But They Didn't Believe Him
October 31, 2023
John 12:37-50 | 1 Corinthians 13:11-12
“If God would just do _____, I could believe in him a whole lot more.”
John says this just isn’t true. He actually says this a few times in different ways in this gospel, including in today’s passage. John doesn’t exactly downplay miracles, but he sure does put forth that faith in Jesus isn’t about the miraculous or seeing miracles. This is why they are signs that point to something someone rather than about the phenomenon themselves.
We also see today that John is more prone to direct commentary about Jesus much more so than the other gospel writers, who focus more on the story/narrative. You’ll note that today’s passage is mostly commentary and even when we get to Jesus saying something, it too, is commentary about himself.
The passage concludes with Jesus insistence on the nature of his relationship with God the Father. This is prominent in John and we’ll see more of it in chapter 17. This is some foundational trinitarian theology - God and Jesus are one (and soon to come, the Holy Spirit).
(Who was Jesus shouting to? John doesn’t say. It seems to be a function of importance/significance.)
John 12:37-50
Jesus had done many miraculous signs before the people, but they didn’t believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of the prophet Isaiah:
Lord, who has believed through our message?
To whom is the arm of the Lord fully revealed?
Isaiah explains why they couldn’t believe:
He made their eyes blind
and closed their minds
so that they might not see with their eyes,
understand with their minds,
and turn their lives around—
and I would heal them.
Isaiah said these things because he saw Jesus’ glory; he spoke about Jesus. Even so, many leaders believed in him, but they wouldn’t acknowledge their faith because they feared that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. They believed, but they loved human praise more than God’s glory.
Jesus shouted, “Whoever believes in me doesn’t believe in me but in the one who sent me. Whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. I have come as a light into the world so that everyone who believes in me won’t live in darkness. If people hear my words and don’t keep them, I don’t judge them. I didn’t come to judge the world but to save it. Whoever rejects me and doesn’t receive my words will be judged at the last day by the word I have spoken. I don’t speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me regarding what I should speak and say. I know that his commandment is eternal life. Therefore, whatever I say is just as the Father has said to me.”
1 Corinthians 13:11-12
When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, reason like a child, think like a child. But now that I have become a man, I’ve put an end to childish things. Now we see a reflection in a mirror; then we will see face-to-face. Now I know partially, but then I will know completely in the same way that I have been completely known.
Prayer
God,
I’m grateful for the relationship you have with Jesus. It really helps me as a human to know better who you are, what you are like, and what you want from us. That incarnation thing was a pretty nifty move.
Honestly, I guess I have to admit it’s true that in the past I’ve appreciated the things of philosophy and figuring out who you are and why you are and all that. But these days, I find such apologetics and grasping of wisps to be fruitless. For me, at least.
I’m so grateful for the person of Jesus, who makes faith real and tangible. Help me as I yet grapple with the implications for how to live today in these times. Help me know Christ so deeply that my life just does what he would.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.