John 12:38-41

Few of the Jewish hearers believed the message of the Suffering Servant and because they willingly refused, their eyes became blinded and their hearts deadened. Such pregnant proofs our Messiah performed met with so much opposition among the Jews that their unbelief was quite astounding. Christ Himself was astounded by their lack of belief. The Lord states through the prophet Isaiah regarding this:

13 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. 14 Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish." Isaiah 29:13-14 (NIV)

Isaiah also clearly spelled out the lack of acceptance our Lord would receive when he wrote regarding the life of the coming Messiah – He would be rejected and despised by men, He would take up our infirmities and carry our sorrows, He would be crushed for our sins and in place of the punishment due us, we would receive His perfect peace. In light of this extreme demonstration of mercy and grace by our Lord, the lack of belief among God’s people was greatly lamented – so few believed the report of the Gospel. Sadly, many continue to hear this same message of Truth refusing to heed and embrace it.

“The method of conversion is implied here. Sinners are brought to see with their eyes, to discern the reality of divine things. To understand with their heart, not only to assent and approve, but to consent and accept. To turn, and effectively turn from sin to Christ. Then God will heal them; will pardon their sins, and subdue their corruptions, which are as lurking diseases.” Matthew Henry

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. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:1-12 (NIV)

These Jewish hearers and seers of the miraculous could not believe because they would not believe – they were obstinately resolved in their infidelity – remaining morally impotent; they desired rather to relish in their ways shunning Truth rather than embracing it. Divine justice comes to those who persist in unrepentance and their resistance to the divine light given them. It comes as the greatest spiritual judgment when God gives us over to the ways of our will.

“We judge things by their present appearance; but the Lord sees them in their consequences. If we could do the same we would be perfectly of His mind; but since we can’t, it is an unspeakable mercy that He will manage for us, whether we are pleased with His management or not; and it is regarded as one of His heaviest judgments when He gives any person up to the way of their own hearts, and to walk according to their own wisdom.” John Newton

“One thing only must never be forgotten. God ‘willeth not the death of any sinner’. He is willing to soften the hardest heart, and to open the blind eyes of the greatest sinner. In dealing with men about their souls we must never forget this. We may well remind them that by hardened impenitence they may provoke God to give them up. But we must also press on them that God’s mercies in Christ are infinite, and that if they are finally lost, they will have none but themselves to blame.” J. C. Ryle