Jesus has been teaching and doing miracles for almost three years. The religious authorities are upset with him and have begun throwing people out of the synagogue who decide to follow him. This leaves people with some hard choices to make.
There are different kinds of unbelief. There are those who don’t believe because they are not aware of it. There are those who don’t believe because they haven’t seen it for themselves. There are those who don’t believe because they don’t believe what they saw is real. And there are those who believe but don’t act on it because of fear of others. All of these types of unbelief are present around Jesus.
John quotes Isaiah, “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Isaiah 53:1 He also quotes Isaiah, “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn – and I would heal them.” Isaiah 6:10
Does this mean that they had no choice but to not believe? When I read passages like this, I think there are problems because I do not have the original language and I do not understand the thought processes that were present at the time they were written. I don’t think it is a “God struck them blind and deaf” thing. I think their choice occurred just prior to this. Because they chose to turn away from God, they do not have his help to understand what they are seeing and interpret it correctly. A person who has his back to the rescue boat cannot see the lifeline thrown out to him.
Also, the words “and I would heal them,” indicate God is willing for them to see and hear, but they first need to turn their face to him and be open to hearing him and seeing him. Also, the verses following the quotes from Isaiah give a different picture than God striking people with blind eyes and deaf ears. “Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” John 12:42-43 Leaders would lose their prestigious positions in the community if they became followers of Jesus. They did not want to give that up. So they would not confess that Jesus is Lord.
Jesus makes one more attempt to convince them, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” John 12:44-50
Jesus came to give sight to the blind, to make the deaf to hear, and to make the lame walk. He did that physically over and over in an effort to convince people that he was who he said he was – the Christ. But he wants us to see the spiritual healing as well. He came to light the way to the Father. People had turned their backs on God and Jesus was here to light the path – to get them to turn back to God. Those who were willing could see and hear that and became followers. Those who chose to not turn around could not see or hear what the Father was doing. Yet Jesus said the reason he came was to save the world, not judge it. But a day of judgment is coming and then people’s choices will determine how they are judged.
Some people confess Jesus as Lord because they fear the judgment. Some confess Jesus as Lord because they desperately need his grace in their lives. Both of those to some extent are reasons that everyone turns their face toward God. But John presents Jesus in a light that is more than judgment and grace. It is obvious to me that John has a wonderful ongoing relationship with the Lord and that his desire is for us to see this loving God who wants to give us his living water every day. Our lives are not just about getting through the day or surviving the judgment. They are about living in a loving relationship with God every minute of every day he gives us breath on this earth.
Why do we settle for anything less? The choice is for each of us – will we turn our face toward this loving God or will we turn our face away?
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