(Pastor Drew Worthen, Double Edged Sword Biblical Resources)

JOH 12:36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
37 Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.
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 deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn - and I would heal them."
41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.

This is a very solemn turning point in the ministry of Jesus Christ. For some three years now our Lord has publicly demonstrated that He is the One sent from the Father to redeem Israel and all people. He has taught the truth, He has blessed Israel with signs and wonders, and He has loved the people.

And as the latter part of verse 36 shows us He now retreats from the crowds, probably to the area of Olivet, as this marks the end of His public ministry. “When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.” (Joh.12:36b)

Imagine the Savior of the world, who only moments before had declared Himself, once again, as the Light of the world, now hiding that light from Israel. He purposed not to let anyone find Him, with the exception of the twelve He had chosen.

As far as Israel was concerned the light was out and they would be left to themselves to grope in the dark which they had chosen, as they rejected their Messiah.

JOH 12:37 Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.

This verse and the one’s following it are somewhat of a footnote by John as he explains why Jesus hid Himself from Israel, and the responsibility which Israel had to bear concerning the rejection of their Messiah.

It was not for lack of evidence that Israel rejected their Savior, but a hard heart which caused them to refuse Him. And in a sense John is incredulous at their rejection as he says, “even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.”

All of the grace, all of the mercy, all of the love which our Lord poured out on these people and proved with miraculous signs in their presence would not move most of them to embrace Jesus as the one sent from the Father.

And yet, so as not to give the impression that Jesus somehow failed in His attempt to persuade Israel that He was the Messiah, John adds a very interesting commentary as he points out that the hearts of these people were already known by God and actually spoken of in the form of prophecy. Regarding Israel’s unbelief the prophet Isaiah records this, as John quotes him in our text..

JOH 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 deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn - and I would heal them."
41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.

It is no coincidence that the prophet Isaiah is the one quoted here as Isaiah continued to warn Israel, (some 700 years before Christ), of its impending doom if it did not repent of its rebellion and return to the Lord.

ISA 1:2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand."
4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

And yet despite Isaiah’s continued warnings of God’s displeasure and His judgment which will result from their disobedience Isaiah also continued to give Israel the good news of God’s redemption if they would turn back to the Lord in repentance and faith, which is why Isaiah has come to be known as the “evangelical prophet,” with many familiar passages pointing to God’s mercy and grace.

ISA 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

ISA 28:16 So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.

ISA 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Isaiah was Israel’s last hope as he was sent from God to warn them that if they would not repent they would suffer God’s judgment, but he always offered the expectation of life and restoration if they would turn back to the God who loved them.

And yet, the irony in all of this is that God essentially told Isaiah that even though Israel would be given these promises of restoration and fellowship with their God, they would not listen.

ISA 30:8 Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness.
9 These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD'S instruction.

Imagine having that kind of ministry, where the Lord tells you up front that despite how you plead with people as the truth of God is given to them, they will not listen. And yet, God tells you, you must continue to give them the truth because I love them and they need to hear this.

And that’s what Jesus has done for Israel during His earthly ministry. He knows they’re not going to listen for the most part, and yet He continues to love them with the truth. But there is a point at which His long-suffering comes to an end, as He hides Himself from them.

But let’s look at our text in light of what Isaiah was telling Israel.

JOH 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?"

You might remember where this passage was taken from. It was taken from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah which of course has come to be known as the chapter describing the suffering servant, which is actually describing Jesus Christ Himself who was to suffer for the penalty of our sin.

ISA 53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah is saying that no one will believe the report of God’s salvation and no one will acknowledge the power of God, as seen in His arm, which has been demonstrated among the people of Israel.

And so, what our text is basically saying, in quoting Isaiah, is that neither the word of God or His miracles make any difference in penetrating the hard hearts of Israel.

And by the way, this should give some comfort to all of God’s people who faithfully administer the gospel of Jesus Christ and His word, who don’t see the kinds of results they would like to see in people coming to Christ and desiring to follow His word.

If people will not listen to the Lord of glory, Jesus Christ, as He gives them the truth and follows that with miracles, then it should not surprise us if people don’t listen to us when we give them the gospel.

But this should also not discourage us from pointing people to Christ because we know that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and so we need to be faithful in sharing Christ with the understanding that the Holy Spirit is really the only One who can turn the heart.

It is not our job to save people, it is our job to be faithful witnesses of the truth, like Isaiah who knew that his words were going to fall on deaf ears but loved the Lord enough to go forward with his ministry of truth.

Our success is found in our love and obedience to God, not always in the results we expect. This is not to say that we shouldn’t expect results because we know that it is God’s will that all men be saved, but we also know that the hearts of men are far from God as Jeremiah put it so aptly, “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (JER 17:9)

But, praise God, our Lord can give the cure and replace the heart of stone with a heart of flesh.

But as we come to verse 39 of our text there appears to be a disturbing note here as it relates to the heart of man and the choices he makes for God, or lack thereof.

JOH 12:39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40 "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."

This might give the impression that people cannot believe as a result of the prophetic word from Isaiah. In other words, because God said they will not believe, in the book of Isaiah, therefore come time for this prophecy to be fulfilled, these Jews do not have a choice in the matter because their fate was sealed hundreds of years ago.

In some theological circles this is referred to as supralapsarianism or double predestination. In other words, God predestined some people to heaven, while also predestining some people to hell. The latter issue of predestinating people to hell is really where God’s love and mercy are called into question, if this is the case.

The problem with that stance is that there is no way to escape the fact that God becomes the author of sin by predestinating from the beginning with Adam and Eve that they must sin, instead of allowing the first man and woman to make a choice.

This does not mean that Adam’s sin took God by surprise or that God’s sovereignty was usurped by Adam’s choice. It only means that God knew, even before He created Adam and Eve, that they would make such choices, but the choice was their’s to make. It was not imposed on them as though their wills were being manipulated by God.

So, this brings us back to our text which seems to allude to God predetermining that Israel would not believe because it was stated so in advance by Isaiah.

It is true that Israel was fulfilling the word of Isaiah as stated in verse 38. But it is simply stating in advance what God already knew about their hearts, not that He has forced them not to believe.

But this does raise another issue as we come to verses 39 and 40.

JOH 12:39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40 "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."

The KJV and the NKJV translate verse 39 in this way. “Therefore they could not believe.”

Again, what this seems to suggest is that they could not believe even if they wanted to because of what Isaiah said previously and because God would blind their eyes and deaden their hearts. You talk about a double-whammy.

Again, do you see the problem with this? It makes God the One who forces these people to reject Him instead of these people being the one’s responsible for rejecting Him.

Well, if this is the case then how do we explain what our passage is teaching? Without getting into all of the nuances of the Greek language, suffice it to say that the passage at hand can imply that instead of Isaiah’s prophecy determining the people’s response, when it says they couldn’t believe because of what Isaiah said, it can also say, they didn’t believe, consequently, the saying of Isaiah was fulfilled.”

This puts the responsibility of their unbelief squarely on the shoulders of those not believing, not on some prophecy which determines their unbelief. But what of God’s part which says, "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." (JOH 12:40)

Again, this is not the initial force, but the subsequent action on God’s part. In other words, God did not initially spiritually blind the eyes of these people so they couldn’t see. Rather these people’s hearts caused them to reject Christ and therefore God simply continued to give them what they wanted as He hardened what was already hard.

Keep in mind how this entire section begins back in verse 37, "Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him."

What we read in the following verses is preceded, there in verse 37, with the people’s choice not to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

It starts with their own choice and then is followed up with what was going on in their hearts as God brings this out by quoting Isaiah.

But this does raise the issue of how God can and does harden the heart of people if the choice is supposed to be left up to people.

This can be explained in a way where the choice is definitely left up to the individual but where God’s involvement is definitely part of the equation in sealing those people in their choice.

For example, we know that God’s desire for Israel was to have Israel submit to their King and Lord and be led in a truly theocratic rule, where God was on the throne as the people went to Him by faith and followed His word as His prophets spoke to them.

And yet, we know that the people made a choice against God leading them in this way. It was God’s prophet Samuel who was God’s mouthpiece to Israel and it was Samuel they rejected in favor of an earthly king.

1SA 8:4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.
5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."
6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.
7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

And then God told Samuel to go back to Israel and lay out all of the disadvantages of an earthly king which he did. And yet we read...

1SA 8:19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us.
20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."
21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD.
22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king..."

The people made a choice and God gave them what they wanted. The choice came first and then God’s action. In the same way, the people of our text rejected Christ and then God’s action was to give them what they wanted as He continued to harden their already hard hearts.

God did not cause their rejection of Him, the cause was in the hearts of these people whom we’re told by Paul is what is in the hearts of all people.

ROM 3:10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

God would be just in allowing all of us to go our own way, as He hardens what is already hard, and be lost forever. And yet in His mercy and love He opens the eyes and hearts of people so that they will embrace Him by faith.

EPH 2:4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.

Isaiah knew the grace of God even in his own life. Isaiah knew he wasn’t worthy to receive God’s grace.

ISA 6:5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

In fact, it is this passage which John alludes to in verse 41 or our text.

JOH 12:41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.

This is a reference to Isaiah chapter 6.

ISA 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Isaiah had been given a glimpse of the glory of God and as he stood in His presence he understood that he was not worthy to stand before Him. And yet, God takes his guilt away as his sins are atoned for by God.

That is grace and mercy from God in the midst of a man who acknowledged that he was a sinner. That’s where salvation starts; acknowledging that we deserve nothing from God and that we stand condemned. It is that kind of heart which also understands that we must throw ourselves on the mercy of God’s grace.

Only as we seek His mercy and grace which He extends to us in Christ can we know what Isaiah knew in coming into the presence of God as a sinner, and yet Isaiah concluded that not only is his salvation sure but that he was willing to go and do whatever His King desired of him.

What is interesting about this passage in John 12 is that we are told that Isaiah saw Jesus’ glory and then spoke about Him. I say interesting because the NIV uses the name Jesus when in fact it is not part of the original text. The original Greek translation simply says, “these things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and spoke of Him.”

The reason the NIV substitutes the name Jesus for the pronoun Him is because the context clearly implies that it is Jesus whom Isaiah sees. Remember that the entire prophecy of Isaiah is of the One who would redeem Israel if they would only repent and turn back to their God.

In other words, Isaiah was in the presence of His God and Savior, who of course is none other than the Son of God who would come into this world as a man and redeem sinful men.

But what is noteworthy is Isaiah’s response to His God and Savior as the Lord assures him that his sins are forgiven. Immediately the Lord asks Isaiah a question.

ISA 6:7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Isaiah was so grateful for God’s grace and mercy in his life that when asked who would go out for God and faithfully represent Him, Isaiah, without hesitating, says, “here I am. Send me!”

But here’s the question for you and me. If we have been in the presence of our God and Savior as we have embraced Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life, have we responded to God who says to us, whom shall I send?

Or do we think that that question is not pertinent to us since we don’t feel called to go into some form of formal ministry, like pastor, or evangelist, or missionary?

By the way, Isaiah responded immediately because of his appreciation of what the Lord gave him. But he continued to show his appreciation despite the fact that later he would come to realize that his ministry would fall on deaf ears. But it didn’t matter the response he got from Israel. What mattered was God who called him to be His mouthpiece.

You and I in Christ are God’s mouthpiece today whether we realize it or not. Our Lord Jesus made it very clear to us what His will is concerning part of our roles in this world.

MAT 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

What is our response? Is it like Isaiah’s when asked who will go out for Me? Here I am. Send me, or is it something else. Serving our Most High God is a privilege that should never be underestimated or taken for granted.

But serving our Most High God is something that can and should be done on a variety of levels with the gifts God has given us. He may come to you and ask who will I send to share the gospel with your family? Is your response, here I am, send me?, or do we rely on others to fulfill that most blessed privilege.

What if God asks, who will I send to the nursing homes, or jails in your community? What will be our response? Who will I send to help in the building of a local church as workers and laborers are needed for any number of ministries the Lord may want to raise up; be it a children’s ministry, a youth ministry or any variety of other ministries?

Here I am Lord. Send me. The bottom line is this. Are we grateful for the life we’ve been given in Christ? Do we really appreciate the forgiveness of our sins as seen in our willingness to go wherever the Lord desires for us to go and serve in whatever capacity He places before us?

Is our response that of Isaiah’s or is it more along the lines of, there they are, send them.

A willing heart is all God wants. And it is a willing heart which He can use and train to become whatever He wants us to become. No matter where we are in life God can use us. The question is are we willing to be used wherever we are?

Remember, He never employs His troops, if you will, without providing the means to accomplish His will. If that means more training, if that means redirection, if that means an adjustment in our thinking then He will accomplish that in our lives to accomplish His will in the lives of other people we serve.

Just be willing as you give your heart fully to Him. Here I am Lord. Send me.