Ignore — Bible — Andrew Forrest

John 36b-43

36b When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
and understand with their heart, and turn,
and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

36b When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them [John 12:36b].

This marks the end of Jesus’s public ministry. From now on, He will withdraw from public view and spend His last few days speaking to His disciples in private.

37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him [John 12:37].

In earthly terms, Jesus’s ministry is a failure. Though He has matched His words with deeds and performed many signs for the people, they have still failed to believe in Him. Why? Why didn’t more of the Jews believe?

Isaiah was an Israelite living in Jerusalem in the decades around 775 B.C. One day he had a vision of God’s heavenly temple:

6 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke [Isaiah 6:1–4].

Isaiah is stricken with fear when he sees the majesty and glory of God’s throne room—he knows he is unworthy to be anywhere near it.

5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” [Isaiah 6:5].

But the Lord makes atonement for Isaiah’s sin, in a mysterious way involving an angel and a burning coal:

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” [Isaiah 6:6–7].

After this, Isaiah hears the Lord asking if anyone would be willing to obediently carry out a divine mission, and he eagerly volunteers:

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me” [Isaiah 6:8].

If you have more than a passing familiarity with the Old Testament or have been around church for a number of years, you are probably familiar with Isaiah’s story so far. But what’s fascinating (and nearly always overlooked) is what happens next.

Verse 8 ends with Isaiah saying, “Here I am!”

Verse 9 begins like this:

9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed” [Isaiah 6:9–10].

Isaiah’s commission from God is to go to the Israelites and speak to them and have them guaranteed to ignore him! The passage is deeply ironic. The Lord basically says to Isaiah, “Your job is to talk to people who won’t hear or see or be curious, and the reason this is so bad is because if they would only just listen, things would go well with them.”

It’s as if Isaiah says to the people, “You know what? You should just keep on not listening. Great idea. I mean, it’s not as if God would want you to actually listen to what He’s telling you, is it? It’s not as if God has good things planned for those who actually change the way they are living.”

The point is not that God wants the people to have hard hearts— the point is that God is preparing Isaiah for the painful task of the prophet: to talk to people who refuse to listen to an invitation to repentance.

One of the ways we know that Isaiah did preach a message of repentance is because of what happens in the very next chapter, Isaiah 7. There Isaiah tells the king to repent, and that if he does, everything will be okay, and the king ignores him.

This passage is quoted in each of the four Gospels as well as the Book of Acts, because the early Christians saw that Isaiah’s prophetic words perfectly captured the hard-heartedness of so many of the Jews in the time of Jesus. Despite the signs that Jesus did—culminating in the ultimate sign of the resurrection itself—many of the Jews refused to accept Jesus as Messiah.

Now, John wants us to know that, of course, there were Jews who believed, rather, it was just that, as a whole, the Jews were willfully blind to what was happening in front of them.

42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God [John 12:42–43].

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Yes, as a whole, Israel rejected the Messiah. However, God used the rejection of Israel to bring about salvation, because the Messiah died in the place of His unfaithful people.

28 In all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good [Romans 8:28].