Ray Stedman used an illustration that brings this principle across clearly by applying it to our human bodies.  Here is his illustration:

“Tie your arm to your body and leave it tied, unmovable, for a week.  When you untie it, you will find that you can hardly move it; it will have lost its ability to function, not because God wants people to lose their arm function.  No, but God determined the law that says, ‘use it or lose it.’ . . . It is also true of one’s moral life.  If you don’t exercise faith when you have the opportunity, you will gradually lose the ability to do so, until there will come a day when you cannot exercise faith.  By the law of nature, then, God has hardened your heart and blinded your eyes.  Having chosen that, that is what you become.  If you refuse to act on truth, you will finally lose the ability to recognize it.  It has been said,

“There is a line by us unseen, that crosses every path,
The hidden boundary between God’s patience and His wrath.”

II.  BELIEF IN MIND, NOT IN ACTION (verses 42-43)

As the apostle John continues to evaluate their unbelief, he makes a statement in verses 42 and 43 that could be misinterpreted if it isn’t tied to his previous statement.  John is not saying that many of the authorities became followers of Jesus Christ.  What he appears to be saying is that many of the authorities were entertaining thoughts that Jesus was the Messiah, but there was no evidence of a commitment to follow Christ at that point in time.  True faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is life-changing.  The indwelling Christ overcomes the fear of man and gives the true believer the desire and the power to stand firm in the face of opposition.  There is no such thing as a secret disciple of Christ.

In 373 A.D., a man by the name of John Chrysostom spent some time alone in the mountains of Antioch, seeking to know God better.  He learned from that experience that, with God on His side, he could stand alone against anyone or anything.  That lesson was put to the test later on in his life.  In 389 A.D., he was appointed patriarch of Constantinople, where his zeal for reform antagonized Empress Eudoxia, who had him exiled.  Allowed to return after a short time, Chrysostom again infuriated Eudoxia, who sent him away again.  How did Chrysostom respond to such persecution?  With these words:  “What can I fear?  Will it be death?  But you know that Christ is my life and that I shall gain by death.  Will it be exile?  But the earth and all its fullness are the Lord’s.  Poverty I do not fear; riches I do not sigh for, and from death, I do not shrink.”

The rulers of the Jews, on the other hand, refused to confess Jesus Christ before men because of their fear of the consequences.  The approval of men was more important than the approval of God.  That attitude ruled out the possibility of any real commitment to Jesus Christ as their Lord.  There were two exceptions.  After the crucifixion and death of Jesus, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea risked their reputations and their lives when they asked Pilate for the body of Jesus Christ so that they could give Him a King’s burial.

III.  THE SERIOUSNESS OF REJECTING CHRIST (verses 44-50)

After finishing his evaluation of that situation, the apostle John now quotes the words Jesus spoke to them at that point in time.  Verse 44 says that Jesus “cried out”  He raised His voice so that everyone could hear what He was about to say.  Here is His first statement:  “He who believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.  And he who sees me sees him who sent me.”  Jesus is saying that He and the Father are one in essence.  They are both God.  To see Him is to see God because Jesus is God in the flesh.  Jesus’ second statement is:  “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”  C.S. Lewis, the author of Mere Christianity and many other Christian books, said these words:  “I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”  When we become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord, we see life from a different perspective, don’t we?  The apostle Peter said it well in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light,”  The present and future are much brighter and clearer when we know the Lord, aren’t they?

Now Jesus tells us the other side of the story.  Judgment is for those who refuse to believe in Him, but Jesus is reminding them that His first coming is a time of grace, not of judgment.  He came to earth to save the world, not to judge it.  But He warns them that there will be a last day and that will be a day of judgment and condemnation.  His own words will condemn them if they refuse to believe.  He is giving them a final notice, and He adds that His words are the words that the Father has told Him to say to them.  You can add verse 36 to the end of verse 50.  “When He [Jesus] had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid Himself from them.”

Have you ever received a final notice in the mail?  There was a cartoon in Readers’ Digest Magazine many years ago.  A wife was opening the mail and she said to her husband, “The bank says that this is our last notice.  Isn’t it wonderful that they aren’t going to bother us anymore?”  It’s never wise to ignore final notices, is it?  A man received a “Second Notice” from the IRS that his tax payment was overdue and that unless it was immediately forthcoming, he would face legal action.  He hurried to the IRS office with his payment in hand and said, “I would have paid it sooner but I never received your First Notice.  The clerk replied, “We ran out of ‘First Notices.’  Besides, we discovered that the ‘Second Notices’ are much more effective.”  Jesus’ words here at the end of chapter 12 are God’s Final Notice.  It’s a call to believe in Him for salvation and to live for Him until our last day on this earth.

In the children’s fantasy, Alice in Wonderland, Alice came to a junction in the road that led in different directions, so she asked the Cheshire Cat for advice.

“Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where,” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

The Cat is right.  It doesn’t matter which way we go if we don’t care where we end up.  But most of us do care where we end up, don’t we?  The decisions we make throughout our lives do matter.  We all come to forks in the road of our lives and make decisions that will impact our future.  If we have Christ in our lives and His Word in our hearts and on our minds, we have all the light we need.  Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  But God’s Word not only lights the way.  It is also used by the Holy Spirit to empower us to obey as we meditate upon it each day.  Joshua 1:8 says, “This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”  Will we allow God to be successful in using our lives for His glory today and every day of our lives?    .

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  Completed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE WORD BECAME FLESH – John 1:14

Bible sermon, Incarnation of Jesus Christ, Jesus' birth, tabernacles, Uncategorized

I.  HE BECAME FLESH

John chapter 1, verse 14, is one of the most amazing and awe-inspiring verses in the Bible.  It reveals a mystery that we can’t comprehend with our finite minds.  The apostle John has been saying that the “Logos”, the “Word”, used by the Greeks to describe the force that created the universe and holds it together, is actually the Creator-God.  Now he is saying, in verse 14, that this Creator-God “became flesh”.  The verb is in the aorist tense, signifying an action that took place at a point in time.  By “becoming flesh” the Word became something that He previously was not. He not only assumed a human body, but took on the whole nature of man:  body, soul, and spirit.  He took on our limitations.  Romans 8:3 says that He took on “the likeness of sinful flesh”, but “He knew no sin” (II Corinthians 5:21).  Martin Luther said of Jesus, “He sunk Himself into human flesh”.  That’s a long way to sink!

In his book entitled “Miracles”, British author C.S. Lewis uses several illustrations to try to depict the incarnation of Jesus Christ.  His illustration of the diver is somewhat similar to the previous statement made by Martin Luther.

“Or one may think of a diver, first reducing himself to nakedness, then glancing in mid-air, then gone with a splash, vanished, rushing downward through green and warm water into black and cold water, down through increasing pressure into the death-like region of ooze and slime and old decay; then up again, back to color and light, his lungs almost bursting, till suddenly he breaks the surface again, holding in his hand the dripping precious thing that he went down to recover.  He and it are both colored now that they have come up into the light; down below, where it lay colorless in the dark, he lost his color too.”

As we consider the incarnation, let’s be reminded that Jesus Christ was not a created being.  He is the Creator, but He chose to become part of His creation at a specific place and time in human history.  His essence, divine nature, and oneness with the Father and the Holy Spirit did not change.  We cannot understand how this can be, but we can accept it by faith.

One of the early church fathers, Augustine of Hippo, expressed his amazement.  He said that in his pre-Christian days he had read and studied the great pagan philosophers and had read many things, but he had never read that the word became flesh.  To the Greeks that was impossible and ridiculous.

II.  HE DWELT AMONG US

Here in verse 14, John describes Christ’s incarnation in three words, in contrast to the 2500 words used by the Gospel writer Luke.  He “dwelt among us”.  The Greek word translated “dwell” is “eskenosen”, which means “to pitch a tent”.  He “tabernacled among us” is another way to put it.  The tabernacle in the Old Testament was made of plain white linen.  The glory of the tabernacle was hidden inside.  There was no beauty in its outward appearance.  So too, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ was a hidden glory.  When He came to pitch his tent among us, He did not lay aside His deity, but He did veil His glory.

The tabernacle in the Old Testament was only a temporary dwelling place.  It was used while the people of Israel were journeying in the wilderness and until the temple of Solomon was built (Exodus 24:8; 40:34-35; I Kings 8:10-12).  It’s interesting to note that the people of Israel used the tabernacle in the wilderness for a little less than 35 years, the approximate lifetime of the Lord Jesus on this earth.

III.  WE BEHELD HIS GLORY

Years ago an old pioneer journeyed westward across the Great Plains of North America until he came to an abrupt halt at the edge of the Grand Canyon.  He gawked at the sight before him – a vast chasm 1 mile deep, 18 miles across, and stretching out of sight.  He gasped, “Something must have happened here!” (Our Daily Bread, 12/22/02)

Something even more amazing happened when the Creator-God came to His earth in the Person of Jesus Christ.  The Scriptures declare it and changed lives continue to provide evidence for His birth, life, death, and resurrection.

John says, “we beheld His glory”.  This may bring to your minds the Shekinah glory that filled the tabernacle in the wilderness.  When the pillar of cloud that guided them by day would begin to settle down, there the sons of Israel would camp.  Once the tabernacle was set up, the cloud would settle over the tabernacle (Numbers 9).  Exodus chapter 40 describes the glory of the Lord.  “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. . . . For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.”

The apostle John knew this information since childhood, having grown up in a Jewish home.  But John and the other disciples had the privilege of witnessing this glory in the Person of Jesus Christ for about three years.  “The Word” was not an abstract concept but a real Person.  John begins his first epistle with these words:  “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have beheld and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of Life.”

John, Peter, and James were with Jesus when He was transfigured before them.  His garments became dazzling white, and Moses and Elijah appeared alongside Him and were talking to Him (Mt. 17; Mk. 9).  What a spectacle that must have been!  But John is writing here about the inner glory that he saw in the Lord Jesus.

John was the “beloved disciple”, the one who knew Jesus so intimately.  He describes Jesus as One who was “full of grace and truth”.  This is a Hebrew expression for the fullness of the revelation of God.  “Grace” reveals God as love; “truth” reveals God as light.

The words “grace and truth” would probably bring to the minds of his Jewish readers two passages of Scripture from the book of Exodus.  One of them is in Exodus 33, and the other in chapter 34.  God tells Moses once again to make two stone tablets and meet with Him again on Mount Sinai.  Moses makes this request of God in Exodus 33:18:  “I pray Thee, show me Thy glory!”  In responding to Moses, God first describes Himself to Moses.  Then He  responds to Moses’ request and describes Himself more fully.  I think you will gain a greater understanding of the meaning of grace as a result of reflecting upon God’s description of Himself.  This is what God says in Exodus 33:19 and in 34:6:  “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you, and I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion. , , , Then the Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.’ “

I believe that the Lord Jesus demonstrated those qualities of God in His character and His actions while He was here on this earth.  I also believe that the apostle John is purposely using the words “full of grace and truth” to connect his description of Christ in his Gospel with God’s description of Himself in the Old Testament Scriptures.  The best Person to give an accurate description of God is God Himself, and He has been gracious enough to do so through various means.

In the next passage of Scripture, verses 15-18, John will be elaborating on the words of verse 14 more fully.  In the meantime, I’ve been reading and re-reading a poem written by Marv and Marbeth Rosenthal entitled:  “Mary Had The Little Lamb”.  It briefly describes the Person, life and ministry of Jesus Christ from beginning to end.  If you’ve never read this poem before, I encourage you to read it several times.  If you are familiar with the poem, please read it again.  Here it is:

Mary had the little Lamb, who lived before His birth
Self-existent Son of God, from heaven He came to earth.
Micah 5:2

Mary had the little Lamb; see Him in yonder stall–
Virgin-born Son of God, to save man from the Fall.
Isaiah 7:14

Mary had the little Lamb, obedient Son of God;
Everywhere the Father led, His feet were sure to trod.
John 6;38

Mary had the little Lamb, crucified on the tree,
The rejected Son of God, He died to set men free.
I Peter 1:18-19

Mary had the little Lamb — men placed Him in the grave,
Thinking they were done with Him; to death He was no slave!
Matthew 28:6

Mary had the little Lamb, ascended now is He,
All work on earth is ended, our Advocate is He.
Hebrews 4:14-16

Mary had the little Lamb — mystery to behold!
From the Lamb of Calvary, a Lion will unfold.
Revelation 5:5,6

When the Day Star comes again, of this be very sure,
It won’t be Lamb-like silence, but with the Lion’s roar.
Psalm 2:12
Revelation 19:11-16

May you experience the meaning of the grace and truth that are in Christ Jesus; and may you experience the joy and peace that come as a result of knowing Him personally, depending upon Him completely, and giving Him all the glory.