Nothing in Secret

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

NOTHING IN SECRET

John 12:37-43

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.

42 Yet 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; 43 for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

NIV

It still comes down to allowing the Spirit to do his work. The passages John quotes from Isaiah are not the cause of these people's unbelief, or refusal to believe, but only the prediction, the prophecy of this happening. Isaiah foretold how men would harden their hearts against the truth regarding the Messiah. It does seem as though the words of Isaiah as quoted here, or rather as translated here would indicate God blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, but what do we do with the end of that sentence, ‘and I would heal them’? It is interesting many of the translations say the He has blinded their eyes. Although the Greek word is causative which means to cause to be blind or to make blind, it is assumed God did it. It is also interesting the Hebrew Septuagint says:

'You will be ever hearing, but never understanding; | you will be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' | [10] This people's heart has become calloused; | they hardly hear with their ears, | and they have closed their eyes

NIV

It is the hardening of a person’s heart is the reason or cause for their eyes not to see and their ears not to hear, for if they did turn God would heal them. Did God and does God cause people to not hear or see the truth or does he simply allow them to harden their hearts and then leave them to their condition, yet still desiring for them to turn so he could heal them. God does not force his healing upon people, it must be their choice. It is inconsistent with his character to force people to have a hardened heart. He may use a hardened heart for his purpose as he did with Pharaoh, so he could show his power and might. He may well increase the hardness of a man’s heart, but God does not cause the heart of man to be calloused, it is their own doing. As we look at what John says about some of the leaders of the people, they believed in Jesus but would not confess their faith because they were afraid the Pharisees would put them out of the synagogue. The reason for this is truly frightening. They loved the praise from men more than the praise from God. How can someone believe in secret, just in order to be in the good graces of unbelievers? We might focus more on this wanting the praise of men more than the praise from God by applying that to how we live today. What does that look like, to live for the praise of men rather than from God? Once again it might appear in our need for titles, our need for resumes, and our need for making sure people see our good deeds. This has become more obvious in the light of all the available social media, as it makes boasting far easier. It is not that we should shy completely away from sharing our lives with others, but the purpose of that sharing, at least for us believers, should be to bring glory to our Lord and not ourselves. So this leaves us with two truths. First, never allow our hearts to become calloused, and second, always look for ways to give God the glory. Thus we can see and hear from Him and he and the world can hear our praise of Him. Between God and us, there are no secrets.