On Line Bible Study - For the Week August 20-26, 2012

Lesson 550

John 12:37-43

We find ourselves in a kind of 'epilogue' of the Gospel of John - closing verses prior to the lengthy section comprising the events of the Supper Jesus has with his disciples, followed by his Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection.  It is almost as if John is wrapping things up before ascending the final peak - the highpoint of his witness regarding Jesus.

Christians in the First Century wondered why there was such resistance to Jesus' message.  You will notice in this section the acknowledgement of the presence of unbelief:

John 12:  ³⁷ Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.

One of the explanations is offered by the prophet Isaiah, and John picks up on this:
John 12:   ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: 
“Lord, who has believed our message  
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
    nor understand with their hearts,
    nor turn—and I would heal them.

The question of why people did not believe was not new for the early Christians.  St. Paul agonizes over the unbelief of his fellow Jews.  (See Romans, Chapters ix - xi.)  It's important for us to remember, says Raymond Brown, that when the people of Israel were told this - by the prophet Isaiah, but also in Deuteronomy 29:3-4 - it was not a question of salvation.  The issue was understanding.  Moses told the people that, even though they had seen the signs and wonders, God had not given them the mind to understand.

It's not a question of God forbidding one to believe, for John acknowledges: ⁴²Yet at at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him.

It may well be that God has not given me full understanding; that doesn't mean it is God's fault if I choose not (or refuse) to believe.

There will be one more lesson in John before we head into the intricately complicated and important material of the final days of Jesus' earthly life.