John 12:34-43

³⁴The crowd spoke up, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this 'Son of Man'?" ³⁵Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. ³⁶Put 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. ³⁷Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in Him. ³⁸This 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?" ^{[Isaiah 53:1] 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." ^{[Isaiah 6:10] 41}Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about Him. ⁴²Yet 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; ⁴³for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

As Jesus so often declared, the crowds in general did not believe in Him; instead, they only possessed an inadequate half-truth. They knew that the Messiah would live forever – after all, the prophecies stated that He would be the “Everlasting Father”, and that His reign would have no end (Isaiah 9:6-7). In this much, they were right: but they failed to take notice of the prophecies which spoke of Jesus’ substitutionary suffering and death (Isaiah 52:13-53:12); and so they were offended by this teaching that the Messiah’s eternal, victorious life would be a resurrection life, and that the Son of Man must first be lifted up in death before He sat down to reign in life forevermore.

Isn’t it interesting that they understood this much without seeing the whole truth? They ask, “Who is the Son of Man?” They know that Jesus is calling Himself the Son of Man, but they are mocking Him for using that title. They knew that the Son of Man was Messiah, but they denied that Jesus could hold either title. By asking this question, they are inviting Jesus to be quiet and depart from them. We see that the testimony to Messiah through the Old Testament prophets was not only clear, but also in accord to Jesus’ own teaching about Himself, yet the people refused to believe due to their blindness. This underscores a deeper truth: as long as they were under the authority of their father the devil, it was not possible that they should understand and believe the truth of God. Jesus responded gently, explaining the urgency of the situation. Their hardness needed to end now, for when the light departed, the darkness would overtake them. There was never a better time to hear the truth than when Jesus was walking upon the earth, for He was Light itself. But all the light in the world will do no good for a blind man (Matthew 6:22-23). Jesus would only walk the earth for a few days longer, and His call is urgent: “Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.” Then Jesus left and hid Himself from them.

At this point, Jesus leaves the crowds, and John goes on to explain why Jesus spoke the way He did, and why the people could not believe Him (v39). As surprising as the answer may seem, it ultimately goes back to God’s choice: the people had every reason to believe in Jesus, who had done countless miracles and received every conceivable form of reliable testimony, and yet they were still unable to believe. Why? Because God had already decided, as far back as the days of Isaiah, that when the Messiah came, He would blind the eyes of the people, and harden their hearts, so that they would not see or understand, and so be converted and healed by God. This may be a difficult teaching, but it is a Biblical one (Matthew 13:13; 2 Corinthians 2:14-15; Deuteronomy 29:4)! And furthermore, as Paul later explains to us, the hardening of the Jews was not simply so that they might fall, but for the mercy of us Gentiles, in order that we might receive God’s free grace, and provoke Israel to jealousy! The ultimate outcome of all this will be Jew and Gentile alike coming to God for free, undeserved mercy, all to the glory of God alone (Romans 9-11).

Some of the Jews looked to Jesus and saw His glory, but most of the Jews were completely blinded and so rejected Him. Others, who did glimpse His glory in a fleeting and shallow way, did not turn to Him, for they still loved the glory of man more than the glory of Jesus. Think of Martin Luther, who did not fear excommunication when he was convinced by the word of God. How many other people feared excommunication and kept silent? How many failed to stand firm on the word of God for the sake of church tradition? Consider the parable of the four soils.